Looking back on 2023 in the anime and manga world, the biggest topic of the year was “The Boy and the Heron,” globally acclaimed director Hayao Miyazaki’s first feature film in 10 years.

Released in July, the film is set in the closing days of World War II in Japan and is a fantasy about a boy wandering into a labyrinth after losing his mother.

The message is clear: You must come face-to-face with the conflicts and misfortunes of the world.

However, the story, which mixes up Miyazaki’s dreams and memories, sparked various discussions and interpretations.

The animated film has grossed about 8.6 billion yen ($60.5 million) at the Japanese box office as of Dec. 4.

Although it hardly matches up to past record-breaking hits, Studio Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki said, “It was able to recoup (its budget) even though it took seven years to make.”

The legendary studio also caused a stir when it was revealed during a news conference in September that it would become a subsidiary of Nippon Television Network Corp.

The two companies announced that while the broadcaster will handle the management of the studio, Miyazaki and Suzuki will continue producing anime works as in the past.

“I think Miyazaki will keep making films as long as he lives,” Suzuki said.

But will he start working on another project? The anime maestro will turn 83 on Jan. 5.

ANIME COMING OUT ON TOP

This year also continued with an unwavering trend seen in recent years where many anime films became mega-hits that surpassed the box-office hauls of live-action movies.

“The First Slam Dunk” raked in about 15.7 billion yen after it opened nationwide in December 2022.

“Detective Conan: Black Iron Submarine,” the 26th installment in the long-running film series that opened in April, crossed the 10-billion-yen threshold for the first time in the franchise as it grossed about 13.8 billion yen.

“The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” which was produced by Nintendo Co. in conjunction with a Hollywood studio, also chalked up about 14 billion yen in ticket sales after it was released in April.

REFLECTING ON WAR

“Birth of Kitaro: Mystery of GeGeGe,” which opened in theaters in November, may have been left in the dust by other anime blockbusters, but it left a lasting impression.

Inspired by the “GeGeGe no Kitaro” horror manga series by Shigeru Mizuki, the film focuses on a series of gruesome murders involving a long-established family against the backdrop of hunting “yokai” ghouls.

Set in Japan about 10 years after its defeat in the Pacific War, the riveting story introduces Mizuki, an embodiment of the manga author infused with his grueling battlefield experiences, to deliver an angry message against the state and its power.

“Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window,” which was released in theaters on Dec. 8 in Japan, is also shrouded in the shadows of war in the second half of the film.

Although “Godzilla Minus One” was a live-action movie released in November, the story is set immediately after Japan’s defeat in World War II, and the protagonist is a former kamikaze pilot.

It seems that many attempts were made this year to look back on the war to continue questioning what it meant. Could it have just been a coincidence?

FOREIGN CONTRIBUTIONS

Feature-length animated films from around the world are also gaining more attention in Japan.

The Niigata International Animation Film Festival, whose first installment was held in the Niigata prefectural capital in March, places the feature film competition at the core.

While it showcased many films worth seeing, the top Grand Prix award went to “Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman,” which was jointly produced by France and other countries based on Haruki Murakami’s short stories.

The Tokyo International Film Festival had only accepted Japanese titles for its animation category, but that changed from the 36th installment held this past fall, with foreign films accounting for the majority.

SEIZING LIFE

In general, animated TV shows adapted from manga works continued to be prominent, with original comic books also selling well.

This year, lesser-known works such as “Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End” and “Oshi no Ko” joined the ranks of mainstay offerings that included “One Piece,” “Jujutsu Kaisen,” “Spy x Family” and “Tokyo Revengers.”

Four manga series particularly stood out this year for their slice-of-life portrayals that truly resonated with readers.

The first volume of “Kanda Gokuracho Shokunin Banashi” (Stories of craftsmen in Kanda-Gokuracho), created by Akihito Sakaue and published by Leed Publishing Co., portrays a plaster worker, a swordsmith and other dedicated artisans working in Edo, or present-day Tokyo, with great focus and passion.

The pride and spirit of craftsmanship are expressed through pillars and beams in their workplaces giving off a black luster, as well as their well-used tools shining with a subtle gleam.

The first volume of “Diligent, Square, and Limber” by Kana Urbanowicz, offered from Leed Publishing, is also set in Edo.

Rendered with a soft and elegant touch, the manga features many episodes involving tofu, “tsukimi-dango” rice dumplings and other food items that depict the lives of common people, rich with seasonal allusions, who cherish their day-to-day routines.

A scene in which a character enjoys a hot bowl of noodles at a food stall on a riverbank during a night of heavy snow is exquisite.

Produced by comedian and cartoonist Taro Yabe based on ideas provided by Yoshiya Hasegawa, a doctor specializing in dementia, “Manga Boke-biyori” (“Manga: The perfect day for becoming senile”) is based on Hasegawa’s essays.

Released from Kanki Publishing Inc., the manga generously embraces people with dementia as their symptoms progress, while also showing due consideration for their struggling caregivers.

With Yabe’s drawing style fitting well with the subject matter, it is a heartwarming, humorous, touching and soothing story.

Miri Masuda’s “Tsuyukusa Natsuko no Issho” (“Life of Natsuko Tsuyukusa”) published by Shinchosha Publishing Co. sees the everyday life of a 32-year-old manga artist and that of the fictional world of her manga synchronize with each other to dig deep into little pieces of joy and the sorrows of life.

Incorporating the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the story also sheds light on the ephemerality and preciousness of a life taken for granted.

The comic unfolds in a matter-of-fact way with Masuda’s simple drawings, but the story leads to a shocking development near the end, so much so that readers can’t help but think they want to spend more time with their own loved ones.

Each of the four manga titles poses a question, from various angles, about how we should live our lives.