Legend Is Back: Everything You Need To Know About Hayao Miyazaki’s Last Movie How Do You Live
How Do You Live? is the cult animator's most mysterious project.
Even those unfamiliar with anime culture know the name of animation master Hayao Miyazaki. The movies he creates are full of magic and mystery. Water, air and various flying machines abound in almost all of Miyazaki's works: the director has been a fan of aviation since childhood.
For the past few years, Miyazaki has been working on the animation How Do You Live?, which has been delayed due to meticulous hand-painting, with artists releasing one minute of animation per month.
Miyazaki announced the start of work on the animation in 2016. According to the director's initial forecasts, the project was to be released before the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
During the production process it turned out that the animation would not be ready even for the new date of the Olympics, which was postponed by one year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Miyazaki's new movie follows Junichi Honda, a 15-year-old teenager whose outlook on life changes when he starts texting his uncle. As they discuss philosophical questions about human relationships, they learn a lot from each other.
The boy also reads a book called How Do You Live?, which has a significant impact on his world view.
The movie's title refers to the 1937 book of the same name by Genzaburo Yoshino. The animation is not based it, the book was only present in the plot and played an important role in the development of the main character.
There was also a decision not to advertise the anime at all, as viewers were tired of the commercials. In the interview, producer Toshio Suzuki revealed:
“I decided ‘Let’s go with just this one poster for the marketing.’ So, no trailers or TV commercials at all…No newspaper ads either. Deep down, I think this is what moviegoers latently desire.”
Hayao Miyazaki is a master who creates not just movies, not just anime, and not even just masterpieces. He creates phenomena.
Each of his animated movies is an entire world with its own rules, philosophy and idea. Through his universes, Hayao Miyazaki speaks to the viewers. What Miyazaki wants to talk about this time, we will find out very soon – How Do You Live? will be released in theaters on July 14, 2023.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter