How Do You Live? looks like it’s going to be very different from its source material.

Most of the time, the official Studio Ghibli Twitter account shares low-key yet artistic snapshots of knickknacks in the office or the views from its windows. On Tuesday morning, though, it instead posted a photo of Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki, accompanied by the simple message “Good morning.”

https://twitter.com/JP_GHIBLI/status/1602438148100800512

The exalted anime director, rather famously, isn’t all that fond of doing publicity projects, so it was kind of a surprise to see the camera focused so squarely on him. But it all made sense a few hours later when the account released the first-ever piece of key art for Miazaki’s upcoming brand-new movie.

https://twitter.com/JP_GHIBLI/status/1602558942231396353

Titled How Do You Live?, or Kimitachi ha Dou Ikiru ka? In Japanese, the feature-length theatrical anime shares its name with a 1937 novel by Japanese author Genzaburo Yoshino. However, while Yoshino’s book, and its 2017 manga adaptation by Shoichi Haga, are a coming-of-age story set in pre-World War II Japan, Ghibli’s How Do You Live? is going to be a fantasy action/adventure anime, and in addition to directing Miyazaki is credited for the anime movie’s script and “original creation.” It’s Miyazaki’s first full-length anime project since The Wind Rises, which was released in July of 2013.

The key visual, likely also to serve as the basis for the newest Studio Ghibli anime poster, features what at first appears to be a seagull-like animal, but a closer look shows a set of eyes under its beak, implying that this is either a creature with some very unusual anatomy or someone wearing the pelt of a much larger avian than we have in our world. The image’s text doesn’t provide any clues, as all it says is “A film by Hayao Miyazaki: How Do You Live?,” Thankfully, Studio Ghibli has also announced a release date for the film, July 14, 2023, so we don’t have too much longer to wait to uncover its mysteries.

Source: Studio Ghibli via IT Media, NHK News Web
Top image: Studio Ghibli
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