The Boy and the Heron is most explicitly an attempt to rekindle the flame of Spirited Away, but in a more artistic and whimsical form. Many of the character designs and imagery are very similar, as is the dream-like quality of the story. With a little of Princess Mononoke and The Wind Rises mixed in, it's a story that borrows heavily and straddles the fantastical and the realistic in a way that's not quite as effective as Miyazaki's other films but still delivers emotional high points.

What caught my attention most during viewing was the way this film was edited. Ghibli's filmography is very well known for its serene, beautifully animated moments of quiet contemplation as much as its wonderfully put-together action. Most of the time, melding these scenes together follows a very traditional format of scene structure and continuity. In The Boy and the Heron though, there are very deliberate hard cuts to new environments. Going from extremely detailed scenes of climbing up rubble to a new scene with no establishing shot is very deliberate, an attempt to evoke the dream-like quality of the fantastical world. I hesitate to say it's effective, and in general makes the story all the more disjointed.

Some have observed that this story feels very much like short stories wedged together with common elements, but that's hardly unique among Japanese films - even this studio. However, comparing this version of that idea to, say, My Neighbor Totoro, there is a distinct lack of cohesion in the narrative which I think springs from the characters. There's far too much acceptance of the internal logic of the story which in general makes it all less fantastical. Our characters are never astounded by the way things are presented and their character traits don't tie that much into the world. Nor do their stories have long arcs, we just get very sudden character beats which are high on emotion but less on feeling. The plot just kind of happens rather than follows a firm arc. And often a lot of stuff just doesn't happen because there's an interruption to the natural story flow.

All that being said, I think this film is still a worthwhile exploration of its core themes. The world is very intriguing, even if it strays more towards a "kid-oriented" film than any Ghibli movie since Ponyo. (I wouldn't say it's kid-friendly for one scene in particular, but then again I was watching a lot of Ghibli films very young.) The emotions it is able to hit, it hits hard. Character acting is up to its usual standard, the comedy hits pretty well, of course the environmental art is remarkable. It does well in pulling you in for the ride and it is certainly never boring. The slow setup at the start of the movie really does build to something worthwhile, even if some of the "realistic" details feel a bit like filler rather than fleshing out the conflict of the world.

The Boy and the Heron straddles the line between a movie where it's best to not think about it too much and one that's perhaps overly intellectual. It has more in common with avant garde film than what has come to expect from this director and studio, while also being less focused on clear, adult themes. There's a magic to it and plenty of satisfaction from following the story, just with not a lot of energy behind it to truly take flight. Enjoy the bizarre, be surprised, and take what you will from its fantastic portrayal of the abstract.