A good, thoughtful review. I liked this a great deal, and whilst it delves into similar themes and ideas from Miyazaki's earlier work, I still think it works well in its own right. A lot of the weirder stuff I think is metaphorical (for example, the militaristic parakeets are intended to symbolise Imperial Japan) and obviously some of the plot points are autobiographical (Miyzaki's father was a manager in a munitions factory during the war, for instance).

My review is here, if you're interested. :)

https://medium.com/simon-dillon-cinema/film-review-the-boy-and-the-heron-5c667031a81f