The Boy and the Heron

While the Second World War rages, the teenage Mahito, haunted by his mother's tragic death, is relocated from Tokyo to the serene rural home of his new stepmother Natsuko, a woman who bears a striking resemblance to the boy's mother. As he tries to adjust, this strange new world grows even stranger following the appearance of a persistent gray heron, who perplexes and bedevils Mahito, dubbing him the "long-awaited one."

• 
  Kazuyoshi Katayama
• 
  Shintarou Nakazawa
• 
  Chihiro Okada
• 
  Hayao Miyazaki

• 
  Soma Santoki
  Mahito Maki (voice)
• 
  Masaki Suda
  Gray Heron (voice)
• 
  Ko Shibasaki
  Kiriko (voice)
• 
  Aimyon
  Lady Himi (voice)
• 
  Yoshino Kimura
  Natsuko (voice)
• 
  Takuya Kimura
  Shoichi Maki (voice)
• 
  Keiko Takeshita
  Izumi (voice)
• 
  Jun Fubuki
  Utako (voice)
• 
  Sawako Agawa
  Eriko (voice)
• 
  Karen Takizawa
  Warawara (voice)
• 
  Shinobu Otake
  Aiko (voice)
• 
  Jun Kunimura
  The Parakeet King (voice)
• 
  Kaoru Kobayashi
  Noble Pelican (voice)
• 
  Shōhei Hino
  Granduncle (voice)