The Boy and the Heron has the makings of a Hayao Miyazaki classic that we’ll rewatch many times. If the Ghibli movie left you with questions, here’s The Boy and the Heron ending explained.
Spoiler Warning: This article contains major spoilers about The Boy and the Heron anime film!
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Who Is Himi and What Does Her Appearance Mean?
When the main character, Mahito, his stepmother, and a maid named Kiriko enter the abandoned tower, they find themselves in an alternative reality. Kiriko is a younger version of herself while they also meet a girl named Himi.
Himi appears as a young woman with magical powers who helps Kiriko and Mahito in their adventure.
She and Mahito infiltrate a castle of parakeets to rescue Natsuko. Eventually, Himi is also captured by them and Mahito must save her.
In the end, when Mahito decides to return to his own world, Himi reveals that she can’t join him as she’s a younger version of his mother, who entered the castle as a child.
Like Kiriko, Himi/Hisako must return to her own timeline as the alternative would mean that Mahito would never be born.
The Boy and the Heron ending with a second separation from Hisako epitomizes Mahito’s grief but also shows that he’s finally ready to move on and accept Natsuko as his stepmother.
Moreover, it is suggested that through Himi, a part of Hisako lives on.
The Meaning of the Birds in The Boy and the Heron
The Boy and the Heron is full of birds, which can be a powerful symbol in literature and media. In Japanese and other East Asian mythologies, herons are associated with death.
The connotations aren’t necessarily negative, as they often take the role of intermediaries between the physical and the spiritual world, and some folk beliefs have them carry souls to the afterlife.
Therefore, it is quite fitting that a heron guides the bereaved Mahito into an adventure that reunites him with a younger version of his dead mother.
Interpreting birds as intermediaries between the living and the dead is somewhat confirmed due to the presence of the pelicans who serve as messengers of death for the unborn.
The beginning of life is always complicated, all the more so in a period of war, during which life is more fleeting by default.
The parakeets are a bit more complicated, as the birds don’t necessarily come with violent connotations. They're loving to each other and often seen nuzzling against each other.
Their place as antagonists in The Boy and the Heron might serve as a way to depict the irrevocable changes in a world ravaged by war.
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