The Boy and the Heron (formerly How Do You Live?) is one of the most mysterious anime films Studio Ghibli ever produced over its 38 years of existence. Mostly due to the efforts of Hayao Miyazaki and his insistence on absolute secrecy for this latest and final anime film. He didn’t allow a single bit of promotional material. No trailers, no synopses, and not even a voice cast. Nothing. That is, until now. And even then, it’s a teaser for an upcoming teaser. Don’t believe me? Then why not check out that “pre-teaser” below, and be just as confused as I am for yourself?

The Boy and the Heron: Pre-Teaser Details

At least we kind of have a synopsis now…more or less.

GKIDS Films has just released this pre-teaser for The Boy and the Heron on YouTube. This teaser for the upcoming teaser contains…not much, really. There’s no images or video from the anime film at all in this pre-teaser. All we have are words appearing on the screen, but they are important words. Mostly because they’re the closest thing we have to a synopsis at this point. You can read a transcription of those words below:

A young boy named Mahito yearning for his mother ventures into a world shared by the living and the dead. There, death comes to an end, and life finds a new beginning.

A semi-autobiographical fantasy about life, death, and creation, in tribute to friendship, from the mind of Hayao Miyazaki.

So when will we get to see the actual teaser, you might ask? Well, the end of that pre-teaser for The Boy and the Heron reveals that said teaser (which is apparently a first look teaser) will finally drop on September 6, 2023. Not only that, but it will make its debut at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival in advance of the anime film’s international premiere as the Opening Night Gala to boot. Tune back in to THS on that date to see that first look teaser when we do.

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