First Look at Photos from Hayao Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli Movie HOW DO YOU LIVE?

The very first photos have surfaced for Hayao Miyazakithe long-awaited film How do you live? also known in the United States as The boy and the heron. The images are from the booklet of the film recently released in Japan. This is the only real marketing Studio Ghibli did for the film.

The official synopsis reads: “Through encounters with his friends and uncle, he follows the psychological development of a teenager. He enters a magical world with a talking gray heron after finding an abandoned tower in his new town.

The story of the film is described as follows:

The film is set in Japan during World War II and revolves around a boy named Mahito whose mother is killed in a fire. Shortly thereafter, his father, who works in a factory that produces fighter planes, marries his late wife’s younger sister, Natsuko, and moves the family to his large ancestral home in the countryside.

Mahito, resentful of Natsuko for taking his mother’s place, begins to explore the area around the house and discovers a mysterious tower which he is told not to enter. He also meets a gray heron who can talk (as seen on the movie poster) who claims that Mahito’s mother is actually alive and in the tower waiting to be rescued. Mahito dismisses this claim, but when his new stepmother goes missing in the tower he decides to save her.

Once inside, he is transported to an alternate world filled with magic where his quest brings him into contact with new friends and enemies.

Gkids has acquired the North American rights to the film and will be released in the US under the title The boy and the heron.