Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki has announced plans to retire multiple times throughout his career, but the master animator can never seem to tear himself away from his drawing table for very long. He is currently working on a new production tentatively titled ‘How Do You Live?’, which is based on a 1937 novel by Genzaburo Yoshino, an editor and children's literature writer.
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— スタジオジブリ STUDIO GHIBLI (@JP_GHIBLI) December 12, 2022
The original story is about a talented 15-year-old high school student called Junichi who turns to his uncle for support and wisdom after the death of his father. Through making journal entries and his frequent interactions with his uncle, Junichi's perspectives on relationships, ethics and life in general evolve over time.
— スタジオジブリ STUDIO GHIBLI (@JP_GHIBLI) December 13, 2022
While Studio Ghibli’s 2020 release ‘Earwig and the Witch’, directed by Miyazaki’s son Goro, was created using CGI, Miyazaki himself is notorious for his staunch dedication to hand-drawn animations, so we weren’t expecting this new title anytime soon. In fact, the last we checked, Miyazaki was reportedly working at a painstaking rate of one minute of animation per month.
According to a recent announcement from Studio Ghibli, however, Miyazaki’s adaptation of ‘How Do You Live?’ with composition from Joe Hisaishi is now set to be released in Japan on July 14 2023. We only have one key visual of the film so far, but we’ll keep you posted as more details are revealed.
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