The Boy and the Heron ending, explanation

Key Takeaways

• The Boy and the Heron is Hayao Miyazaki's final film, a farewell to creating new stories for the world.
• The movie revolves around a magical world created by a grandfather where the blocks of the tower exist.
• Despite returning to reality, the characters, including Mahito and his family, forget the existence of the magical world as time passes.

boy and heron This is Hayao Miyazaki's last film. This is his swan song. His final gift to humanity. Studio Ghibli will continue to produce more films and TV series, but we will no longer see new stories from Mr. Miyazaki, one of the world's most beloved, respected and influential directors. The man has entered his twilight years, and it is finally time to put down the pencil, relax, and spend precious time with loved ones.

boy and heron The works of Hayao Miyazaki that we all know and love still retain the characteristic of “eternal beauty.” In other words, this film is by far Hayao Miyazaki's most secretive film. You can immerse yourself in a story for over two hours and still feel confused by what you just saw. With that in mind, here are some comments on the ending. A boy and a heron.

Description of a Fragile World

• Character Name: Maki Mahito
• Voice actor: Soma Santoki (Japanese) / Luca Padovan (English)

Mahito's original purpose in going to the mysterious world was to find his stepmother, Natsuko. However, in the process, he unknowingly begins a journey to meet his great-grandfather, the creator of the world. As it turns out, it was my grandfather who created this strange and fascinating world, and the person who keeps it alive to this day.

Every three days, this frail old man must build a block tower by stacking the block pieces. If the tower remains intact, the world and everything in it will continue to live. But if he makes a mistake and the tower block collapses, this fragile world will immediately begin to return to nothingness.

The Fall of the Wizarding World, Explained

• Character Name: Grandpa
• Voice actor: Shohei Hino (Japan) / Mark Hamill (English)

The grandfather knows his life is coming to an end, so he must pass on the responsibility of maintaining his creations to his successor. Unfortunately, only his blood relatives can assume his role. Fortunately, his great-nephew Mahito suddenly appears in the real world.

Naturally, the great grandfather asks Mahito to become his successor and takes on the responsibility of becoming the pillar that holds this strange world together. Mahito refuses. He only wants to find his stepmother and return to the real world together. If no one adds new blocks to the tower, everything falls apart quickly. The earth shakes, the sky splits, and within minutes this magical world is no more.

Description of the different timelines

• Character Name: Himi
• Voice actor: Aimya (Japan) / Karen Fukuhara (English)

One of the people who helped Mahito greatly during his short stay in the magical world was a girl named Madame Himi. It turns out that she is actually Mahito's mother. Decades ago, when Himi was just a teenager, she entered a mysterious tower in the forest and became stranded in this magical world. She has been living here ever since.

So how can Mahito experience his late mother's childhood? Think of this magical world as the MCU's TVA (Time Variance Authority). rocky TV series. Just like in TVA, time passes differently in that magical place. There is a door that leads to every place at any time, but once inside the tower and into the world of magic, everything exists on the same plane of existence. So, teenage Himi meets her teenage son, and by chance, Mahito gets a chance to say goodbye to his mother properly.

Description of return to real life

• Character Name: Maki Shoichi
• Voice actor: Takuya Kimura (Japan) / Christian Bale (English)

As the magical world falls apart, a manic pelican, a man-eating parakeet, and the four humans in this magical realm (Mahito, Natsuko, Lady Himi, and Kiriko) race to the gate that will take them to Earth. At this time, the Lovebird King and his crazy citizens are not only trying to avoid destruction, but they are also trying to kill the one who caused this disaster: Mahito, who refuses to play the role of grandfather.

But the moment they enter the gate and are transported back to Earth, the giant parakeet, talking pelican, and other magical animals return to their original form. They acquired such a unique shape because Mahito's grandfather wanted it. Now he and his magical world no longer exist, and the animals return to their original form, free from his magical influence.

Return to Tokyo, explained

• Character Name: Gray Heron
• Voice actor: Masaki Suda (Japanese) / Robert Pattinson (English)

In the final scene of the film, we see Mahito and his family preparing to leave their home and return to Tokyo, as the screen goes dark. There is no mention of a magical world at all. There are two explanations for this. First, the war was finally over and they could finally return home to Tokyo. Since my father's main factory is in Tokyo, it makes sense to return now that things have calmed down.

The second reason is that Mahito and Natsuko have forgotten the existence of the magical world and everything that happened while they were there. When they escaped the implosion, Gray Heron told Mahito that he would forget about the magical world. The same thing happened to those who returned to Earth, like Mahito's mother. Even if Mahito keeps a piece of his grandfather's creation block, his memories of that world and the significance of that piece of block will inevitably be forgotten over time.

“Forgetting is normal. With time, you will forget. That’s how it should be. Long, long, friend!”

Below is a description of the most important events that occur at the end of the film. Please keep in mind that this is just a superficial explanation. There's more than meets the eye A boy and a heron. So we implore you to put on your philosophical hat and watch this movie again. You'll discover more meaningful questions that will lead to more meaningful answers. This applies to all Hayao Miyazaki films.

boy and heron You can stream it on Netflix.