君たちはどう生きるか
The Boy and the Heron
While the Second World War rages, the teenage Mahito, haunted by his mother’s tragic death, is relocated from Tokyo to the serene rural home of his new stepmother Natsuko, a woman who bears a striking resemblance to the boy’s mother. As he tries to adjust, this strange new world grows even stranger following the appearance of a persistent gray heron, who perplexes and bedevils Mahito, dubbing him the “long-awaited one.” (Source: Letterboxd)
Names
| Original | 君たちはどう生きるか (japanese) |
|---|---|
| Romaji | Kimitachi wa Dou Ikiru ka |
| English | The Boy and the Heron |
| Chinese | 蒼鷺與少年 (traditional · via wikidata) |
| Also known as | How Do You Live? · Il ragazzo e l’airone · Chłopiec i czapla · Le Garçon et le Héron · Gutten og hegren · Pojken och hägern · Poika ja haikara · El chico y la garza · El niño y la garza · Der Junge und der Reiher |
Facts
| Format | Feature film · 1 ep · 124 min · 2h total |
|---|---|
| Aired | 2023-07-14 (Summer 2023) |
| Status | FINISHED |
| Studio | Studio Ghibli |
| Source | Original work |
| Origin | Japan (Anime) |
| Genres | AdventureDramaFantasySupernatural |
| Themes | Fairy TaleComing of AgeAnimalsAnthropomorphismAutobiographicalMale ProtagonistAdoptionHistoricalOrphan |
| Streaming | Netflix · Max |
Reception
| Community score | 7.81 / 10 |
|---|---|
| Bayesian score | 7.80 / 10 |
| Composite | 62.9 |
| On lists | 66,136 |
| Favourited | 1,627 (2.5%) |
| Completion | 96.8% |
| Drop rate | 0.3% |
| In backlog | 26.6% |
| Score spread σ | 1.49 |
| MyAnimeList | 7.60 / 10 |
Score distribution
11062673258446551,21962,58276,62289,02797,225103,297
Where it places
| Cohort | Value | Tier | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | Studio Ghibli | — | 8 of 18 |
| Broadcast season | Summer 2023 | B | 10 of 65 |
| Year | 2023 | B | 52 of 327 |
| Source material | Original work | A | 113 of 1,732 |
| Format | Feature film | B | 139 of 997 |
| Length | Movie | B | 139 of 997 |
| Season (all years) | Summer | A | 155 of 1,662 |
| Genre | Adventure | B | 178 of 1,534 |
| Genre | Supernatural | B | 204 of 1,234 |
| Genre | Fantasy | B | 221 of 2,142 |
| Era | Early 2020s | B | 233 of 1,596 |
| Genre | Drama | B | 398 of 1,917 |
| Origin | Japan | A | 684 of 7,157 |
Key staff
| Director | Hayao Miyazaki, Youji Takeshige, Atsushi Okui |
|---|
AniList id 109979 · MAL id 36699 · record updated 2026-08-27

