#mahito literally reading How Do You Live in the movie had me losing my mind

[hamable]

One concrete thought I have about The Boy and The Heron is that i believe the core of the story is Mahito overcoming the loss and grief of losing his mother and his home and life, and- after spending the latter half of the movie navigating a between space where souls exist before they’re born as well as other spirits- When Mahito re-emerges with his stepmother, they too are both reborn.

One other thing I’ll have to address later: so much of this film (and The Wind Rises as well!) resonates deeper after watching The Never Ending Man, the doc that came out in 2016 about Hayao Miyazaki. Knowing about losing his mother young, about looking up to strong women, about his father building airplanes and those filling him with wonder until WWII hit and they became tools of war. Knowing about how he views the world, used to view the world, and how he hopes to leave it; how he’s baffled death has not claimed him yet but taken everyone else- god, all of it informs so much of his movies especially his most recent ones. I’m so emo about this man.

#the boy and the heron #how do you live #hayao miyazaki #Miyazaki #studio ghibli #the wind rises #the never ending man #mahito literally reading How Do You Live in the movie had me losing my mind