Metaphor in the Boy and the Heron ~ The Meaning of Ghibli ~

CHAPTERS & ENGLISH CAPTIONS NOW AVAILABLE! When I saw the Boy and the Heron, I had a take on the film’s metaphor that my friend group told me was worth sharing. So here we are, 2 months and 40 minutes later with my attempt at explaining what is now my favorite Ghibli film. Many scenes were recreated from memory and I’m sure I made mistakes, see Errata below, but I did my best to put forth my sincere thoughts! If you are among the many who didn’t ’get’ the film, I hope this gives you a place to start! For any interested parties, youtube video essays are not my usual pursuit, and if you want to continue any discussion beyond the comments below, please join our art/gaming/chatting streams on twitch! Errata: Leto gave birth to ARTEMIS and Apollo not Athena, this is totally my mistake. I blame the video game Hades for not having Leto as a character. Barthes is pronounced ’Bart’, not especially an error so much as an Americanization, but a couple people pointed this out. To be honest, I tried to say it as Bart, but I kept messing up and ultimately just kept the takes which felt like they got the sentiment most correct. The image comparison for Kiki’s parent’s house includes an image I found in a thumbnail I swore I saw in the film, but upon reexamining the film, I could not locate this image. I do still think there are parallels with Kiki in the pelicans, though it’s definitely one of the least referenced films in Boy and the Heron. I think that’s kind of interesting, considering Kiki also touches on the process of creation in its metaphor, but TLDR, the comparison image listed as from Boy and the Heron should not be there. I stand by my overall point about the references. Any other errors will be added here. Music graciously provided by my good friend Matthew Pablo: Chapters: 00:00 Intro 01:40 Metaphor 08:02 Approaching The Boy and the Heron 11:30 Resemblances 16:43 Of Films and Film Production 22:13 Explaining The Boy and the Heron 31:47 The Authorial Metaphor 34:23 How Do You Live 35:41 One Last Idea 39:20 Conclusion Sources: “The Boy and the Heron Is So Personal, Hayao Miyazaki Needed A Year to Grieve Before Pivoting in a New Direction“ - Bill Desowitz, Indie Wire Nov 22, 2023 “‘The Boy and the Heron’ Review: Hayao Miyazaki Has a Question for You“ Alissa Wilkinson, New York Times Nov 21, 2023 “The Boy and the Heron Producer Says the Anime Is the Most Expensive Japanese Film Ever Made“ Hayley McCullough, CBR, Aug 19 2023 “Japanese Lawmakers Debate Low Wages in the Anime Industry“ Alex Dudok De Wit, Carboon Brew Feb 2022 “Against Interpretation“ Susan Sontag, 1966 “Death of the Author“ Roland Barthes, 1967 “How Do You Live“ Genzaburo Yoshino, Translated by Bruno Navasky, Introduction by Neil Gaiman 2021 “Sharing a House with the Neverending Man“ Steve Albert, 2020 “The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness“ Dir. Mami Sunada, Dist. Toho Co., Ltd. 2013