The Boy and the Heron. Image from Studio Ghibli
Beloved Japanese anime house Studio Ghibli has officially released a set of film stills from Hayao Miyazaki’s long-awaited offering, “The Boy and the Heron.”
The studio shared these images on its website more than a month after the film’s premiere in Japan.
Reportedly Miyazaki’s final project with the acclaimed animation studio, “The Boy and the Heron” is inspired by the animator’s favorite childhood book, author Genzaburo Yoshino’s 1937 novel “How Do You Live?”
The film is set after World War II and tells the story of a grieving boy named Mahito Maki, who moves to the countryside with his father after the death of his mother.
Images from Studio Ghibli
There, he discovers an abandoned tower and encounters a magical world with a talking gray heron.
This marks Miyazaki’s comeback to filmmaking after a decade, with his fictionalized biographical film “The Wind Rises” released in 2013.
In a distinct move, Studio Ghibli chose not to release an official trailer and other promotional materials ahead of the film’s debut.
Despite the absence of a traditional promotional campaign, “The Boy and the Heron” set the biggest opening in Studio Ghibli’s history, earning 1.83 billion yen ($13.2 million) during its opening weekend.
No official announcement on the film’s release date in the Philippines has been made yet. EDV