Mai Mai Miracle - Das Mädchen mit dem Zauberhaar

This is a beautifully animated tale of growing up in rural Japan in the 1950s, as MaiMai and her friends try to right wrongs (human and environmental) in their town, which are connected in a dream-like way to the medieval past of the region, with MaiMai associating herself--and later even "possessing"--the young troubled princess. There are many cultural references that I'm sure we missed, and the film's appeal is not as universal, perhaps, as My Neighbor Totoro, but it is an intriguing story with beautiful animation.

Sebastian: 10 Stars Sienna: 7 Stars Paul: 7 Stars

Despite his high rating, my 5-year old son commented: "I don't like movies with monsters and Mai Mai has no monsters"

We watched this last night together with my 9 and 10 year old daughters. What can I say?

We were collectively bored from the beginning to the end. Oh, and annoyed by the constant vocal musical background, which very often covered the characters' voices and we had to struggle to understand what they were saying.

As for the story itself... really difficult to understand what was going on, with the constant jumps from present to past and back to present again.

In the end we were left with a taste of "what was this all about???" and felt we thoroughly wasted an hour and a half of our lives.

I only gave it a 7 due to the nice imagery (but even that doesn't compare with other better Japanese cartoons).

This anime film is set in rural Japan in the mid-fifties. It is centred on Shinko Aoki a nine year old girl who grew up listening to her grandfather's stories about the area's history; most notably of how a princess came there a thousand years previously. Shinko befriends new arrival Kiiko and the two of them, along with boys from their class, led by Tatsuyoshi, the fourteen year old son of the local policeman, get up to various adventures. These include damming a local stream, where they find a goldfish, and exploring a local cave. Sometimes they are joined by Mitsuko, Shinko's younger sister. Shinko and Kiiko also dream about the life of Princess Nagiko's life a millennium ago. It isn't all innocent fun though and tragedy does strike.

I really enjoyed this film. There may not be much in the way of action but just watching the children play in their rural idyll is a delight. The rural setting and time period will inevitably lead to comparisons with Studio Ghibli's 'My Neighbour Totoro'; I never thought I'd say this but it actually compares amazingly well. I loved the gently pace, the childhood innocence and the film's imagination. There are plenty of amusing moments, including a laugh out loud scene were the girls consume Kiiko's father's liqueur chocolates! After a certain incident, which I won't spoil, the tone does turn somewhat darker... but thankfully not too dark. There are moments of danger but these are soon resolved. Overall I'd definitely recommend this delightful film although I suspect some parents may think certain scenes aren't suitable for younger children; there is a detailed plot description on Wikipedia, containing spoilers, which should help them decide.

These comments are based on watching the film in Japanese with English subtitles; a dubbed version is also available.

This is a pure feel-good enlightening movie about making the most out of the richness of life in the midst of a decent, not-well-to-do country life/ and poverty.

The movie is full of moments that will bring anyone back to childhood innocence, from playing with plants & animals to swallowing the wrong food by accident :). And unlike Miyazaki's works and the suggestive speculation from its title, this movie sticks closer to reality (save for the parallel fantasies of a totally different time era) and is not too overdone.

It is a nice reminder of Ohomide poro poro, one of my favourite anime of all time.

I wouldn't recommend Mai Mai Miracle to people who hate movies that are strong on nostalgia. I think Clarence is a better one for you. I don't think I even like movies about a third grader but this one is quite hard to like anyway. Thevoice acting is perfect and so is the animation.

Shinko is way too annoying and she is the one that gives you the most nostalgia. It kind of reminds me of Totoro, though, I wish the sister (I forgot her name) was with her big sister more. The little sister and Kiiko are my favorite characters. The movie is truly forgettable, the second part is hard to follow, the movie is just a slice of life story, you know, no plot and not much of a fantasy either like Totoro is. I'm a Totoro fan and I can't like this movie because of how mediocre it is.

Overall, it's a little bit decent, was a close second to stopping it, you know,