The Boy And The Heron (君たちはどう生きるか/2023) is the much awaited animated film by Hayao Miyazaki, the first time that the co-creator of Ghibli Studio is returning in the role of director for a feature length film since The Wind Rises a decade ago.
Just like the gorgeous watercolor storyboards that he drew and painted for Ponyo On The Cliff and The Wind Rises, Miyazaki-san has also rendered many of his boards for The Boy And The Heron in luscious full color ( I estimate about 30% of the boards are in watercolor ), all collected in this 642 pages volume.
I have included a few pages below with more close-up crops so that you can fully appreciate the incredible details of his drawing and watercolor rendering. Most of the boards are accompanied by detailed scribblings that Miyazaki-san wrote; notes on camera movement, len sizes, animation performances and more.
(above) Just like the other Ghibli storyboard books the volume comes housed in a thin protective cardboard slipcase.
At the time of writing this review I’ve not had the good fortune of watching The Boy And The Heron yet here in Vancouver, Canada, but I hope in the near days to come I’ll have the chance to, and I’ll come back again to add some of my thoughts on the movie.
As far as the quality of this book and Hayao Miyazaki’s art is concerned, there is absolutely no doubt that they are excellent and I can wholeheartedly recommend this.
I am also planning to review the official art of book at a later time after I have had the chance to see the film.
The Boy And The Heron Ghibli Anime Storyboard Book 君たちはどう生きるか スタジオジブリ絵コンテ集 details :
– Dimensions – 8.27 x 5.83 x 1.46 inches
– 642 pages
– Soft cover with cardboard slipcase
– Full color, in Japanese
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The Art Of The Boy And The Heron Book Review
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Porco Rosso (Ghibli) Storyboard Art Book Review
Hayao Miyazaki And The Ghibli Museum Art Book Review Part II
Hayao Miyazaki And The Ghibli Museum Art Book Review Part I
November 29th, 2023 at 7:31 am
I also picked this up, and it’s so gorgeous. (like all of Miyazaki’s storyboards) I can’t wait to see the film in theatres as well. As a lifelong fan, I’m so excited.
Question, do you know why Miyazaki abandoned watercolour boards during the production of this film?
December 5th, 2023 at 9:45 am
Coffee – Hoping to catch it in the cinemas myself too ! What do you mean he abandoned watercolor storyboards ?
December 5th, 2023 at 10:37 am
Oh sorry. So with the boards for The Boy and the Heron, Section A is pretty much full colour, section B has colour, but less of it. By the time you reach section D, there is only a spare use of pencil crayons in a couple of shots, and most of it has the same tone as Miyazaki’s older storyboards. (graphite pencil with a bit of a light brown/yellow-ish pencil for shading)
December 5th, 2023 at 1:17 pm
Coffee – Oh yes, I was actually thinking about this too. My 2 guesses is that Miyazaki-san just got more and more busy as he worked on the boards and by the time he got to the end he no longer had the time to paint of all them; the other is that perhaps he only needed the earlier parts in color to flesh out the actual look that he wanted. But these are just guesses !