At the end of 2022, Studio Ghibli posted a beautiful, simple announcement for what will be the final film project of its founder Hayao Miyazaki:
With the film finally hitting theaters this summer, there still has not been any other image or clip released. This is the only glimpse of the final page of a master storyteller’s extensive catalog.
Miyazaki founded Studio Ghibli in 1985, and released some of the most famous, loved and successful feature films in anime history. He came out of retirement in 2016, because he wanted to tell one more story. This year, at age 82, his story is released.
How Do You Live is inspired on the 1937 novel of the same name by Genzaburo Yoshino, although Miyazaki has said it not directly based on it. This is pretty much all you are going to get about this last feature. We know novel deals with a young boy’s spiritual growth, along with tackling elements of human existence like poverty. As for the movie, who knows? The studio wanted this final experience of Miyazaki to be as fresh and pure as possible. No spoilers, trailers, newspaper ads, hints or big overblown announcements getting in the way of a new moviegoing experience.
I really appreciate that. How many times has a trailer completely misled us on a story, or gave away big reveals that should have been untold until we walked in the theatre?
The film’s producer, Toshio Suzuki, said as much in an interview with a Japanese magazine Bungei Shunju:
“If you watch (trailers), you know everything that’s going to happen in that movie,” he said. “There must be people, who, after watching all the trailers, don’t want to actually go see the movie. So, I wanted to do the opposite of that.”
As far as watching the rest of the Studio Ghibli catalog at home, American audiences have to hit HBO Max for those. International Netflix will be holding on to the titles for a couple of more years. These include the Oscar winning Spirited Away to visual feasts like Howl’s Moving Castle or Princess Mononoke,
I recommend going the old fashioned physical media route. These are films that really belong in your video library, especially if you love animation.
It will be wonderful to eventually see this final film when it travels to the United States, but for now I am really excited to see it getting some love from Ghibli fans without any big reveals of the next and last journey they can take with Hayao Miyazaki.
“How Do You Live” will be released on July 14 in Japan, with international release dates (including the United States) soon to follow.
I only hope when it comes out in Japan next month, they help Miyazaki keep its secrets until it travels worldwide.