After losing his mother in the bombing of Tokyo, young Mahito is taken to the countryside where his father plans to remarry to a new woman. While venturing through the overgrown forest surrounding his new home, he discovers an old tower and a mysterious gray heron, who claims that his mother is still alive and held captive inside the strange structure…
“What is your favorite anime movie?”
Ask that question to any western anime-fan and you have a pretty good chance that their film of choice not only bears the mark of the legendary anime studio Ghibli, but also of his co-founder and star-director Hayao Miyazaki.
Miyazaki has become such a fundamental part of anime culture that western audiences keep asking the same question to every new director: “Are you the new Miyazaki?“ A discussion which the never ending man himself seems to have joined in, returning from his retirement once again to create a movie that at once resembles his other films, full of fantastical creatures and realms, airplanes and the looming threat of war, but at the same time feels more personal, more like a work for himself than for the usual Studio Ghibli crowd. A movie that deals with loss, with acceptance and with the question if it‘s even possible to follow in the footsteps of a grand kingdom build of dreams and madness.

(Audio Japanese I Subtitles English)