Hayao Miyazaki doesn’t need cover letters. Neither does Studio Ghibli. At this point, they don’t need to sell us their movies in any way. If they release a new movie, we’ll go see it. It is synonymous not only with anime or Japan, but with the highest quality and refinement. The best animation you can see, always. And that is why it is always worth celebrating that, once again, he failed to keep his promise to retire. Because Miyazaki is back. And as fit as ever.
We finally have before us the first trailer for The Boy and the Heron, the (presumably) last film by Hayao Miyazaki. Made under the Studio Ghibli umbrella, it is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Genzaburo Yoshino published in 1937. The novel was about a boy’s evolution to adulthood, through his relationship with his family and friends, through the turbulent (pre)war years.
The trailer, in truth, shows us little of the film. With an exquisite animation and spectacular music, it shows us that we are in front of a new incredible journey as we are used to from the studio. Speaking of life, death and a strong fantasy component, more reminiscent of Satoshi Kon than Miyazaki himself, the trailer leaves us with more questions than answers about the film. Which is always a good thing with a Ghibli film. But in this case with more than one reason.
In Japan the film premiered on July 14 under the name Kimitachi wa Dō Ikiru ka. Literally translated, How do you live? Despite being an absolute box office and critical success, they did not release any trailer for the film. Just a poster, where nothing of the same was shown. Even critics and fans tacitly agreed not to comment on it. It was decided that the film should be experienced in a vacuum, without knowing anything, and everyone involved accepted this. Something that has been lost in its arrival to the West, where the first thing that has been done is to create the first trailer for a film where, consciously and intentionally, it was avoided to make any kind of trailer.
Be that as it may, this is Hayao Miyazaki’s first film in ten years. Stating that he was retiring after The Wind Rises, he has returned, according to him one last time, to give us one last feature film with which to end his career. If this is true, only time will tell. Meanwhile, The Boy and the Heron has a release date for December 8 in the US, with no specific date for the rest of the world. Although it is to be hoped that it won’t take us much longer than that to see it in Spanish theaters.
