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● Plot Summary 2h 04m Animation · Fantasy

The Boy and the Heron (2023) — full plot summary

Directed by Hayao Miyazaki, The Boy and the Heron unfolds across 2h 04m of animation. This page covers the story beat by beat. For the ending, see the dedicated ending explained page.

● TL;DR

While the Second World War rages, the teenage Mahito, haunted by his mother's tragic death, is relocated from Tokyo to the serene rural home of his new stepmother Natsuko, a…

The story

The Boy and the Heron is a 2023 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Produced by Studio Ghibli, the film's Japanese title references Genzaburō Yoshino's 1937 novel How Do You Live? but is not an adaptation of it. The film stars the voices of Soma Santoki, Masaki Suda, Ko Shibasaki, Aimyon, Yoshino Kimura, Takuya Kimura, Kaoru Kobayashi, and Shinobu Otake. It follows a boy named Mahito Maki who moves to the countryside after his mother's death, discovers an abandoned tower near his new home, and enters a fantastical world with a talking grey heron.

Setting & tone

The Boy and the Heron is set in Japan and works primarily in Japanese. Tonally it sits in Animation, Fantasy, Drama, drawing on the conventions of each while filtering them through Hayao Miyazaki's direction.

Why people search for this plot

Search interest in the plot of The Boy and the Heron tends to spike around questions about narrative ambiguity, the meaning of specific scenes, and how secondary characters connect to the main arc. Our editorial team tracks those queries and updates this summary as new questions emerge — see the FAQ on the main movie page.

● Spoilers ahead?

Read the ending explained

A scene-by-scene breakdown of the final act, the closing shot, and what it all means.

The Boy and the Heron ending explained →