Kimitachi wa Dou Ikiru ka

After losing his mother in a wartime fire, Mahito leaves Tokyo with his father and moves to his late mother’s rural family estate. His father soon marries Natsuko, her younger sister, who is expecting a child. Mahito cannot accept either his grief or his new place in the family, and his unease deepens when a persistent gray heron begins following him and eventually speaks.

The bird claims Mahito’s mother is still alive and lures him toward a mysterious tower near the estate. When Natsuko disappears inside it, Mahito has no choice but to follow. Beyond the tower lies a strange realm where life, death, memory, and creation overlap. Finding Natsuko becomes inseparable from confronting his loss and deciding how he intends to keep living.