This blog post deeply explores the choices we must make between ideals and reality, and how the process of healing and growth alters the course of our lives, through Mahito’s journey in the film The Boy and the Heron.
Long ago, ‘The Boy and the Heron’ was supposed to be director Hayao Miyazaki’s final work. Though he later reversed his retirement decision, making it not his last film, it remains a movie imbued with the director’s personal values and autobiographical elements. He consistently advocated for pacifism. He also criticized humanity’s reckless exploitation of nature and created works exploring the relationship between nature and humanity. These themes recur throughout most of his works, particularly standing out in ‘Princess Mononoke’ and ‘Spirited Away’. In both these films, he deeply explores the relationship between nature and humanity, the impact humans have on nature, and delivers messages about environmental protection and peace. In this latest work, building upon these themes, one senses advice for future generations.
The plot of ‘The Boy and the Heron’ follows the adventures of a boy named Mahito. After losing his mother in a fire, Mahito moves with his father to his mother’s hometown. There, he learns his father will remarry his mother’s younger sister, Natsuko, and that a new sibling is soon to be born. The young boy yearns for his mother and struggles to adapt to his new home. He naturally feels a sense of loss and isolation, emotions that become obstacles hindering his growth. However, Mahito begins a journey to understand his own feelings and ultimately overcome them.
Amidst this, a strange heron appears. He hears stories from the seven grandmothers working at the mansion about a tower where the heron lives. One day, Natsuko vanishes. To find her, Mahito enters the tower, follows the heron, and steps into a mysterious world. His allies, Kiriko and his childhood mother Himi, aid him in this other world. They are not mere helpers; they play a crucial role in healing Mahito’s inner world and wounds. Kiriko, in particular, aids Mahito’s inner growth through the trials he faces in this other world, while Himi helps him reconnect with the maternal love he lost.
With their help, Mahito reaches the chamber where Natsuko is held, but is captured by man-eating parrots due to the rejection of a magic-imbued stone. Escaping with the help of a heron, Mahito heads to the location of the world’s master, his great-grandfather. There, he is offered the position of master of this other world but refuses. In this scene, Mahito stands at a major crossroads. It is a crucial moment where he must determine the direction of the life he desires. Later, when the other world faces destruction due to the rampage of the Parrot King, he flees to the room containing his own timeline. There, Mahito tells his mother, Himi, not to go, but she comforts him, saying she is proud to have given birth to him. He bids farewell to Himi and returns to the real-world timeline with his stepmother, Natsuko.
Honestly, my first thought after finishing the movie was, ‘This is really confusing.’ And rightly so—while the plot was thrillingly constructed, the ending felt far too abrupt. I expected to see Mahito living happily with his new mother, or Mahito grown into a genuinely kind person. But the ending just showed him saying, “I returned to Tokyo two years later,” followed by a moving-out scene, leaving me bewildered. It wasn’t just a weak ending; it felt like a dragon with a head and body, but no tail. This conclusion suggests Mahito’s story isn’t over yet. In the journey of life, growth and maturation continue, and Mahito will surely mature further through more experiences and challenges in his future life.
Additionally, some developments in the middle of the film felt implausible, making it more perplexing. For instance, in the film, Mahito comes to possess the heron’s weakness, the knife feather, forcing the heron to cooperate with him. The fact that the feather Mahito happened to pick up was the weak point felt like an implausible development. However, upon reconsidering the film’s underlying content, I abandoned the notion that it was perplexing. This is because the film’s deep symbolism and philosophical message focus less on the logical progression of events and more on the values each character symbolizes and the importance of the choices they face.
As suggested by the title “The Boy and the Heron,” the film explores the question of how to live one’s life. By contrasting the master of the other world, the Great-Grandfather, with Mahito, the audience is prompted to consider how each should live their own life. The Great-Grandfather gained power through the magic stone and sought to leave the ugly real world to build an ideal one. However, as time passed, the parrots of this other world took control. Like humans in reality, the parrots engaged in ugly wars, fights, and violence without hesitation. This scene symbolizes the absurdity and violence of human society, and the Great-Grandfather’s failed utopian attempt carries a deep skepticism about human nature. The grandfather, barely maintaining this world, proposes Mahito become his successor. He pleads for Mahito to create a better world. But Mahito senses the malice embedded within the stones that compose the world. He declares he will not build the world with stones filled with malice and will return with his new mother. Mahito is a true person who seeks to change reality, even if it is ugly. His decision reflects not a simple choice, but a profound insight into life. Therefore, I believe what Miyazaki Hayao truly wanted to say was: “Descendants, face reality and do not make choices filled with malice. Become a true person, become Mahito.”
In truth, Mahito isn’t entirely a good character. After fighting with children at school, he strikes his own head with a rock until it bleeds. He acted with malice to make it appear as if his classmates had hit him with the rock. This behavior reveals the complex emotions and conflicts residing within him. Later, he goes to another world and encounters various people and situations. He meets his ally Kiriko and works for Warwara, and he even helps the heron that had been mean to him. With the help of his mother Himi, he also finds his stepmother. Through these accumulated choices, he learns goodwill and becomes someone who can sense the malice contained within stones. Ultimately, goodwill is cyclical. I understood it to mean that through the cycle of goodwill, the world can become a better place.
And I also interpreted this film as the story of Natsuko (the stepmother) and Mahito overcoming their wounds. Natsuko tries to care for her dead sister’s son (Mahito), but she gets hurt by his reluctance to open up. Natsuko feels guilt and regret towards her dead sister. Mahito misses his dead mother and finds the unfamiliar environment only painful. His father tries to solve everything with money instead of emotional support. His classmates ostracize and torment him. His mother is dead, and his stepmother is about to give birth to a younger sibling. How anxious and precarious it must have been. Mahito feels indebted to his new mother for caring for him, yet resents her for taking his mother’s place. These complex emotions are common in human relationships and relatable. Amidst this tangled web of feelings, Mahito and Natsuko strive to truly understand and accept each other. Though Mahito refused to acknowledge his stepmother as his mother until just before parting with his mother Himi, he returns to reality with his stepmother. The film ends with the final scene of moving. This is interpreted as leaving home together with his stepmother. It symbolizes true reconciliation. This scene signifies a new beginning, showing hope for the future Mahito and Natsuko will build together.
Hayao’s previous works have primarily focused on children living under their parents’ shadow. They lose their parents, their parents disappear, or they go searching for them. Similarly, in this film, the protagonist longs for his lost mother and grows through the process of building a relationship with his new mother. In his works, parents transcend the roles of mere protectors or educators; they play a crucial role in helping children discover their own identity. Particularly in ‘Spirited Away,’ it shows how parental greed affects a child, and this film also treats the parent-child relationship as a core theme. But as he grew older and raised his own child, didn’t he find himself repeating the phrase ‘The Boy and the Heron’? This phrase is a story told for future generations, and it is also a story for his own child. We glimpse the parent’s heart, wishing for their children to walk the right path, and their own constant struggle and effort to live such a life themselves.
I believe this work tells not just a story of the past, but a story of the future. The symbols appearing in the film, such as the beings from another world or the magical stone, can all be seen as metaphors for the choices and challenges we may face in our future lives. Through this work, director Hayao Miyazaki poses profound philosophical questions about life, going beyond a simple story. That question is: ‘How should we live?’ It makes us think about the choices each of us faces in life and the consequences those choices create. This power doesn’t end with the story within the film; it compels the audience to reflect on their own lives and deeply contemplate their future path.
