Remember a few years back when Hayao Miyazaki retired – again? Well, you just can’t keep one of the greatest directors of animation away from the studio. Now playing, in both the original Japanese as well as an English dub, is The Boy and the Heron. This film took Miyazaki years to complete, maybe partly due to age. It is said to be the most expensive Japanese film ever made. And it is well worth the wait, effort, and expense.

The story begins during World War II. Young Mahito loses his mother in a tragic fire. This is the opening of the film and may be some of the best animation ever accomplished by Miyazaki. Soon his father remarries Natsuko, the younger sister of Mahito’s mom. Mahito does not seem to be all that pleased with the new family arraignment, when he encounters a talking heron who informs Mahito that his mother is still alive. Is she really?

When Natsuko disappears, Mahito joins in the search leading to a fantasy world where he and the bird meet new friends and allies, as well as giant carnivorous canaries. But this is a fragile world, and it is not all that certain if anyone can get out alive.

The detailed artwork and animation are some of the best I have ever seen in anime. Miyazaki and the rest of the Studio Ghibli staff certainly invested their all into this work. The Boy and the Heron is every bit the sum of everything Miyazaki has learned in his career.

Mahito’s adventures are exciting, and a bit sentimental. But sentimental in a good way. Anime fans and admirers of Miyazaki cannot miss The Boy and the Heron.