Maboroshi was released in 2023 but I got time to watch this movie on this weekend. I probably wouldn’t even discover this if I wasn’t looking for something nice to watch while I was having my lunch. Anyway, I found and noted this in my list of ‘anime movies watched in 2024’.

To be honest, I thought it would be boring but it soon catch my attention with shattered sky and smoke wolf or dragon, I’m not sure, that came after a loud explosion in a steel factory. In the beginning the characters seem clueless but aware of something off with them and the world they are living in. Followed by a boring school routine and teen stuff movie that suddenly takes a sharp turn with entry of a little wild girl. By the demeanor of her I was thinking that this movie might take a dark turn, excuse my horror-fan’ mind, but it surprisingly became interesting and story become quite lively. The main characters also seems to feel alive and the whole movie enters in a genre of mystery at least for me. I became curious about the girl like who she is and where did she came from and all other unnatural events happening in the movie.

Soon I realized that it’s a tragic story of people of a small town Mifuse, whose time is frozen and each soul is withering away bit by bit after that explosion, and felt sad. Although to some extent people aware of their reality and some think of this happening because of Mt. Kanzari who’s material has been used in steel factory, making it a sacred thing, and that sky shattering after an explosion is actually wrath of gods of Mifuse. If they subside that wrath they could fix this i.e. stable this time for forever. How could they do it? By keeping that little girl in captivity because that girl technically didn’t belong to this reality so, if they kept her here forever, they could maintain this reality. But at this point hopelessness was quite visible on every face of Mifuse. I was empathizing with their grief of living in world, where you’ve no future and no hope of being a grown up ever.

These huge emotions made movie quite heavy for me, the constant struggle of each character to somehow either make their way out of this painful and sad ending or maintain it forever is quite heart wrenching for me to watch. The girl that somehow ended up in this frozen reality had no idea as she was just a a kid, her feelings and innocence made me feel like I want to protect her too but considering she would never have future in such frozen time made me think otherwise. Moreover she is the only link between these two world.

This was also felt by two other characters who turned out to be her mom-dad in this reality, that too of her own age, but as soon they realized, I could have seen they were also struggling like any other parents. It was made me realized that responsibilities does make everyone a grown up despite their age. They both forget about her own freedom and focused to just let her out of this reality in hope that it would probably change her future at least , a parent mindset! Nevertheless, they didn’t care about them but about future of their kid despite their own young age. Towards the end, the whole movie become a beautiful journey of a people who wants to protect what dear to them.

The friends, the families all looking for a hope that can free them and their town from this looming sadness. Like Alice in wonderland gave hope to those who were start to question their own existence and filled the void. In the end, Itsumi that little girl, did the same for the people in the town. Some were afraid of this change and some wanted to embrace it. She gave them hope and build a different reality that they can escape the clutches of those smoke wolves who were sucking soul out of this town mercilessly. Their efforts indeed made the time to move a bit in the end and pain finally made sense for them, showing that there’s still hope for them in this new world.

Similarly, in the alternate world, that little girl found her happiness and also the reminiscence of past at the same place, leaving a hope that everyone must have got their own happy ending in time that leaves her and me in content smile.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie but little disappointed as lot of question remain unanswered in the movie. I would never know about those shadow wolves and why those taking away people like that. How Itsumi found her dad and what actually happened to her. How the people of Mifuse ended up like that. If I skip all these questions it was a decent watch for me and some of its visuals remind me of Kimi No Na Wa. That thing was actually a treat to my eyes. So I would give it like 3.5/5 stars.