Carrying on the Spirit of the Novel - "The Boy and the Heron"

Originally written in Chinese.

Hayao Miyazaki's new work, "The Boy and the Heron," draws inspiration from a renowned Japanese youth novel by the author Genzaburo Yoshino, published in 1937 at the beginning of World War II, titled "How Do You Live?" Interestingly, the film also takes its Japanese title from this book, which had significant importance in Miyazaki's life and inspired him to contemplate life. It's worth noting that this film is not a direct adaptation of the novel; instead, it's an entirely new original story. Therefore, one of the great joys of watching this film is to discover the commonalities and differences between these two very distinct narratives ("How Do You Live?" is a realistic coming-of-age story, while "The Boy and the Heron" is a teenage magical adventure), and how did Hayao Miyazaki extract the elements from the novel to incorporate into his film?

"The Boy and the Heron" tells the story of a young boy named Mahito during World War II in 1942. In a devastating fire, he loses his mother, Hisako, and later moves from the city to the countryside to live with his father. His father runs a military factory in the countryside and has married Hisako's sister, Natsuko, who becomes Mahito's stepmother. Initially, Mahito struggles to adapt to his new living environment, school, classmates, and even his new mother. On his first day of school, after a fight with classmates, Mahito takes a large stone and smashes it against his temple, using it as an excuse to skip school and stay home for recovery. During his period of rest, strange occurrences near his home become more frequent. The heron, a seemingly malevolent presence that lingers around his house, surprisingly speaks human language, and the lines between reality and a magical world begin to blur. One day, his pregnant stepmother, Natsuko, enters the forest and disappears, causing great concern for the family. In the search for Natsuko, Mahito stumbles upon a peculiar tower in the forest, guided there by the heron. He enters a magical world called the "Lower Realm." Similar to the iconic film "Spirited Away" by Hayao Miyazaki, Mahito embarks on a fantastical adventure in the Lower Realm, encountering various strange, speaking bird creatures, adorable soul beings preparing for rebirth into the human world, and a girl named Hibi from another time and space. Together, they strive to rescue Natsuko and bring her back to the real world.

[Spoiler Alert]

The novel made two appearances in the film. Before his adventures in the Lower Realm, Mahito occasionally discovered that his mother had left him the book. He shed tears while reading the novel, feeling a deep connection to it. The novel's protagonist is a boy named Koperu, a 15-year-old second-year middle school student. He is intelligent, excelling academically, and often ranking among the top three students in his class. At the same time, he is mischievous, lively, and enjoys making friends. At home, since Koperu's father passed away early, his uncle sometimes takes on the role of a father figure, discussing life philosophy with him and teaching him how to interact with others. Koperu is happy to share stories of his school life with his uncle, as well as the lessons and questions he has derived from everyday events. The novel is narrated from a third-person perspective and occasionally includes letters written by the uncle to Koperu, guiding him on how to handle the things he experiences and encouraging him to think about how to conduct himself in life.

Mahito cried when reading the novel, believing that the story deeply inspired him and influenced the choices he made during his adventures. In the novel, Koperu gains a profound insight by observing pedestrians on the street. He realizes that every person, including himself, is just one tiny part of the world. He deduces that humans should not view things from a self-centered perspective but should consider multiple angles when thinking about issues. This same realization also occurs in the film. At the beginning of their Lower Realm journey, Mahito and Hiriko are trying to rescue the captured soul beings from the cormorants. However, when one of the old cormorants is injured and dying, a conversation with it makes Mahito understand that the cormorants hunt soul beings because there are no more fish in the sea. They are driven to use soul beings as a source of food due to hunger. Upon learning the reason, Mahito appears to comprehend their behavior from the cormorants' perspective, showing more acceptance and respect, and giving the old cormorant a proper burial.

In the Lower Realm, Mahito finds his stepmother, Natsuko. In the delivery room, Natsuko appears to have transformed into a completely different person, far from her usual gentle demeanor. She openly shares her thoughts with Mahito, revealing that she has always disliked him. Surprisingly, upon hearing his stepmother's innermost thoughts, Mahito doesn't feel hurt but instead accepts Natsuko, beginning to address her as his mother. This somewhat astonishing turn of events mirrors a significant portion of the novel. Koperu felt guilty for not standing up for his friend when he was being bullied. His uncle encouraged him to apologize to his friend and to honestly confess his cowardice at the time, even if it was painful. Experiencing pain due to acknowledging one's mistakes is what makes humans great. Before Natsuko's confession, Mahito had maintained some distance from her, but after her confession, he was able to accept her with love and understanding, just as he had absorbed the lesson from Koperu's uncle about the character of a person.

At the end of the film, Mahito faces a significant choice, likely influenced by the novel. In the novel, the uncle often emphasizes the need to be an extraordinary person. How can one be extraordinary? The uncle believes that the key is to "live genuinely, to genuinely experience life day by day." This, he says, is what truly makes a person extraordinary, as opposed to those who merely appear to be extraordinary. Mahito encounters Great-Uncle, who oversees the Lower Realm and selects Mahito to be his successor. Mahito would need to maintain the balance of the magical world by controlling certain stones daily. While the position seems powerful and extraordinary, Mahito declines Great-Uncle's offer and chooses to return to the real world, yearning to open his heart and make friends in his everyday life. His decision directly reflects the essence of the novel, "How Do You Live?" Through the actions and words of the protagonist, Mahito, who carries a shadow of himself, Hayao Miyazaki's new work demonstrates his philosophy and spirit of living to the audience.