\n<\/p>\n
The year is 1997, and famed Studio Ghibli director Hayao Miyazaki\u00a0announced plans to retire following the release of\u00a0Princess Mononoke<\/em><\/a>, a film that set new records at the box office for Japanese animation and revolutionized the medium. The year is 2001, and Miyazaki announced plans to retire following the release of\u00a0Spirited Away,<\/em>\u00a0saying he can no longer work on feature-length animated films. The year is 2013, and Miyazaki announced plans to retire following the release of\u00a0The Wind Rises<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0saying that<\/a>\u00a0\u201cIf I said I wanted to [make another feature film], I would sound like an old man saying something foolish.\u201d<\/p>\n The year is 2023, and Miyazaki is an old man saying something foolish by releasing a new film, titled\u00a0How Do You Live<\/em>\u00a0in Japan and\u00a0renamed\u00a0The Boy and the Heron<\/em><\/a>\u00a0for the international market.<\/p>\n The point is, it\u2019s hard to say with any certainty whether this will truly be the moment when Hayao Miyazaki steps away from feature animation for good (he\u2019ll likely never step away from animation entirely, directing a new short for the Ghibli Museum during his last retirement,\u00a0Boro the Caterpillar<\/em><\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n