Is ‘The Boy and the Heron’ really going to be Hayao Miyazaki’s last film?

The latest Studio Ghibli film is supposedly Hayao Miyazaki‘s last, although we’ve heard that before, the truth is Miyazaki seems incapable of staying away from the studio he co-created.

The 82-year-old director has blessed us with yet another masterpiece in the form of The Boy and the Heron. Famously, the director announced that he would be retiring after The Wind Rises. Of course, he couldn’t stay away and so in 2017 it was announced that he was working on a new film under Studio Ghibli.

A year before it was announced, Miyazaki spoke with Toshio Suzuki, his producer and one of the founders of Studio Ghibli, he talked of returning for another film, which Suzuki objected to at first. His main concern was that Miyazaki may ruin his legacy with a sub-par film, after all, he’d already admitted in 2013 that his era of animation was over. However, Suzuki relented, after all, how could anyone deny the legend that is Miyazaki one last chance to show everyone how it’s done?

And that brings us to the here and now, with glowing reviews across the board, it’s safe to say it was worth postponing his retirement.

The plot of his latest film seems all too aware of this as we see the protagonist, Mahito, being asked by an elderly man to take over the role of maintaining the magical world he finds himself in. Miyazaki is very much in the same position, there aren’t a lot of people who can weave a story the way he does: the weight of the studio rests on Miyazaki’s shoulders, and perhaps that’s why he finds it so hard to truly retire.

There have been other directors working with the studio, including Miyazaki’s own son, Goro, but very few have managed to live up to the high bar he has set. 

Rumors of another Miyazaki film

Right after The Boy and the Heron premiered, Studio Ghibli’s vice president, Junichi Nishioka claimed that Miyazaki was already working on another project. Speaking with CBC News Nishioka revealed that the acclaimed director was still coming into the office every day and he was working on new ideas.

He is currently working on ideas for a new film. He comes into his office every day and does that. This time, he’s not going to announce his retirement at all. He’s continuing working just as he has always done.

Whether these rumors are to be believed it’s hard to say. That does sound like the Miyazaki we know and love, although, at this stage, it’s too early to answer all the questions we have. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.