Anime 49303 Alice To Therese No Maboroshi Koujou Reviews

Review summary: Fantastic MAPPA art work. The story is difficult to understand. But a story you can't get anywhere else.
Who should see it: Interested in story that closed space and feelings. Or People who have seen Mari Okada's past works.

(+) Fantastic Art Work
Produced by MAPPA. The worldview, the description of the steel mill, the expressions of the characters, everything was wonderful. If you've seen the trailer, Fantastic Art work continues from beginning to end. If you know MAPPA, I would recommend watching the movie.
This story is set in January 1991. I'm glad that the scenery from my childhood has been clearly captured in a movie. ... Example, Beverage vending machines and shopping streets.

(+) music
In addition to fantastic art work, it was a wonderful music. It expresses a closed space and feelings. It's close to the character. And, Miyuki Nakajima's ending theme song is wonderful as a closing song for the story. Even if it's translated into another language, I hope it reaches as many people as possible. This is a song that hopes to overcome many things and move forward strongly into the future.

(-) difficult story
It was impossible for me to understand everything about the setting of the story the first time. (I found it cathartic, but my thoughts remained confused). Looking at Japanese reviews, many said that it was difficult to understand. I read guess in many reviews and finally understood the whole story.

(+) The actions that result from the feeling of love are strongly expressed
After understanding the overall story, I watched the movie again. An atmosphere filled with the feelings of many characters. The actions that result from the feeling of love are strongly expressed. Run through that atmosphere with strong force towards the ending. The second viewing was satisfying.

How should I introduce this movie? If I were to compare this movie, I would think of "Kumo no Mukou, Yakusoku no Basho". The reason for this is not only the character, but also the area is closed. However, this movie is more damp, dark, and horror-like.

Some Japanese reviewers have tried to understand this work from Mari Okada's past works and her autobiography, "From the time I couldn't go to school until I wrote Anohana and Kokosake". If anyone wants to know more about the work, look for it. You can see that the director's personality is too strong in this work.
It's good things that the director's personality is reflected in the works. The problem is that the story and setting are difficult to understand.

I wasn't sure whether to Recommended or Mixed Feelings, but I decided to recommend it. I don't think it's a movie at the general public. Is there any value in a movie if you can't understand it in one viewing? However, if you are interested, I recommend watching this movie. It has strong power. I'm sure some MAL members will rate this movie highly. I hope that more people will see it and the discussion on the forum will grow.

What the fuck did I just watch?

The Good:
The only redeeming qualities from this was the amazing art by MAPPA and the insert songs which is the only reason its not a 1. In my opinion I feel like this movie was just a side project for the animators to flex their skills and they just decided to tack on a story afterwards as a passing thought.

The Bad:
I think I got an aneurysm trying to understand the plot, this was more confusing then the last season of Attack on titan. The movie just tries to introduce way too many plot points, and there are also gaping ... plot holes i.e where the town is getting food and gasoline when they are in an isolated bubble which was never explained in the movie mind you. All the relationships feel so forced and go through more fluctuation in the period of 2 hours then the amount of times I said "what the fuck is happening?" while watching this movie (I said it a lot). The characters are so bland and the father of the MC and his brother are basically indistinguishable as characters as well as most of the posse around the MC with the generic comedic relief and the serious guy as well as the annoying girls who hate being with "the boys" but still stick around them?

The Ugly:
Overall the plot is just so convoluted in a way that it just feels tacked together. The pacing is way off too, it is way too fast in the beginning and doesn't take time to explain anything and the ending feels slow. They try to pass on some generic "life is beautiful because you get hurt" and "our good and bad emotions should be embraced and accepted thing" but the only execution is just so horrible and again feels very forced. I was actually hyped for this when I saw the trailer and the amazing art but boy was this a let down, they managed to fumble such an amazing premise and world building and do absolutely fuck all with it.To preface I love shows where they don't tell you everything and are a little confusing such as Evangelion and Sonny Boy but this show was just on another level of stupidity. Complete waste of 2 hours I'm never getting back do not watch if you value your time!

Oh, Mari Okada, I wish I knew how I felt about you as a creator. After her theatrical debut with Maquia: When The Promised Flower Blooms, she's back in the director's seat with a brand new movie, Maboroshi, or if you wanna use its Japanese title, Alice and Therese's Illusion Factory. No, I don't know why the Japanese title is so strange. I read something about how the names Alice and Therese, when said in Japanese together, also pronounce the name Aristotle in their language, which makes you wonder why they didn't just call it Aristotle's Illusion Factory, especially since there are no characters named ... Alice and Therese in the film, but I digress. Anyway, Mari Okada is pretty prominent in the anime circle, and people tend to be divided on what she works on or creates. Some like her stuff, others hate it, and some are mixed. There are anime she's worked on that I really love, such as AnoHana, Maquia, and Anthem of the Heart, but also titles that I'm really not a fan of, such as A Whisker Away, A Lull In The Sea, and Hanasaku Iroha. If you get the chance, I highly recommend you read her autobiography, as it's really enlightening and fascinating. Now that Maboroshi is out (I'm going to refer to it by the official English title that Netflix gave it for the sake of brevity)...unfortunately, I don't feel this movie is as good as Maquia. Someone on a blog I follow described it best, that Maboroshi is the most Mari Okada movie ever made, with all of her indulgences and writing tropes concentrated into one movie. Not gonna lie, they're absolutely right, and unfortunately, this isn't one of her better movies, which is a shame because there is a lot to like about it!

14-year-old Masamune Kikuiri is your average middle school kid who likes hanging with his friends and practicing drawing in his rural Japanese town. One day, an explosion at the local steelworks factory literally shatters the sky as if by magic, cutting the town off from the rest of Japan. Time is literally frozen. Nobody ages or grows old, the seasons never change, there's no new forms of entertainment, the world has truly become static. Everyone trudges on, hoping the world will right itself, but nothing changes. One day, Masamune has an unpleasant encounter with his mysterious classmate Mutsumi Sagami, who sneaks him into the abandoned factory to show him something...or rather, someone: A feral girl she's been taking care of in secret, whom Masamune names Itsumi. Upon getting to know her and the circumstances surrounding her imprisonment, Masamune discovers that Itsumi's existence might just be the key to figuring out why the town is in the state that its in. But some people fear what could happen if things change, doing all they can to keep the kids from helping Itsumi.

Gentle reader, I ask you, did you ever read that Ursula K. Le Guin book The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas and wonder why nobody in the book bothers to just rescue the abused child from their imprisonment? Mari Okada decided to actually do just that, taking that one question and building the whole house around it, which forms the backbone of Maboroshi. The story is actually the most interesting part about this movie, really going deep into examining just what being stuck in a truly static world and never physically changing does to a person and a whole community. Imagine being an elderly person who struggles with daily tasks who can't even die, or a pregnant woman whose child will never be born. It also explores what happens when people look to those who seem like they have the answers, even if the person in question is a crazy old coot whose explanations have no real basis in logic. Gee, that totally doesn't remind me of a cult leader or anything. The implications behind the world these people live in are really terrifying and depressing if you think about them, which is obviously intentional on the movie's part. Using all this to craft a story about the fear of change and the difference between making the best out of a bad situation and simply resigning yourself to it is done really well here.

The stellar animation and deliberately 90s music also really helps bring this dilapidated, static town to life, making it into a character of its own. Yes, Maboroshi is firmly set in the nineties on purpose, and kudos to the movie for really putting a lot of care into recreating that time period down to the last detail. Oh, and I bet you're wondering why the singer they brought on to sing the ending song has such an...interesting voice. Remember how in Maquia, Mari Okada really wanted to have Bravely Default veteran Akihiko Yoshida to do the character designs for the movie because she really liked his work? For Maboroshi, according an article on ANN, Okada personally asked popular singer Miyuki Nakajima to create an original song just for the movie because she really loved her songs, and the reason her voice sounds so distinct and unlike most of what you hear in anime movies is because Nakajima is 71 years old. I admit I'm not familiar with Nakajima's work besides Shin-On, but the fact that she's still singing well into her seventies is pretty amazing.

God, you have no idea how much I wish I could have liked this movie more than I do. The basic set-up is interesting, and I actually cared about Itsumi's plight. Unfortunately, the characters and how Okada uses them are the movie's biggest weakness. I thought the male lead, Masamune, was fine as a character. Not the most three-dimensional, sure, but he has his reasons for doing what he does and his insecurities and frustrations are relatable. However, other than him and Itsumi, none of the other characters are in any way interesting or compelling whatsoever, and there are several that feel really out of place in this movie. I really could have done without that pervy fat kid and his antics. This also leads into one of Okada's biggest weaknesses as a writer: For some reason she has this bad tendency to shove pointless love triangles/polygons in the stuff she works on, even when having them would feel really out of place and on characters that she really doesn't bother to develop or flesh out. There's a girl in the movie whose only reason for existing is to tell Masamune she has a crush on him, and for a really dumb reason at that, and to be fridged just to get the main conflict going, and I really couldn't give a shit about her because the movie never bothered to flesh her out beyond the fact that she has a crush on Masamune. Plus, I really didn't like Mutsumi as a character, and the fact that the movie introduces her by having her show her panties to Masamune just to give them a reason to interact is just...gross. You literally could have done anything else just to get them to talk to one another. Hell, Mutsumi spends a lot of her time being mean to Masamune and dragging him into her problems, with Masamune rightfully calling her out on her behavior a lot of the time...and then later in the movie they're suddenly in love and falling all over themselves for each other. And I'm sorry, but I could not buy their romance at all. Not only did they hardly ever spend time with one another for there to be any romantic or even friendly chemistry between them whatsoever, Mutsumi spends so much of the movie being a bitch that I really couldn't see why Masamune would even fall in love with her in the first place. Every attempt at romance in this movie seems thrown in there just for the sake of shoving in some contrived drama when they could easily be cut out to make for time to actually develop the characters. You could literally cut most of the side characters out of the movie and it'd probably be better off.

And for as much as I like the overall story for this movie, a lot of the conflict stems from people acting like arrogant pricks who can't use their heads for one second or even refusing to do really basic things that could have been resolved things right then and there. There's so many plot threads left hanging and basic questions the movie just flat-out doesn't answer because it's more concerned about having every character fall in love than actually doing something. Man, it sucks that I couldn't enjoy this movie more, because it does have some genuinely great stuff in it, and I think its great that Mari Okada is being allowed to do more of what she wants as a creator. I certainly hope she gets to do more things after this. But I and other people find that her works tend to be better when she has someone to reign her in sometimes or if she just cuts the needless romantic drama bullshit. So yeah, I prefer Maquia over Maboroshi, as the latter is a little too preoccupied with pointless drama to care much about character development or really making full use of its potential. But that's not to say Maboroshi doesn't have anything to offer, like I mentioned above. If you like the movie, more power to you. Maboroshi isn't the best or worst thing Okada made, and I hope the next movie she makes is successful. Oh, and I recommend you watch the English dub, both because it is genuinely very good, and because they cast an actual child actress to play Itsumi, which makes her sound far more authentic and bearable to listen to compared to putting up with the literal auditory nightmare that is Misaki Kuno's squeak toy voice.

This opinion will have spoilers and I am going to divide it into 3 points, the animation, the plot and the message.

First speaking of the audiovisual, it is crazy, all the details are very careful, it has incredible fluidity, backgrounds to match and what would stand out the most is the color palette and the good use they gave it to emphasize and elevate many moments , they knew how to convey the despair of the world very well and they also knew how to highlight the small happy moments that the characters can have. As for the music, it is well implemented and thanks ... to it it accompanies different emotional moments very well.

Regarding the plot, it could be said that it is similar in several ways to Alice in Wonderland, but this time the point of view we have is that of someone inside the place and not that of the person who is lost. The narrative of the film seemed abstract to me, they leave us some clues in a tenuous way and this may mean that not many people understand everything 100% when watching it for the first time, but I do think that the message is clear.

I personally liked the message, it is an optimistic message since what the author wants to tell us is that although we do not have a future, objective or a clear goal, we should try to continue improving, getting excited, having fun in the same way, the example is like Masamune He considers this and decides to look for variants within the static life he was leading, an example could be the relationship he establishes with Mutsumi, improving as an illustrator even though he did not have a clear goal or having fun with his friends despite everything, we can also see How there are people who take advantage of circumstances like this to gain status despite everything. Another thing that I liked is the temporal reference to what is called in Japan as “The Lost Decade” since the film is initially set in 1991 and there is a very interesting dialogue from Masamune's grandfather in which he emphasizes that what This reality is not a punishment, but rather the gods encapsulated the happiest moment of the town before it ends.

It is an optimistic message about the search for identity, the growth and expansion that we can have as people and never losing the feeling of being alive.

A contrast that I liked was how those who were trapped wanted to escape from the reality they were living in order to find their reason for loving life and how the visitor found what he loved within this place and wanted to stay.

In my own interpretation, the movie aims to show that life is not essentially a search for happiness or control; life is a search for meaning. When we give ourselves a cause to serve or another person to love, we become more human, and we love ourselves more. The movie represents love as a power that offers the experience of dreaming and helps you escape loneliness. The world needs love. The power of love is what can help you survive. Love is about wisdom. Love is what makes our hearts live and beat. The movie succeeded in addressing the theme of love and showing its ... importance and how it gives meaning to our lives. While it is true that love has a bright side, on the other hand, it also has a dark side that can break your heart and destroy your own life.

Why is this so Underrated?

By Far the best Anime Movie I have seen to date, this including big named Ghibili Films from Miyazaki, Shinkai films, Kon’s Psychological films, etc.
one of the best Mappa Works ever produced.
One of the Best animations.
One of the Best coming of age stories.
Very very very great job done Netflix.

I don’t wanna go to in-depth here, Just really wish this gets out to more people who also see it for the beauty that it is. I know it’s a recent work from late 2023 but still.

I know recall how this anime was hyped up even since 2022 where I ... seen few glimpses of clips and edits from trailers/teasers and really wanted to see it then but it was yet to be made. Over time I forgotten about it and now when I opened up Netflix not knowing that this was the same anime from that clip I seen a few years ago, I thought it looked interesting and gave it a watch and when I came to that scene (yeah that scene of them running and falling on top of each other in the rain/snow or whatever) I was like “OHHHH its this” and it just clicked to me and on top of having a splendid animation, good plot, decent cast and characters, the thematic elements of the story are carried out so well and balanced in tones. Everything about this movie was great and there really isn’t much for me to complain about.

The trailer for Mari Okada’s latest project implied something amazing. Moody and high concept, with beautifully rendered backgrounds, smooth animation, and a killer soundtrack. It had the makings of a masterpiece, and a great studio to back it up.

When it quietly released on Netflix this January, I was excited to watch, though its score caused some trepidation. Indeed, all those elements the trailer promised are here in some form. If this film succeeds in any regard, it is aesthetically.

Okada’s direction is sharp as ever here, as is every other aspect of the production. Its soundtrack is consistently strong, though misapplied occasionally. The voice ... actors all give good performances, and the sound editing is as good as any other theatrical release. While it doesn’t quite measure up to Ghibli and CoMix Waves’ latest offerings, it's an impressive achievement for a back boiler MAPPA project.

Where the film falters is its script. Okada is a fairly consistent scriptwriter, and she’s shown both inventiveness (Maquia) and ability to execute on convention (A Whisker Away). This script is no doubt her most ambitious, and it falls short in a few key ways.

The characters aren’t great, particularly the side characters. I couldn’t tell you their names. I’m an advocate for the fat comic relief side character, but this film’s is more annoying than funny. He cracks maybe one funny joke across the whole runtime. One side romance is bizarre and left completely unresolved. The villain is never a legitimate threat, he almost gets beat up by children more times than he thwarts the protagonists. Among our three leads, there’s one uncomfortable spoilery relationship I can’t get into. The female MC’s main character traits are lying all the time and refusing to disclose key information. She's frustrating to watch, though her arc eventually leaves her in a better place. To give credit where it’s due, the character designs are all great. I may not remember their names, but their faces will stick with me.

The plot is extremely confusing. As far as I can tell, a town is trapped in a purgatory-like state of stagnation following a disaster at the town’s steel mill. None of the residents age, and time does not pass. That much isn’t hard to understand, but the film insists on burying this information forty minutes into the runtime, well past the time we should be invested in the story.

I’m accustomed to strange plot structures, but this one creates a big problem. Rather than building emotional investment in the characters in the first hour, the audience is left grasping at straws trying to piece together what the hell is going on. Once we’re told directly, things only get more confusing. The climax is borderline incoherent, though speaking any further would get into spoiler territory.

All of this confusion may work in a more abstract setting, but this film’s otherwise straightforward plot demands the audience understands the specifics. This confusion eventually reaches a breaking point. The audience realizes they’re not going to figure it out, and all emotional investment goes out the window.

A particular recurring element unintentionally mirrored my experience. At the very beginning, we hear a radio DJ replying to viewer messages. The characters ignore the broadcast. This plays again at the very end, and the main character yells at the questioners about the joy of living. This was meant to hammer home the film’s themes, but instead served as a powerful moment of catharsis. I was yelling at my TV at this point, frustrated by the unanswered questions and strange writing decisions. Both I and the MC had arrived at the same point, yelling about the absurdity of the media we were consuming. At that point I just laughed.

I tried to like this, I really did, but the plot lost me. Even so, I can’t help but respect the attempt. Okada could have pulled back, written a conventional tearjerker script, and I’d have probably loved it. She chose an impossible challenge instead.

Though it ended a glorious dumpster fire, I respect the effort. This is worth a watch if you care about Okada, just be prepared for disappointment.

Alice to Therese no Maboroshi Koujou feels like an anomaly in the modern anime world.

Despite being produced by arguably the most well-known animation studio currently in the game (MAPPA) and written / directed by one of the greatest living authors in the Slice of Life-genre (Mari Okada), this movie has had almost zero marketing or "hype" behind it. Its theatrical release in Japan came and went without much fanfare, until Netflix eventually bought the rights to it and decided to all but shadow-drop it on their platform. No one I talked to even knew this movie was coming out, which makes its "non-existence" in the ... public eye all the more confusing to me, especially considering how good it actually is.

First up, let's touch on the story. The story is... good, but convoluted. If you've read or seen a Mari Okada work before, you'll know more or less what you're in for: sharp dialogue, introspective characters, a mystery element that is somehow both well-defined and not explained much at the same time. The pacing is race-car fast - the movie expects you to pick up on certain concepts very quickly, and does not slow down to re-explain or hammer home things you may have missed. Multiple viewings may be necessary for certain people in order to fully understand what is going on at all times, but that shouldn't be much of a problem when the whole thing looks and sounds THIS GOOD.

Because yes, of course the movie looks phenomenal. We're talking Makoto Shinkai "Your Name" levels of animation quality here, but you already knew that, because the movie is made by MAPPA, and if there is one thing MAPPA consistently gets right, it's the visuals. I shudder to think how hard the animators must have worked on some of the segments here, because they're truly spectacular - easily up there with some of the highest-quality and most striking movie animation ever produced in the medium.

The music is good, if not a touch unmemorable. The main theme is recognizable but not catchy, and does its job well enough. It immerses you in the scene and elevates the action, which is the most important thing for a soundtrack to do. I'm not likely to listen to it on my own time outside of the movie, but I liked it as a companion piece.

I'm hesitant to write much more here out of a fear of spoiling things for any potential viewers - because I genuinely do want you to watch this movie. It's a beautiful piece of artwork full of heart from a studio at the top of its game, likely produced at the cost of its creators' own health (it's no secret that MAPPA treats its employees like shit.) And despite having a story that can, at times, be a little confusing and convoluted, it contains a very human tale of what it means to love something in the face of absolute despair, and the human spirit's ability to persevere against all odds.

So do yourself a favor and don't sleep on this like everyone else is doing - I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

“Being alive here is painful, but together with you make it less painful”

Story 7.5/10

A story of desperation and love in the world that is hopelessly lost.

I’m never a fan of high abstract plot like Bubble and the Floating Apartment one, which I thought was pretty bad and a wasted potential with no message to say.

Yet, Maboroshi, I manage to understand the whole plot on my first viewing and understand the message it tryna say pretty well. The story does create a good parallel for us to learn in real life which I thought a high abstract story never manage to do.

Still though I wish for ... a more world building on how the mechanic work and how life were before and after the story that takes place so I could feel more satisfied.

Visual 10/10

This is MAPPA’s original movie that took 4-5 years to make. It should be no surprise that this is their best-looking work yet. The best aspect has to be the background art direction and the CGI integration which was flawless.

Music 8/10

Many track beautifully fit for the moment to establish the sense of mystery and love.

Overall 8/10

This will be a complicated watch that will require your attention. Yet, I thought it was unique and has a great message to say in the end anyway, the things that similar type of abstract plot simply failed to do.

It is a movie animated by Mappa and created/script written by Okada Mari. It is hard to say if it's a good or bad title, I can see the idea where it was about to go, but it didn't. I would say it would be way better in a 24+ episodes TV series with expanded takes on few stuff with a higher focus on characters and on smaller plot events.

If I would have to tell in nutshell what the story is about, it can be understood as philosophical approach, or at least I would search one plot message in this, as with the direct story ... shown.

I will begin with direct story which we follow through without overthinking, it is a story of living in a town Mifuse in which time has stopped, people still live there but they are isolated from everything else and it was supposed to keep like that. Our main character Masamune is a Middle Schooler experiencing life as a growing up kid while encountering few nuances related to the time stopping theme. While in reality the movie focuses mainly on a romantic story of him and one of the girls. The romance approach is kinda specific, I would even find here some themes related to a classic Romeo and Juliet, of love which isn't accepted, here by characters aswell as they still enforce it by just showing specific views of "reality", which you might say is the outside world in the parallel Mifuse which is the represantation of everything if the time hasn't stopped.

The philosophical approach which I would like to search it here as it would make the movie better. It portrays a fear of future and the desire to keep everything the same as it is, alot of people experience such thoughts and little fear, especially in the time of growing up or just right before we encounter the known changes, such as changing school, moving to another city, beginning job career, you might call out many stuff. The movie focuses on Middle Schoolers with little help of the adults showing the fear of future and what it might bring to you. Those who has accepted the incoming changes of the future acquire the "shattered/broken heart" in that movie. Which would fit a little bit of showing how "perfect" the future could be in that "reality" which in reality would be a fake image, an ilusion, while thinking that the real Mifuse is an ilusion. The character by thinking like that they would not understand how to achieve the future shown as a "real world" and they be afraid of how to approach it, while later understanding that nothing is that perfect even the visionary future.

Does it make sense to have such approach to a movie, I don't know, but I would like to take a different look at it, maybe that theme would be little different but I can't describe it or explain it in better words, for which I am sorry.

The animation for the current year is I would say decent.
Music is fine
Characters are the biggest flaw here, which is why I would make it longer. Outside Masamune, his fater, his uncle, Mutsumi and Itsumi there aren't any scenes to make any attachments to other characters: Senba, Hara, Nitta, Sonobe, Mamoru etc. While the show itself is trying to make it a little bit emotional or some scenes related to them, but there are no possible attachments so the audience, including me, won't care what is happening to them, either for happy or sad scenes.
Plot well as mentioned above.

So I will leave here 2 ratings for Direct and Philosophical approach seperately, how you'll understand or try to view at this movie, I can't guide anyone which is better/proper way, so that is up to you.

If it's a direct approach for a romance, than it is a 5/10, it is just average. The animation as for 2024 is fine, but it isn't anything above that considering that it is a movie in which we usually expect a higher quality, the plot might be confusing most likely to being too short, characters are bland, so if there isn't any deeper meaning in a movie, than 5 is the maximum I can give it.

If it has a deeper philosophical meaning, which I might misunderstood at first view, maybe a rewatch would be more helpful, not sure if I actually want to rewatch it. Than here we can speak for at least a 6/10 as the story will give a little bit more values, but it will still lack due to being too short, if the story would be lengthen by at least one more hour and try to focus at some scenes, events and especially characters than it could be a way better movie than it is for now.

The story feels incomplete, like they had an idea for a movie and just ran with it without having an actual story to tell.

Story 5/10
There is no story, just an idea for one. The story had potential to be decent but just doesn't deliver. There are countless instances where content is missing between scenes, or so it feels.

Art 8.5/10
Beautiful art and good animation, just not quite movie quality. There is nothing to complain about. Near the end, some of the car scenes looked somewhat funny, but it's not a big deal.

Sound 9/10
Great voice acting fitting of the characters. Other sounds such as environmental ones are ... also really good. The soundtrack is just amazing, especially the ending song by Miyuki Nakajima, easily one of the best anime songs of 2023.

Characters 6/10
Most characters are there to just fill the room, but the important ones fill their purpose.

Enjoyment 6/10
The way the story progresses really hinders with the enjoyment, but with the art and music being so great it's still fun to watch most of the time. Kind of a drag at the beginning, but fine the rest of the way through.

Overall 6.5 ≈6/10
Won't miss much by not watching, but no actual reason to refrain from watching. At the very least give the ending a listen.

The second i finished this movie, i knew i had to write a review! oh myy gosh! What a WORLD BUILDING, It sucks you inside of it, The plot, events in the story, depth in charecters, animation, World creation, environment, Vibes, Emotions, Philosophy and the climax dude. This type of movie comes once in a decade. I saw some guys writing review on 'mal' that it has so many plot points and his weak brains couldn't understand whats going on, im like dude you are incompetent to understand the movie just go and watch boruto and shit, and thats the reason why i dont watch ... any anime or movies based on their rating and reviews. This movie takes you on a trip make your heart shatter, but will also fill your guts with a magical hope that is worth any wisdom i can ever get about life. Genuinly the charecters were so lively, so natural i never once realized its just some animations born out of someone's imagination. Every charecter was built unique and different and again so LIVELY, The story was so amazing any information will lead to a spoiler so i will avoid that.

Ignore the hate. It’s a solid movie. Great art, great sound, feel good storyline and most importantly great characters. People are trying to find “logical” flaws everywhere but forget to realize this is a work of fiction and it should be enjoyed as such. Kick back, relax and enjoy :)

The story was not predictable. Art style was beautiful, and loved the detail in minor things. Sound design was also awesome.

I seriously think you all will enjoy it as long as watch it for what it is and not what it isn’t. If you want something scientifically accurate watch a documentary or National Geographic.

Okada’s work is always so difficult to talk about. She blends surrealism with melodrama and conventional narrative tropes in a way that completely absorbs you in the beauty of her worlds, without sacrificing mainstream accessibility or emotional edge. Often it can come across as underdeveloped or lacking in cohesion (or even just generic), but generally I’ve always managed to find a personal connection somewhere within her stories, although I understand that they don’t work for everybody.

Maboroshi, like the rest of her work, really struggles to hold itself together sometimes, but at its best moments it’s absolutely brimming with passion. Its contemplative reflection on the ... human condition, on the nature of love and ultimately on motherhood is just so Okada. Her direction has gotten much stronger since Maquia, and my god the art style and world building are just stunning; like virtually all of my Okada experiences (excluding Toradora), it’s so hard not to love.

On a side note, anime fans do this thing that I really hate where they attribute all of a film or series’s best features to the studio that produces it. Maboroshi is not great because it is MAPPA, nor does it look good because it is MAPPA. It’s great because Okada’s usual team poured their talent into it for 5 long years; I suppose film fans do this too with stuff like A24, but the point is that it’s a misleading form of praise that neglects the artists involved.

What an infuriating waste of potential.
Aesthetically, Maboroshi is, like most anime films, competent:better than average acting (at least with the Japanese audio), good music (when they bother to have it) and mostly good art, though there's nothing special compared to the many, many other anime films with similar production values (and at times the art doesn't seem to match well with the script-the main character is referred to multiple times as being particularly feminine for a boy, and the only indicator of this is his unremarkable mid-length hair.) So, there's nothing special there. Which leaves the story to carry the bulk of the film, ... and boy, is it frustrating.
The basic concept for the story is great; a mysterious explosion traps a small Japanese town in a timeless state, with a cracked sky annually repaired by a strange being of smoke emanating from the broken steelworks. There's a few ways the story could have played out: a Stand By Me style adventure story with a group of young boys trying to escape this dreadful purgatory straight out of Bruce Springsteen's nightmares while the conservative adults are willing to while away eternity doing nothing, or maybe a horror approach could work, with the towns strange denizens, like the bizarre and off-putting Sagami family that runs the local shrine, eventually turning the town into a Fatal Frame/SIREN-esque Shinto horror show. Both ideas seemed to be toyed with by the film before being discarded, alongside countless other potential plot threads or characters. What is the film actually like?
Well, for a start, it is abysmally paced, even for the very low standards of anime films. Usually, said films feel way too fast, cramming a series worth of information into feature length, which ends up leaving everything feeling underdeveloped and shallow. Maboroshi has the exact same problem due to the exact opposite approach-IT IS LONG. AND SLOW. At nearly two hours, the film drags, and drags, and drags and only picks up a modicum of steam at the halfway point, and by then the vague characterization and details light plot have likely worn away your patience. And its all in service to themes and characters that are, at best, yet another nostalgic, bittersweet reflection on youth and coming of age, which is essentially the description of every anime film made in the past 20 years or more and has long since outworn its welcome, while at worst, the film is a pretentious collection of melancholic scenes of longing and confusion and all that melodramatic crap barely connected by shallow, incoherent characters who act more in service to overwrought metaphors and imagery than anything approaching actual human motivations.
Even if you think you'd manage to connect with the navel-gazing and underwritten plot, I feel the need to reiterate just how slow the film is. It is absolutely not worth your time. You can get the same kind of atmosphere, ephemeral feeling and existential themes from a 20 minute episode of Kino's Journey, and that also has guns and a talking motorcycle, so there is absolutely no reason to waste your precious time with a film that, fittingly, feels like it's frozen in time and never going anywhere.

Mari Okada's inherent knack for the melodramatic surprisingly assumes a lesser role than usual, and instead, she opts for a thought experiment of sorts, choosing to exhaust all of htrer previous ideas around pure coming-of-age thematics. maboroshi is immersed in itself, willingly sifting through fluctuating narrative focus, completely engrossed in the microcosm of identity, or rather, the search for it. I'm fond of Okada's scope in this film, and while it's not her strongest piece of individual character writing (that would be her directorial debut), this breathes new optimism into values humanity has always held in high regard. The excitement of growth and the broadening ... of one's horizons are predominant in the assertive nature of the screenplay. I would argue the film's greatest strength is firmly retaining its frenetic survivalist tendencies throughout its runtime, particularly because the leads rarely cave into the despair of circumstance. The cast is diverse; some are beyond eccentric, crafting a holistic angle on the tumultuous fantastical disaster that the quiet industrial town is faced with.

maboroshi's structure is slightly unorthodox, and the plot slowly answers certain questions at unlikely times, maybe even slipping past an unattentive viewer. It's an interesting mechanic because practically nothing is left unrevealed, albeit the bits of context may boast differing levels of clarity, yet nonetheless, there is indeed an explanation for the mental turmoil stirred by supernatural phenomena. I found the themes of divine punishment to be a clever contrast to the film also posing realistic justifications, and both sides may be mere sophistry disguising the irreversible illusion of time. The viewer's inability to discern the legitimate relationship between the steel factory and the film's ultimate premise is part of the intended goal, as we're aware of the cause and effects but not quite the tangible connection. This approach to abstract leitmotifs is far from Okada's style; on the contrary, she's literal about interpersonal struggles. Whereas this film is much more reserved for the greater part of the first two acts, underpinning a portrait of collective solitude while simultaneously redefining the term.

From what I understand, unlike her prior works that precariously explore similar areas of insecurity, maboroshi is significantly more personal. There is a sense of intimacy that she applies to the script, their blank stares, and the roaring intensity of suffocating in open space. Okada's 2018 autobiography, From Truant to Anime Screenwriter, describes herself as a truant, a common case of severe social isolation and depression. The novel's overarching message details her attachment to the past, giving form to her anxiety during a period of expected exuberance. One could argue that translating these raw emotions sways the narrative unevenly, and it's difficult to not agree with that observation because multiple instances of spontaneity disconnect the viewer with what I would argue are deliberately uncomfortable moments. It wouldn't be too far-fetched to hold the emotional immaturity against the rest of the resolution; however, the visual storytelling operates with honest splendor. The integration of relatively simple mindsets supersedes the cryptic setting.

Mappa's production values aren't necessarily the most noteworthy element; more so, the staff has managed to build impressive technical qualities. The quality of character acting in crucial segments is high, exhibiting micromovements and subtlety to highlight minor glances and moods. Both movement and freeform character animation are often present, characterizing the idiosyncracies of realism. It's weaker in the layout department, and some of the CG environments aren't blended as well as I would have liked, not to mention that I find the locations underused as a whole. Generally speaking, the audiovisual storytelling capitalizes on color consistency rather than background detail, and it coordinates scenes around the mild urbanization of the town. The audio has solid use of non-diegetic sound with varying levels of effectiveness in the score, although the incorporation of 90s tracks was a great choice. I was pleasantly surprised by the powerful performance from Miyuki Nakajima in the theme, an excellent showcase of vocalization and relevant lyrics. Mari Okada dissipates the idea of self in maboroshi, vying for a purposeful reflection on living in and for the moment.

Ended up being way better than expected after seeing the mostly negative reception to this. I guess the movie just knew how to get to me emotionally while still trying to put some effort in its story.

I understand that the plot can be hard to follow and how the logic makes sense in its setting, but this like a Your Name thing where it does prioritize evoking strong emotions over trying to succeed in its seemingly complex storyline.

What really made this work for me is its how effective it managed to pull off that youthful angst that I keep craving for every time. It's cheesily ... romantic and dumb at times, but it's that unapologetic approach that makes it endearing for me.

I also like how it touches on themes of grief and just feeling stuck and hopeless in life, which comes as no surprise given how much angst the movie has in spades. It tries to be hopeful in the end albeit I wish it wrapped things up in a more satisfying conclusion.

The animation and character designs are pure eye candy as to be expected from MAPPA, even the haters will at least admit to its visual appeal that can even rival Makoto Shinkai's films.

Overall, a pleasant surprise that while not perfect in all fronts, managed to stick the landing in telling a resonant tale of altered realities and the optimistic possibilities of a future that lies ahead beyond those cracks.

One sentence review: This is probably the most well-sculptured turd of an anime I have seen. Extremely well-crafted, but also totally cringy.

Expectations before watching: This popped up out of nowhere on streaming last month, and the premise looks very interesting at least. Also, MAPPA studio has gradually become one of my favorites over the years.

The reality: The basic worldbuilding and fantastical elements are very far-fetched, and the main plot is essentially a super cringy story about a toddler getting jealous of her mom for being madly in love with her dad. Seriously? You don't need a super convoluted "Spirited Away" type setting to tell ... a story about family love and pain of growing up.

Recommended to: people who have experiences similar to what was portrayed in the movie. (And by that, I acknowledge my own limitations. This movie did not resonate with me, but it might work for others)

What worked for me:

++ Overall superb art direction, animation and special effects. The colors really brought the otherwise bleak setting to life. MAPPA has again excelled as a leading animation studio of our time.
+ Some characters and their arcs are handled with care. The main leads and their romance are not all that bad.
+ Initial mystery about the world was intriguing...for a while.

What did not work for me:

-- Overtly convoluted plot and fantastical mechanics become disservices to the story. If we take Spirited Away as a point of comparison, well, Spirited Away did not explain everything in its mythical setting either, but at least the audience for Spirited Away were not misled to spend too much time cracking the mystery of the spirit realm. Maboroshi, on the other hand, just throws one jargon over another at the audience. At around half point of the movie, my brain went numb and I stopped caring about all the significances and symbolisms beneath it all.

-- Like I mentioned, the core of the plot revolving around family bound, love, pain of love, responsibility, growing up and regrets does not have to be so cringe-worthy, yet the way the movie handles Izumi is just too cringe-worthy for me.

-- Other awkward elements, including eye-rolling sequences of multiple love triangles and religious snobbishness ultimately lead nowhere. These can be both fun and integral to the story, but sadly they are mostly just there. Maybe if I try a little harder, I can force a coherent interpretation out of them. But I don't think it's worth it. This movie gets a very low mark in the department of coherence for me.

Conclusion: Well, maybe fans of this movie will try to defend it with arguments like "soft worldbuilding" "poetic vibe" or something in that line. I am fine with such perspectives. Like I always said, please take my review with a whole pack of salt, and there's no shame for you to love something that did not work for me.

Hundreds of anime in my pocket, and never have I seen one more underrated than this. This is my first ever review I will keep it very short and sweet. First off, if you like me were worried the story would be confusing or not make sense all i can say is at least for me the entire story made perfect sense and never felt confusing. Every element is written to make sense and I was surprised at how coherent it all was because i had seen so many reviews saying it was confusing. If you are someone who pays attention don't let the reviews ... scare you. The story makes perfectly fine sense and is not hard to follow in my opinion. The animation is beautiful and the art is stunning. The portrayal of emotions is especially superb. I'm sad to see this anime not get the attention it deserves but am very happy I decided to watch it anyway. I have essentially nothing negative to say about the anime. I loved it. I Don't throw a 10 at everything. I'm a generally positive reviewer but I think this anime was truly special. If you are on the fence. Just watch it.

Like most of Mari Okada's works, Maboroshi is delicate, emotional, and filled with unreal elements. At the same time it's very "small" - overly focused on the love relationships of a few people, some being unnecessary. Both its strengths and weaknesses are evident.

The visual was impeccable. The use of light was particularly pleasing; it gently guided the audiences' attention, while effortlessly conveying different emotions and situations.

The story featured a small town relied solely on the steel industry, where time stood still following a steel mill explosion. The theme had so much explore. Over the past decades, many of such single-industry towns had to experience the ... pains amid industrial transformations (as symboled by explosion of the mill). Becoming isolated and gloomy, they were left behind by the times (literally, time stopped in Maboroshi). Old people carried on in silence, while young people were forced to make the choice: should they leave the hometowns for a different life ("disappear"), or suppress their own dreams to maintain their attachment to the land? Maboroshi depicted exactly such group of high schoolers at a forgotten town, facing the crossroads. To remain unchanged is not only an illusion, but also a fantasy; to change inevitably brings reluctance, fear, and sadness. No matter how painful it is, the youth must move towards the future, and open up more possibilities, just like what the characters did.

This melancholy yet positive emotion is what resonated with me the most in Maboroshi, but it could be less obvious for some audience. Therefore, I feel Okada should spend much more effort than she currently did to help viewers understand and feel it. Unfortunately, the anime spent substantial amount of time depicting the chaotic (or even somewhat immoral?) love stories, greatly diverting everyone's attention and even creating confusion.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think the romance in Maboroshi should be completely erased. Okada excels at illustrating romance, and again she did it skillfully Maboroshi. Her portray of love is tender, vague, yet often filled with wistfulness - we've seen many successful examples in her previous works (remember AnoHana?). She is also adept at creating imaginative and interesting worlds (think of Nagi-Asu, and Maboroshi too). However, she tends to be obsessed over complex interpersonal relationships (especially among a small group of people), and rely too much on romance to progress story and guide character growth. It greatly limit the scope of her creation, building a dense and narrow view on a supposedly broad story. Therefore, Okada's works often leave me with the impression "there is nothing but romance." But that's not true; she should be capable of writing good stories beyond romance (just like "Maquia"), which makes me feel that Maboroshi could be much better than it is today.

To summarize, Maboroshi is still worth watching - for the art, for the world and feelings it conveys, and for the subtle emotions it describes. Nevertheless, it lands on a shallower place than I'd expect, which prevents me from recommending it wholeheartedly.