Arab News Japan

DUBAI: Japanese anime tycoon, MIYAZAKI Hayao, released his final creation, How Do You Live, after 10 years on July 14.

Three of MIYAZAKI’S films featured in Japan’s 10 highest-grossing films, inspiring generations of both animation and live-action filmmakers in Japan and across the globe.

Written and directed by Miyazaki, the Studio Ghibli Inc. film centers around Mahito, a young boy, who lost his mother in a fire in Japan during the second world war.

The film creates an immersive experience as spectators go along with Mahito on his journey as he encounters the talking grey heron that claims his mother is still alive and living in an alternate world full of magic.

The film is full of MIYAZAKI’S signature favorites; the usual visual treats, such as odd-looking creatures, great-looking food, and gravity-defying flights.

The film also, to some extent, mirrors MIYAZAKI’S own background; his father worked for a company that produced parts of fighter planes and he was known to have a massively strong connection with his mother who evidently inspired a lot if his work.

MIYAZAKI and his team of creators followed a different approach when releasing this specific film; the long-awaited film was premiered without a trailer, promotion or any other information in advance except for a single poster and the fact that, despite it being MIYAZAKI’S original story, the title was taken from the book of the same name by Japanese children’s author YOSHINO Genzaburo.

The strategy is to start slow and build the audience over the coming weeks through word of mouth.

After the release of his previous work “The Wind Rises” in 2013, Miyazaki announced his retirement from creating a feature-length animation, but later ditched the announcement; the planning for the new film started in 2016 and went into full production in 2017.