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The Boy and the Heronwas one of the most successful 2023 films and yet Hayao Miyazaki’s most convoluted work so far. While it’s still very much a masterpiece in its own right, the audience failed to comprehend the real story and message behind it.
Mahito Maki’s story is complex. As a young boy living in Japan during World War II, he’s bound to have some trauma but we witness it first-hand during the first scene itself. At the beginning ofThe Boy and the Heron, Mahito runs toward a burning hospital where his mom is and loses her.
After losing his mother, his father decides to marry her sister, Natsuko, to give Mahito some semblance of a normal family. She’s even pregnant, and this makes the young boy resent them further.
All of this, combined with moving to a new village, is a lot for the boy to navigate by himself. He doesn’t have the motivation to go to school, even going as far as injuring himself. However, when Natsuko disappears, he steps up andThe Boy and the Heronfinally begins its real story.
Mahito’s story was never about finding Natsuko, it was about letting go
The 11-year-old boy was distant and aloof towards his father and Natsuko, disapproving of how quickly he moved on from his mother. It’s tough for any child of any age to accept this but in a war-torn country, any pace would be difficult.
Mahito has clearly repressed a lot of his anger and hasn’t had the chance to process his grief. He holds onto a fantasy that his mother, Hisako, will come back to him one day, almost falling into the Heron’s trap. However, he meets her in a rather unconventional way.
During his pursuit of finding Natsuko, he meets a young girl named Himi with pyrokinetic powers. The two share a bond and seem familiar with one another, and it’s obvious to the audience that Himi is his mother from when she was younger.
This was foreshadowed before Himi revealed more about herself. Mahito doesn’t share a tearful reunion with her and enjoys the limited time before he has to go back.
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It’s a beautiful relationship that shows the subtle closure he has with his mother’s death and opens a new chapter in his life.Hayao Miyazakirelies heavily on the audience’s brains for this, whichdidn’t exactly work out when the most common criticismwas the “vague” message.
Miyazaki doesn’t rely on exposition and words. He’s a show-don’t-tell kind of director who loves subtlety and reality rather than a dramatic reunion. This Redditor explains it perfectly.
Showing intimacy between characters isn’t necessary when it is never lost. Mahito never forgot his mother and settled back into the familiar rhythm he shared with her while she was alive.
While he does accept that Natsuko is his new mother, he gets what he wishes for and closes the chapter. The anger he held onto no longer burned as bright.
Breaking the cycle inThe Boy and the Heron
Mahito was grieving for the majority of the film, not able to process his mother’s death or accept this new life he was granted. Meeting Himi and sharing moments with her again, however, made him realize something.
He couldn’t exactly live with his anger and resentment forever. While his mother was taken away from him at a young age, he also had a chance for other maternal love right in front of him. Natsuko, who worried herself sick over him, was a difficult pill for him to swallow.
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So, after accepting he is indeed attached to his aunt, he accepts her as his new mother. He broke the cycle and chose not to be consumed by hatred when caught up in grief. Hisako’s love for Mahito wasn’t lost, it’s reincarnated into new love through Natsuko.
The Boy and the Heronis available on Netflix.
Bidisha Mitra
Articles Published :802
Bidisha is an Anime Content Writer at FandomWire with over 700 published articles. With over 7 years of writing experience, she’s versatile and adept. When she’s not writing, she’s also a voice actor on the side.Bidisha is currently continuing to learn Japanese and gets more fluent everyday. Her expertise is One Piece, Bungo Stray Dogs, and Haikyuu, but has been watching anime for over a decade. She was previously a Content Writer reviewing the latest Kpop music.
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Hayao MiyazakiThe Boy And The Heron
