Mirai: mi pequeña hermana

A sweet little story about families with kids, Mirai goes on to become profound the moment the magical realism elements kick in even as this story about siblings and sibling rivalry takes you into your own childhood lives through the lens of Kun, the central character who is worried the newcomer in his family is going to wreck his life apart but that's now how it is as he soon finds out. Mirai has its heart at the right place and I was gobsmacked to follow the proceedings, also managing to avoid a teary eye towards the end. TN.

(Watched and reviewed at the 3rd Japanese Film Festival of India in Mumbai.)

A few short days after watching Ambiguous Places and feeling that I don't get Japanese humor, I got a chance to mend things between me and the Japanese sense of humor. This is a very Japanese family story, that manages to be universal at the same time.

Charming witty and fun, all the way through. Superb animation of nature, nature's phenomanons (think of the falling snow) and city surroundings. The people as always with Japanese anima, are secondery. but it doesn't hurt the overall result. One of the best real life fantasies I've seen from Japan or anywhere else in a very long while. Kids will love it and will identify with the four years old hero and his lovely family. Adults will love its wit and wisdom.

'Mirai (2018)' is a bit of an odd mix of straight-up realism and surrealist fantasy, with its time-travelling interludes feeling sort of out of place amongst the otherwise almost 'kitchen sink' aesthetic. It's never made clear whether or not the time-hopping is real or imagined; though the hero seems to travel to accurately presented time periods he can't possibly have knowledge of, his trips also don't have tangible consequences outside of his own character arc (aside from, perhaps, on one occasion). Because the thing is told entirely from the perspective of a four-year-old boy (a relatively unique protagonist for a feature film to have), the blending of fantasy and reality is actually rather pertinent. Whether or not it's real is irrelevant, as its mechanics are far less important than its thematic resonance. The movie's final movement, which makes full use of its otherworldly elements, is genuinely rather beautiful. It's by far the best segment of the film, hitting a raw emotional nerve in a rather poignant way. The rest of the picture is pretty inconsistent, though it's always generally enjoyable. There are a number of strange stylistic choices and the plot is a bit uneven. However, it's typically charming. Plus, the animation is generally pleasing, even if some 3D models are more obvious than they ought to be, and the voice acting is pitch perfect. The piece does an excellent job of portraying the realities of temper tantrums, attention seeking and the otherwise far-too-loud actions that come with small children; at times, it's almost as stressful to watch as it must be to experience. It's really realistic, though. It's strange that one of the best representations of what it's like to have two small children comes in a film in which one of those kids can seemingly travel through time. Though the protagonist is sometimes stubborn and, in all honestly, incredibly annoying (not to mention loud), the flick does a good job of reminding you of his age. He doesn't feel emotionally mature, which is appropriate, and the movie ultimately does a good job of making you care about him - perhaps precisely because he isn't portrayed as a perfect kid (which, as we all know, doesn't really exist). The film is rather endearing overall. It's a distinct and enjoyable experience despite its few flaws. Its ending is genuinely touching, too. 7/10.

Mirai tells the story of Kun, the first child of a young married couple who lives in Japan. Kun gets all the love from his parents until one day, they return home with their newborn daughter. Not getting the same attention as he used to, Kun becomes jealous with her sister and starts doing naughty things just to get his parents to notice him. However, they are so busy with work and the new baby that Kun feels like he was abandoned. Until one day, he finds his dog turned into a grown-up man and is greeted by none other than his sister, Mirai, who comes from the future and is now a teenage girl. From that day on, Kun experiences different events that happen both in the future and the past and are some how related to his family from generation to generation. Kun is the main character of the movie and director Mamoru Hosoda has shown that he understands children really well through the emotions and the mind, specifically the imagination of Kun. The movie is simply the story of a family's daily life that is told through the eyes of a 4 years old child and the process of how that child can become a loving son and a loving brother. The narrative of the movie is just like the way Mirai Mirai (Mirai is the name of his sister which means future in Japanese) told his brother about how their family came to be through those little things that happen every day in our lives. Mirai is a film that shows you how wonderful a child can be, and although Kun is very jealous with his newborn sister, deep down inside he loves her very much.

After the mediocre mistep of The Boy and the Beast, the brilliant Mamoru Hosoda returns reasonably to form with Mirai.

While Hosoda's previous movies all fell solidly in the fantasy genre, this one is somewhat different. The fantastical elements are all in a young boy's mind, and the movie charts the way he processes the real world through wildly imaginative interludes.

Episodic and slight, Hosoda hasn't quite reached the heights of Wolf Children or Summer Wars, but he has made an absolutely lovely, beautifully animated, funny and touching movie.