If anime-loving time travelers from 2013 jumped forward a decade to 2023, would they be more surprised to see a new Hayao Miyazaki film in theaters — or learn that it wasn’t even the biggest hit of the year?
Ten years after he announced his retirement from filmmaking, the Studio Ghibli co-founder and Academy Award winner re-emerged this July with “The Boy and the Heron,” a box-office success that proved the 82-year-old auteur hasn’t lost his touch.
“The Boy and the Heron,” which Ghibli chose not to publicize — no pre-release trailer, promo stills, etc. — opened to critical acclaim and has so far earned ¥8.56 billion (roughly $58.2 million) in Japan. But while that’s a solid return, to see a Miyazaki film at anything less than No. 1 for the year — after all, of Japan’s 10 highest-grossing films of all time, three are Miyazaki’s — would make our time travelers scratch their heads.