Ever since Makoto Shinkai’s Your Name in 2016, we have seen a wave of anime films that are often about teen romances, whether or not they have a fantasy spin. While the results have mostly been good, you start to detect a formula for how the narratives of these films usually pan out. Even Shinkai made two more films, which may be stunning pieces of teen-centric animation but continues the template of his 2016 magnum opus. As one of the most prolific writers currently working in the anime industry, Mari Okada seems well-aware of this formula and shakes it up with Maboroshi.
Originally titled Alice and Therese’s Illusory Factory during its Japanese release, Maboroshi takes place in a rural Japanese town where an explosion at the local steelworks factory literally shatters the sky, causing the town is cut off from the rest of Japan. As the seasons cease to change and people stop aging, everyone tries to continue as normal, hoping that if they hold on long enough, the world will right itself. Nothing changes, until the day that fourteen-year-old Masamune is approached by classmate Mutsumi, who sneaks him into the factory to help her take care of the mysterious feral girl living there.
Whereas Okada’s directorial debut Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms took place in a fantasy world involving mystical beings and dragon-like creatures, Maboroshi is set in our harsh reality, but also shares Maquia’s themes of aging and parenting. And compared to the recent wave of teen-centric anime which are fairly light fare, this melancholic drama steps into the psychological torment of being an adolescent.
Although the film does a brilliant job of presenting the townspeople being affected by this strange phenomenon, whether it is an old person struggling with daily tasks and unable to even die, or a pregnant woman who will never see her child born, the story mostly centers on the children who may not have a future. Masamune aspires to be an illustrator beyond the parameters of his hometown, but due to what is happening, he can only illustrate the events going on around him, including taking care of a strange girl (the most “anime” character of the whole cast) with a fellow classmate that he initially despises.
The ideas that Okada is conceiving are ambitious, and combine them with a moody tone, it can be too much for some viewers. With numerous plot strands going on throughout the static town, some questions are still raised as the end credits roll. You may not get easy answers, but the characters will stay with you, some of which go through emotional pain and yet to learn to live given their circumstances, while there are others who use this reality as a way of maintaining control over the people, such as Mutsumi’s madcap father.
Having dominated the previous year with shows like Vinland Saga Season 2 and Attack on Titan: The Final Season, MAPPA presents a visually dazzling, cinematic treat that sadly you can only watch on Netflix. There is an incredible detail towards the rural surroundings of the town, particularly the interiors of the steelworks factory, with a drab color palette that fits appropriately with the film’s melancholic tone. In fact, the coloring ends up being a key player in how some of the surreal revelations played out with the use of bright colors.
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