On Friday, the new Studio Ghibli film titled "How Do I Live?" debuted in theaters in Japan. It has been announced that the film will debut internationally thanks to film distributor GKIDS.
As some may have noticed in the title of the article, the film has two different titles. The reason the film has two different titles is because in Japan it released under the title "Kimitachi wa Do Ikiruka" (Translated into "How Do I Live?"), meanwhile in North America and for its international release it will debut with the title of "The Boy And The Heron". They have also stated that the film will come to North American audiences later this year.
GKIDS president, David Jesteadt, stated his praise for filmmaker Miyazaki saying, "Hayao Miyazaki is a living legend in filmmaking, as evidenced by his Academy Award win for Spirited Away and his two Oscar nominations for Howl’s Moving Castle and The Wind Rises,'" He then also noted that it has been a long time since we have seen a film from Miyazaki, "It’s been ten years since the world has seen a new film from Miyazaki-san, and GKIDS is so proud and honored to unveil his latest, highly anticipated masterpiece in North America.”
There has been no advertising or promotions other than the old school way of a poster image and a tweet with an image of the poster as seen below. Studio Ghibli’s co-founder and president, Toshio Suzuki, who has worked alongside Miyazaki for several of his productions, told NHK in an interview that the promotional strategy for the film of doing no promotions was intended to evoke what the wait for a film release felt like decades ago. “A poster and a title — that’s all we got when we were children. I enjoyed trying to imagine what a movie was about, and I wanted to bring that feeling back,” he stated in the interview earlier this week. GKIDS has announced that they will also keep this policy when the film makes it's debut in North America later this year.
In regards to the film and the plot or what it is about, there is not very much known. Other than what Miyazaki has revealed to us in interviews. Miyazaki has told the media that the latest film was made as a farewell letter to his grandson, and that it is based on a 1937 coming-of-age novel of the same title by Genzaburo Yoshino. The book is said to have had a special impact on the Oscar-winning director when he was a child.
What are your thoughts on the mystery behind this film? Are you a Studio Ghibli or Miyazaki fan? Will this film be on your must watch list? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below! As always, stay tuned to Animemojo.com for more anime news!