Mahito a young boy who during the war loses his mother and must then move to the family estate in the countryside away from Tokyo. He then must deal with a new stepmother and a mysterious grey heron that had been following him around, heading into an ancient tower will change everything as he knows it.
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*Original title: Kimitachi wa dô ikiru ka*
Subbed version
Mahito wants nothing more than to explore his new area and surroundings following the move from Tokyo, not really taking the news well on having a stepmother and starting a new school. His father seems somewhat distance and he longs to see his mother again, following a meeting with The Grey Heron who claims that she is still alive this puts it firmly in his head and the mysterious tower seems to be calling to him.
When Natsuko goes missing he actually finds it to be his task to find her and bring her home, can he cope with the possibility of seeing her mother again and not give into the temptations around him as he travels to another world.
The animation style from Studio Ghibli is impressive and the world they create for this film is absolutely fantastic to get lost within. Don’t get me wrong though it does hit parts that really are off the wall and make you think woah. For example the birds and how big they are, which I am guessing if you haven’t seen the film will not really make any sense at all.
Overall the whole points I got from the film was dealing with loss and attempting to cope with grief, especially given that it was all taking place during the war really added to the impact of each event on a boys life so far. How can he deal with so much loss and change in such a short space of time?
I opted to see the subbed version as felt as though it is in the original format, although I am also curious to see the dubbed version having seen the voice casting that has been done for it.
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