Mirai no Mirai

This movie is very experimental in a lot of ways, and I appreciate that. Is it a masterpiece? No. Is it the best work by Hosoda? No. But it is a very cute movie, surprisingly deep, with phenomenal artwork and cinematography.

Music: 10/10
The soundtrack is rreminiscient of Ookami Kodomo Ame to Yuki, and each song is gorgeous.

Plot: 8/10
I think the title and trailers were misleading, because they focused on Kun's younger sister, Mirai, visiting him from the future. This does happen, but it's a small part of the plot. The true title should be "Annoying Child Repeatedly Stumbles into his Courtyard and is Greeted ... by Fantastical Events that Help Him Become a Better, More Responsible Child." It's a bit long, but it's more accurate.

We follow a four-year-old boy called Kun-chan, and he likes two things: trains and screaming at the top of his lungs. I'm serious, this kid is a NIGHTMARE. I can't think of another movie where the protagonist is this young (excluding Rugrats), mostly because nobody wants to follow a screaming pile of tantrums. And that is exactly what he is. By the middle of the movie, I legitimately hated this child.

Further, everyone around him is extremely nice. Even the BABY is better than he is. The BABY. The father stays at home, taking care of the children, while the mother returns to work and puts food on the table. This is a refreshing 21st century portrayal of a family, especially in Japan where they still kind of have a 1950's mindset of women in the workforce. We spend a good amount of time following the father as he struggles and learns how to do housework and properly hold a baby. Thus, Kun-chan does not get the attention he once got before and proceeds to throw vicious tantrums.

What this means is that the protagonist is the antagonist. The only real problems are caused by Kun-chan. As stated in the new title, when his tantrums climax, he stumbles into the house's courtyard and finds himself in a fantastical world, confronting one of his family members in an altered state. This includes his dog and, yes, his little sister as a middle-schooler from the future. These events have a dreamlike approach to logic and conversation, which falls in line with the idea that these are Kun-chan's fantasies. Why is the dog a human? Because Kun-chan sees it as such. Why is nobody worried about a 2-year-old walking around by himself? Because Kun-chan is the center of the fantasy, and thus his existence, in whatever state, is normal. Each event helps him in some way, and his tantrums die down afterward until the next thing happens. I can't really say that this is a coming-of-age story because the kid stays a kid, but he manages to connect with his family in a new way. Kun-chan is the deepest, most developed 4-year-old I've ever seen.

All in all, the stakes are low and nobody dies (spoilers?), so this movie doesn't conjure the feels that most Hosoda movies do. This is not a drama so much as a dramedy, with about an even split on both drama and comedy. Still, this is a very cute and refreshing story that deserves appreciation.

Art: 10/10
This is where the movie truly shines. I saw the "camera" used in a way I've never seen before. Animation allows for really cool things like that. The weirdly diagonal house allows for really cool linear transitions to different events within the house. Again, this is the same director as Ookami Kodomo Ame to Yuki, where he told the story of two siblings growing up in school by shifting the camera back and forth in a completely inventive way. The animations are clean, smooth, and lifelike. CGI is used in a non-obtusive way that allows sweeping shots behind a motorcycle. The backdrops are gorgeous, and they make use of them. The sky-shots at the end made the "camera" movement so realistic that I was legitimately terrified of falling, inside the theater...

Tl;dr: 9
Go watch. Enjoy the story. Pay attention to the animations and transitions. Be happy. I"m out.

In the planning stage of Mirai no Mirai, significant consideration was put into the designing of the house in which the majority of the movie is set. In fact, director Mamoru Hosoda employed a real architect, Makoto Tanijiri, to design the Oota house. The house is a series of four levels, not quite stories as it were, connected by a series of steps on one side of the house. It's a peculiar layout, as noted in a throwaway comment made by the grandmother at the beginning, designed in-universe by the architect father. A sloped tracking shot near the beginning of the movie, similar to Wolf ... Children's famed lateral tracking shot, moves between each level to show how they are attached. The first level is a den, mainly inhabited by the four-year-old son, Kun, and his train sets and toys. The next level up is a lawn-type outdoor area, followed by the kitchen and living area, then finally the bedrooms. Tanijiri planned the house so that a "child will be able to see the bottom room clearly from the garden, but an adult will only be able to see what's right in front of them." The effect? "The child's view will change as he grows up.”

What seems like a small detail of the movie is in fact the most important, as it sets up the entire thematic structure. In contrast to Hosoda's previous grand cinematic declarations on family and life, underlying the superficial coming-of-age story of Mirai is a focused meditation on the architecture of time. Of course, true to his nature, Hosoda interprets time and space as relative to our family histories. For Hosoda, time does not move laterally, rather it flows back and forth through the levels of the family tree, just as the aforementioned tracking shot shifts repeatedly between the levels of the house. Each generation experiences time on their own distinct level, yet the time of their ancestors and descendants are always within reach.

In Mirai, this platitudinous reading of time isn't a reading at all; it's the extraordinary reality of the movie. The expanse of the narrative finds Kun, in the garden of the house, drifting through time to meet anachronistic versions of family members he currently knows. The first instance of time-travelling antics (though not the first scene of garden fantasies) delivers Hosoda's vision the best. Kun, frustrated with his parents doting on the newly born Mirai, runs into the future, middle school-aged version of his sister, along with their anthropomorphic dog. The scene is filled with Marx Brothers-styled hijinks and light exploration into the logistics of Mirai's time traveling. But the scientific implications are quickly abandoned because time travel isn't really the point. Kun goes on to meet the past versions of his parents, and then their parents, learning a lesson or two from each encounter, and these subsequent scenes are more mired in heart tugging magical realism than heart pounding sci-fi. Some may find the episodic structure to be off-putting, but given the design of the house, a matching series of seemingly contained yet faintly connected stories appears to be more than appropriate.

The kicker is that pretty much the entirety of the movie, time traveling and all, takes place inside the Oota house, in the garden, in the present. And this seems to be Hosoda's insinuation: the past and the future are united in the present via the family tree, a statement he articulates in the wonderfully directed climax in which present-day Kun and future Mirai witness landmark events from their relatives' pasts, including a deeply touching famed race mentioned by the grandparents earlier in the movie.

At certain points, Mirai no Mirai offers glimpses of Hosoda at his compulsive, unrestrained worst. Pregnancy fetish and furry scenes can be checked off the "obligatory Hosoda-isms" checklist within the first act, and his penchant for exploring enclosed dimensions, seen in his earlier works, returns in full masturbatory force during the worst scene in the movie, the lead-up to the climax. Animated mostly in (decent) CGI, it's visually incongruous with the rest of the movie's style and thematically divorced as it has little to do with the nature of time or family. It's full of those (POV travelling?) shots he employed so daintily in Wolf Children, but instead of snowy knolls and forests, it's ugly, repetitive train tunnels. It also lingers for far too long, almost ruining the climax. But these pockmarks are minimal and eclipsed by moments of Hosoda at his most honed, absolute best.

Mirai, also known as Mirai no Mirai, is an animated film directed by Mamoru Hosoda. He has directed other notably well-received anime films such as Wolf Children, The Boy and the Beast, and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. Mirai is about a boy named Kun who unexpectedly goes back in time on different occasions to meet his relatives from different eras. This film makes a wholesome and heartwarming statement -- that family shapes who we are and are the primary reason why we exist and we should be thankful and loving towards our family members, even in the toughest of times. This film shows ... that family is an integral part of what makes a certain individual’s personality and that family is an important part of society. We can learn how to behave and how to grow up through socialisation. Hosoda accurately portrayed a misbehaving young boy and the struggles of raising up multiple children. This film is beautiful in the way that it teaches Kun to grow up and not to misbehave through experiencing his relatives’ past and future. This fantasy element was so gorgeous to look at on the screen and it was a pleasure to absorb the positive joy it emits.

The animation by Studio Chizu is familiar and meets the standards that they have demonstrated in the past. The character designs of some of the characters resemble characters from previous films Hosoda has directed which creates a familiar yet inviting environment for this fantasy-adventure film. I absolutely admired the opening shot where it's an animated shot of an angled top-down view of households and the surrounding roads. The streets and the houses were very well animated and were quite captivating.

The soundtrack is quite good. I liked the opening theme, "Mirai no Theme" by Tatsuro Yamashita, and the ending theme, "Uta no Kisha" by Tatsuro Yamashita. Both the opening and ending theme fit the anime quite well and set the mood for this feel-good anime. The voice acting is superb, especially by Moka Kamishiraishi who voices Kun. Kamishiraishi absolutely nails the voice acting of a young boy who is upset that his parents are not giving him as much attention since they had their second child, Mirai.

Character development was done well as the film explores the family tree through time-travelling. The film gives each character a moment to shine and give a sense of purpose to progress the plot and send out the overall message of the film. This film is great for all ages, but it has a very important message that might help kids get through life -- the message being that life can be hard at times and sometimes you aren’t always the centre of attention, but continue loving your family as they are very important and an integral part of shaping your personality and how you will grow up to be in the future. Having close relationships with your family members is important and you must always keep them close, by your side so they can help you and assist you in many ways throughout your life. You can’t do things alone!

This is the first film that made me tear up out of overwhelming happiness. It just made me so happy. Other films have made me cry because they are sad in nature but this one was a tear-jerker because of the joy that it put on the screen and the fantastic plot-device of seeing the adventure through Kun's point of view.

I enjoyed this film and this film had a clean and concise ending, unlike some of Hosoda's other works. The start may have been slightly convoluted, but it explains itself and resolves everything in the end to a satisfying conclusion.

I watched this at the Sydney Film Festival (SFF) on the 17th of June at The State Theatre which was the second screening of the movie at the SFF and I highly recommend that you go check this film out when it gets released in your area.

Mamoru Hosoda giving us a visually accurate depiction of both sibling bonds and the stressful yet typical things families ALL grow through...

Mirai no Mirai through basic means tells of a 4 or 5 year old boy by the name of Kun-chan and the trials and tribulations when his "love" is taken away by the arrival of his younger sister Mirai and thus we see his journey of not only both his looking at his family members backstories but also learning about the world one step at a time..........with MANY screaming along the way.

Ok, LA might as well get LA's gripes done and away first before ... carrying on and to LA's persoanl bias would be that quite easily the most annoying thing to this movie is Kun himself, he's nothing but a selfish brat and SCREAMS ALOT, but to this defense LA will say well what did you expect from a child no less than 5 years old, OF COURSE he doesn't know any better but better yet he learns from his mistakes through the movie. Mamoru Hosoda always had a way of storytelling but Mirai was somewhat episodic in nature compared to Hosoda's other outings done mostly in vignettes of Kun's life with his imagination going wild for that supernatural element into the mix giving us both into the mind of 5 year old but also translating that into real life in many respects and him learning from what his imagination takes him to learn a lesson about life as well as his family members. The next gripe really was that things weren't explained to us in detail however considering this movie's narrative is entirely on Kun a 5 year old, LA thinks this gives itself a good leeway, yeah things DOESN'T make sense to a 5 year old be it if things doesn't goes his way or he's in the wrong or right, things are confusing and "doesn't make sense" in a 5 year old mind. Finally is the ending was abrupt to say the least and sure it gave Kun character development as not only a family member but a sibling but let's just say the transitioning was a tad rushed and it's probably the only flaw LA can't exactly defend.

Yeah, the thing is Mirai though LA has flaws to nitpick this movie about, LA can give alot of defense for alot of the flaws in the process and that is kinda because even if the movie is episodic in nature, Kun is a bratty annoying kid or "things doesn't make sense", Mamoru Hosoda has a way of making things VERY relatable and realistic even if the movie in itself can veer into the imaginary.

The episodic format and how it's structured in vignettes of Kun's life well this is Kun's story first and foremost and him diving into his family members to how they become who they they are now in many cases under related catalyst plots for Kun's next thing learn about, be it Kun's mother, father, the family dog (no seriously), his Great Grandpa, Mirai or Kun's moral compass of what his family means to him, it's KUN's narrative focus all the way. The episodic style may be "basic" but it's effective to say the least and with Mamoru Hosoda's expertise with the theme of family, it just it makes it that much more effective.

The animation done by Studio Chizu..well it's expected all things considered, from how fantastical Kun's imagination looks to Mamoru's typical character designs being an obvious mark of his. With Kun's imagination being rampant in this movie well it's expected the visuals to not only be beautiful but what with the anime's setting being limiting to Kun's house and Kun's vast imagination well it's homely to say the least getting used to Kun's house as well as Kun's cognitive imagination and how he view things and it's brilliantly animated by Chizu.

Voice acting well, as much as LA really didn't like Kun's consistent screaming and crying with Moka Kamishiraishi but nonetheless was a convincing 5 year old voice. Future Mirai voiced by Haru Kuroki to Kun's mother and father voiced by Kumiko Asou and Gen Hoshino were great as expected giving us the head strong mother type to the more struggling transitioning stay at home dad. Really as annoying Kun is, LA will praise Moka for doing a convincingly annoying 5 year old voice with a GREAT voice cast backing it up.

Mirai on the surface has ALOT of flaws to itself, from the likes of "not making sense" (be it in Kun's real life or in his imagination), annoying main protagonist to how watered down the plot structure it is compared Mamoru Hosoda's previous ventures and how abrupt the ending is but with all that LA will say it has strengths but strengths hidden in plain sight. Mirai first and foremost pretty much details what's like in the mind and perspective of a 5 year old and in comes the flaws right in the offset but the strengths of showing not only sibling bonds but family bonds which Mamoru Hosoda is extremely good at executing and telling a story VERY well. Yes Mirai as a whole as problems but as a sum of it's parts as episodic of a movie Mirai really is, tells us a MUCH deeper story of family and Mirai pulls it off, flaws and all.

Is this Mamoru's best work?, from LA's perspective no, LA sees Wolf's Children as that but LA imagines that Mamoru Hosoda wasn't trying to make another movie to top it but to tell a story of a 5 year old, see his perspective on the world he sees and learns about his family and what it means to him and Mamoru does just that.

Mirai is truly precious and downright heart-melting, while rarely coming off as treacly or overly-saccharine thanks to the clear place of experience and insight showcased in the portrayal of family and siblings that Hosoda possesses. His understanding of the essence of family grows more profound with every film. The man has always been fascinated with the theme of family and how our bonds to our lineage form us into the people we are. Mirai is perhaps the most resonant implementation of this theme the visionary director has yet conceived. Truly a beautiful, heartwarming and downright infectious and endlessly charming experience. The film doesn't follow a ... traditional plot structure and is possibly the director's most "arthouse" work yet, and this may not work for viewers less inclined to be fully absorbed by its child's eye view of the world, but the film perfectly captures that essence of a child's point of view.

In less capable hands the main character Kun, as a young child, could have easily been unrelentingly obnoxious and insufferable, but in his grasp the character is often more endearing than not. And when he isn't, its purposeful. The entire family feels extremely real and grounded. Kun feels like a real 4 year old kid. The parents feel like real, well-meaning but exhausted people simply trying not to screw up raising these little gremlins. Their relationship together is often chaotic and just barely avoids tearing at the seams, but ultimately their intrinsic love for each other always brings them to reconciliation.

Like many of his works, Mirai is an ode to the bonds that tie multiple generations of family together. It wasn't structured like a traditional narrative, or even most other Hosoda films, working rather as an interconnected set of dreamlike vignettes tied together by the recurring theme of familial ties and Kun's arc of understanding them instead. But the 4 year old protagonist made the film's childlike perception of the world and the blurring between reality and imagination believable. The film isn't interested in exploring the sci-fi mumbo-jumbo implications of the time-travelling aspect and it's honestly probably better for it. It would unnecessarily convolute its simple message.

Production-wise, this was possibly the director's best-looking work yet, with lots of interesting and diverse implementation of both traditional AND CG animation. Particularly, the use of CG for the house in the tracking shots to convey time passing through different sections of the massive structure was super cool and reminded me a lot of the extended take in Wolf Children that continuously shifts between the classrooms to show the children growing progressively older and climbing grades, only much more ambitious in scale. The final act was possibly the most exciting portion of the film for me, filled with dark, twisted imagery in a vast, disturbing and purgatory-esque train station. The art and color choices on display here was absolutely entrancing, expertly blending the 2D and CG mediums together.The level of detail in the character-acting in general was truly impressive. They went above and beyond to make every character's movements in the world perfectly fit their personalities and age.

This is simply one of the most effective cinematic expressions of a pure idea/theme I've ever seen, and the stunning visual and sound direction (particularly in the final act) can not be understated in its contributions to this. And regardless of one's opinions on the Oscars as a legitimately respectable awards ceremony, Mirai was certainly more than deserving of its nomination for Best Animated Feature, as well as being the first to hold the distinction of being the first non-Ghibli/Miyazaki Japanese animated film to earn such an honor.

(TLDR at the bottom, thanks for reading.)

A short and sweet review for a short and sweet kids film.

If you took everything that Mamoru Hosoda has ever made and blended it all and condensed it into a 98-minute film you'd get Mirai. Depending on who you ask this can be good or this can be bad. You could say that Mirai is just reusing Hosuda's old idea's and you could say Mirai is a refinement of everything Hosuda has been building up to. Both of which can be true (depending on your perspective).

Mirai doesn't really follow a specific story, there isn't a set goal or task ... to complete, but instead, it is a story about maturing. While most coming of age anime focus on older teens maturing into adults Mirai focuses on a 4 years-old boy, Kun, learning to be less of a brat. He has gone from being the apple of his parent's eye to being only a part of it. And because he is four years old he reacts about how you would expect him to. But the film isn't about learning life lessons or overcoming challenges, like the most coming of age stories, but about the unrestrained wonder of being a child. Whether it is through interacting with his time travelling sister, or his shapeshifting dog, or Kun shapeshifting into a dog, or him having to tidy up the dollhouse with his dog and Mirai, or time travelling to see how his parents lived or just anything in this film. You can say that the story is unoriginal but it has been refined in such a way that this film could only have been made because all the constituent parts have been perfected.

It's just fun.

While its individual parts have been perfected that doesn't make the film perfect. Since it runs through a bunch of Hosoda's idea and not focusing on one for most of its story that leaves some of the individual parts underdeveloped. And while Kun gradually grows up throughout the film he still starts as an annoying brat, so depending on your level of tolerance for this kind of thing your enjoyment of this film could vary.

Are you looking for a film with interesting themes, likeable characters, intriguing yet entirely original premise? Then this isn't your film. But if you are looking for a film that you can just put on and be entertained this should do the trick.
And a quick note on the audiovisual side of things this film looks great, it has the same aesthetic as all of Hosoda's previous films, but just like the story side, it has been refined so it is among the best of Hosoda's films and everything else is spot on.

TLDR: As long as you don't go in expecting something widely new to add to Hosoda's catalogue of films they will do you just fine.

𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧,
𝙄𝙩 𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙘𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧.

Mirai was a fun watch but in this review, I am going to write about Hosoda and his key element in all his works.

After completing all the major works of Hosoda, Mirai made me realize a thing. Hosoda's central theme in all his movies is family. He has simply redefined the way we see a family. A family is more than blood, more than memories. Family bonds are strong enough to carry us through the closeness of family life, as well as the pain, scars, and sufferings that come with it. Family is an entity that ... communicates the lesson of compassion, even if no one does it perfectly.

Talk about Hana, the central figure of Wolf Children. Though the result of Wolf Children is radically different from its predecessor, the same values that help capture grace, empathy, love, sacrifice – shape the way Hana's family works. The Boy and the Beast, Hosoda's 2015 picture, perhaps most firmly pushes the topic of what family means.

Hosoda demonstrates the importance of family once more. It isn't a matter of blood ties. It isn't only a group of people that share a house. It could be a boy being trained by a mystical beast. It can be about the difficulties a single mother goes through to raise half-wolf children. Whatever the link is, whether it's conventional or not, it's about compassion, grace, and sacrifice. The 3 pillars of Mamoru's works.

I was regretful and at the same time spellbound by the fact, that I had missed this key detail every time.

𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆: 8/10
𝗔𝗿𝘁: 9/10
𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱: 6/10
𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿: 7/10
𝗘𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: 6/10
𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗹: 7/10

Mamoru Hosoda is an absurdly talented filmmaker. He's able to take the masses on an emotional roller coaster through his visual prowess and maximum enhancement of his characters' emotions while making it look as easy as flipping a switch. If there is someone worthy of being called 'the next Miyazaki' then look no further.

With that being said, I'm not really a fan of his films. That's not to say I dislike any of them per say, I just don't think they resonate with me on a personal level as they do with many people. Also I find some of their thematic content, drama and strange ... directions his stories tend to take, to be offputting and weird sometimes.
My favorite film of his is One Piece movie 6 of all things (and I don't even think that's the best One Piece movie)...
That is, until I watched Mirai no Mirai which took about 15 minutes in to the film for it win me over and become my favorite among them.

This film has a simple story about a 4 year old kid getting over his mom going back to work after giving birth to a little sister. We focus on this kid feeling neglected by his parents in general while his dad who works as a freelancer from home has to take care of him and his baby sister. One day the kid storms off in to the backyard and finds a time portal...
I think.

Yeah that aspect of the film is ambiguous on whether it's really a time portal or just the child's imagination at work. I mean if it's a time portal how come the first thing he sees is his own dog in human form speaking Japanese? Does his dog become human in the future? Was he one in the past? (Insert "Hosoda is a furry" joke here).

And if it's just his imagination, how come these characters that come through this portal appear to have a real physical presence in the real world on several occasions?

The film doesn't answer these questions and I don't think it has to. Unlike Hosoda's other films this is not a detail based story or even a particularly dramatic one, but rather one that's purely driven by emotion. And that's exactly what I love about it. I think that communicating human emotion is Hosoda's greatest strength, not so much his storytelling in a broad sense (though he is great on a moment to moment basis). Thus I feel that this film benefits from highlighting his greatest strengths as a filmmaker.

At the end of the day, this is just a simple coming of age story with a protagonist at an especially young age of 4, which is quite rare in anime and film in general. It also strikes the perfect balance between appealing to both adults and kids by having much of the film's attention centered on the young parents and their struggle to raise these kids. Despite the fact that the entire film is shown through that child's perspective, I'm sure lot's of parents were smiling at each other while watching this with their kids. Seeing scenarios that are very familiar like the kid behaving very bratty, proffering his mom and giving the dad a much harder time. Or hitting his little sister on the head with a toy for no reason. There's lot's of realistic little moments like that, that lesser films don't bother with.

It's through this kid that we experience the daily struggles of his immediate family in the present, past and future as well as meeting some of his distant relatives from the past and get a glimpse of their daily struggles that were vastly different from his parents'. Throughout the film we (along with the kid) hear casual conversations between the household members which foreshadow what the kid is going to experience in the time portal down the line. That's generally how the film plays out.

And though these relatives he meets don't have much depth, we really get a feel for each of them and the relatively little screen time each of them has is extremely effective in showing the gist of what their life is like at that point in time. Whether it's his sister's struggle to get attention of a boy she likes or whether it's his great grandpa getting injured in the war etc'. They all come back for the climax helping the boy deal with his own struggles of getting back his parents' attention. I think these are things that should resonate with all us on some level making it all the more effective emotionally.

In terms of flaws I'd say that probably the pace of the film is not perfect and the suddenness in which it goes back and forth in and out of the time portal can be pretty rough sometimes.
And it might even be a little hard to follow for little kids.
You can also argue that this time portal thing is just one big gimmick. It's not like it's really a time travel story. All that's really done with it, is having the kid passively observe these time periods without really doing much to effect them.

But personally that last thing is something I really liked since I'm tired of following convoluted time travel stories. Besides this story is clearly centered on this kid and the time portal is just a vehicle that takes him through experiences that will shape him as a person. It's there to put his problems in to perspective, to teach him that the world doesn't revolve around him and that these are first world problems he can overcome (or in other words just to make him become less of a brat) and we get a payoff for exactly that in the end.

Visually this film is fantastic of course, but doesn't reinvent the wheel. Hosoda's style is very kinetic or movement based, he doesn't bother trying to have singular stunning images and instead he prefers to have as much movement as possible. Which is probably for the better in his case since nearly all of his films look the same with extremely similar character designs and even visual effects to the point you can barely tell some of them apart if you put them side by side and this one is no different. One thing that's remarkable about this one is that about half the film takes place in one location and still manages to be visually interesting in those sections in spite of that.

The soundtrack is also fantastic, not surprisingly. Although I can't say I remember many specific tracks, i can definitely vouch for their timing being perfect for getting tears running. Plus it does have just enough quiet moments to balance things out.
The voice acting might be a little exaggerated sometimes and the main character clearly has a woman voice that sounds a little old for him, but you get used to it after a while.

All in all Mirai no Mirai will probably be the least favorite among Hosoda's fanbase for not quite meeting their expectations or having less of a story or conflict. Personally I liked it more for those same reasons.
It's a lot closer to some other films like Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro or Kiki's Delivery Service - Simple slice of life films about little kids with some supernatural elements and are mostly conflict free.
If that sounds like your thing then you probably won't be disappointed.

It's a cute movie. I have a younger sister and the movie is really relatable when you are an older sibling. I like how the dog has a human personification LMAO. Its about this kid and his imagination. And honestly it gave me the feeling of "wow. Was I that annoying?" Lol. I feel like not many people liked it and I can see why some might. The main character is kind of annoying but I mean he is 4, what do you expect ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. And I think the only ones who will truly understand this movie are older siblings. I honestly really likes how ... his sister from the future came to see him and the backgrounds are absolutely beautiful.

Spoilers: Read at your own risk.

The movie I was expecting to see was something that combined the best parts of "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" with the best parts of "Wolf Children", two of my favorite films from Mamoru Hosoda. I wanted to see a heartwarming journey of recognizing the importance of family through time travel shenanigans. I was a little disappointed when this was only partially realized.

Story: 6
The story had a lot of promise for an extremely heartwarming story of young Kun coming to appreciate his younger sister, Mirai, and his family, even though he initially hates Mirai for taking his ... family's attention from him. I fully expected the story to be focused on Kun being thrusted into a fantastical world with the future version of Mirai. I imagined that through this journey of trying to get back to his family, Kun would gain more understanding and sympathy for his younger sister.

Instead of doing that, the movie repeated a certain pattern: Kun throws a temper tantrum (which makes sense since he's just a kid), have him be thrusted into the past alone to meet one of his relatives, and quickly come back to the present after he's learned something from them. I found this formula to be actually quite interesting since it went against what I had initially believed the movie to be, but I quickly realized that the movie gave up on having deep emotional connections with any of the relatives since each relative took up each other's screen time, forbidding any real development with any of them.

If there is one good nugget of the story I can appreciate is that Kun does show change as he goes through these time traveling vignettes with his relatives, and the at the end when he has a moment with baby Mirai, it almost felt like the ride paid off. Almost.

Overall, I appreciated the story for its back and forth time traveling, but I strongly believe that the film would have immensely benefited from more focus on Kun and Mirai. Mirai shows up about three times in the entire film, which is more than any of the other relatives, and I still couldn't feel a strong bond between the two, even at the very end. The story was decent, but it just lacked oomph to really pull off a satisfying ride.

Art: 9
The art, of course, was great. There were so many sequences that were beautifully animated and really brought fantastical worlds to life. They even had sections where they animated characters in CGI (very much like they did Houseki no Kuni) for some scenes. I saw some great scenes that reminded me of the time jumping sequences in "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" and fun familial scenes from "Wolf Children". The art, in essence, was what I wanted the story to be.

Sound: 8
Voice acting for both dub and sub were both pretty spot on. I was particularly surprised by how good the dub sounded, though some scenes in the dub I found somewhat uncomfortable because of the way the lines were delivered (I won't get into these scenes, but I was extremely uncomfortable). If I were to recommend sub/dub, I would recommend the sub - I found it to be far more impactful.

The soundtrack was full of heart and I often found myself immersed into the scene purely because the of the songs.

Character: 5
Kun was the only one who had any character development, with nearly everyone else in the main cast being static and unchanging. I actually liked this, since I loved the initial team dynamic of Kun, future Mirai, and their dog Yukko at the start of the movie, and I looked forward to seeing them be forced through different time travel adventures and hardships together. But this team almost immediately dissolves and Kun simply faces his adventures alone in quick and unsatisfying time hopping bursts. I soon became somewhat unimpressed with Kun's development, even when he did show incremental changes in his character. In short, I really wanted to care, but it was just extremely hard to.

On the other hand, the supporting characters, such as the mother and father, had their own developments that I saw through very subtle scenes. I found these legitimately fantastic and heartwarming. I would even daresay that their struggles were more interesting than any of the main characters' struggles. If anything, the supporting casts' struggles and development were in danger of overshadowing most of the main characters' struggles in terms of catching my interest and emotional investment.

Enjoyment: 6.5
Despite my comments above, I did appreciate the movie. I can't deny there were moments that the culmination of the music, art, and some emotional moments got to me. I blinked away a few tears. But I think this movie could've had me bawling. I wish it did.

I want to start by saying that the top review by Karhu is incredibly unfair as I can only assume he has NO first-hand experience raising small children--especially not a newborn and toddler simultaneously.

Throughout the story Kun is very evidently NOT being neglected, he's only being a very spoiled and needy child out of jealousy of not being the center of attention, and whenever his parents have to stop paying attention to him for extremely valid reasons, such as WORK (the dad is not scrolling memes, he's working), cooking, taking care of the infant's needs, or just being beat tired and attempting to get a ... modicum of rest, kun throws a tantrum like many a spoiled toddler will do.
He throws tantrums over EVERYTHING, things as inconsequential as not being able to wear the color pants he wants.
The parents are incredibly patient throughout, not even subjecting the kid to punishment even when he hits the baby (this goes further to explain why he's such a brat than anything).

Mostly I just wanted to rebut the top review because of how unfair it is. The parents are perfectly average parents, neither terrible, nor wonderful, kun is just spoiled, and throughout the movie learns to appreciate his family and not be so ridiculously selfish.

It's pretty clear everyone knows this movie was made by the same director who made The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, so this show has some pretty big expectations. While both of these movies are a sweet slice of life, coming of age, I wouldn't put them together. This movie was good. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time was an instant hit.

This movie wasn't quite how I expected it to be when I first heard and read of it. It was a strong start but grew tiresome in the middle, and then it was over. With a collage of stories that inform us of who ... the main family is, I realized after finishing the movie that I couldn't remember everything clearly. The movie isn't too long, in fact, it's about the average length of a movie, but it felt long. I didn't finish this movie feeling like I learned something, but rather it reminded me of childhood. I guess you could say there are lessons to be learned here, but nothing too unique, apart from how they tell the story.

My favorite part of this movie would have to be the characters. Certain characters I found annoying, while others were inspiring or the ideal person that, in your head, you want to be. While I understand the characters were all written as they were for plot reasons, I can't say (for the annoying ones I mentioned) that it was still acceptable. The characters who were written to teach a lesson were instantly living a more interesting story. They made me want to see that story, not this. I didn't not like this story, but it just wasn't entertaining. I almost stopped midway, and I've binge-watched many slices of life before.

At times, this felt like it shouldn't be a movie and just several different episodes. The movie already seems to be made that way. There were also many art quality drops in the later parts of the movie, which seemed to bother people. I personally don't mind such things, it usually gives me something to kinda poke fun at, but I mention it for people who do mind. I feel like if this was instead several episodes, the art wouldn't have dropped, the story could be fleshed out, and it wouldn't have me fading in and out through certain scenes.

Overall, I still enjoyed the movie. Characters in anime have almost always been enough for me to enjoy something, and a few terrible ones can't drown out the really amazing ones. The sound was great, no real complaints. There were several backgrounds and some certain attention to detail that really made an impression on me. If I had to say, those few moments and those few characters are the real saving grace of this movie. My score speaks for itself from here on, and thank you for reading my review.

I can't explain how much this movie touches me. Maybe it's because it's like going through a photo album with your family, or what it felt like for me to watch my little brother grow up. The way that Kun interacts with his family members feels so genuine for a once single child and super cute. As he travels to different points in time, it's almost like a grandparent telling a story. I have seen a few anime movies here and there, but this one is the first that I felt a direction connection to. The animation is lovely, and there's a spike of humor ... as well. But most of all, there's a love for family that had me crying so many times.

Mirai of the future was something I had been planning to watch for months now, and after finally getting to watch it, I must say that I am slightly underwhelmed.

STORY: 6/10
The plot strives to be heartfelt — an intense, magical method of realization for a young stubborn toddler now that he isn't getting full attention in the household. Time travel is nothing new in Hosoda's films (and somewhat overused at this point) and is utilized as a huge plot point on the film for Kun to make emotional development for himself without help from his rather lax parents. The way the story was going, ... I was hoping for something more thrilling and adventurous would occur, but suddenly let down when this only happened towards the nearing end of the film (that provided no clear buildup, really). In any way, the progression of the film was a bit messy, but not overall horrible as it did bring some interesting messages to the table that not only young children can take, but also the older audience that Mirai's audience may be mostly comprised of — it is to not underestimate or misunderstand people's choices, as there may be more reason to it than what meets the eye.

ART: 9/10
The art and the animation was what made me truly fall in love with the film. It's beautiful watercolor-like scenery that kept its own version of realism; the character's fluid, expressive movements; and how each frame is designed to exactly fit the mood of our character (let it be messy, bright, conflicted, etc). I love Hosoda's films for how fluid and the diverse the animation becomes, and this, wholly on the art alone, made me appreciate it.

SOUND: 8/10
The soundtrack was genuinely catchy, and fit the mood of the story through that little touch of magical innocence Kun and Mirai have. It added onto the enjoyment of the story.

CHARACTERS: 6/10
Now this is where it gets a bit tricky for me. Our main character is in the eyes of a stubborn toddler going through moods of jealousy and frequent tantrums; a phase many of us, at least those who have younger siblings, have probably gone through at his age (unless you saved the universe in your past life and reincarnated an angel). To see that point in your life in your present perspective may be nostalgic as much as it is annoying to watch. Kun spent most of the entire film complaining and having tantrums— again, a common factor in toddlers, but this is exactly the trait he has that becomes less frequent and therefore develops as a young boy throughout the progression of the movie. This is the point of view that perfectly pictures the message the story paints, and it is done so rigidly yet through what I can assume is careful precision.
Other characters, such as the parents, had their own struggles to overcome— but for some reason, did nothing to even help Kun mature himself. I mean, instead of going through the fields of time travel and constant re-evaluation, his parents could have just educated him or reprimanded him as most normal parents do. But I guess if it were that way, this movie wouldn't exactly exist.

Overall, the characters in general were rather bland, but the characteristics that mainly represented their cause in Kun's journey were perfectly defined.

ENJOYMENT: 6/10
Although, of course, by the time I finished the film, I found myself emotionally touched and smiling — but through the aforementioned doubts and expectations I had about the general plot of the film, I wasn't completely satisfied nor was I about to immediately go "Holy hell, 10/10" for this film. I'm not going to deny that I was annoyed with Kun's tantrums, either.

OVERALL:
Despite everything else, this was a good film. Although it definitely isn't for everyone, it represents a good familial antidote and all the rouses of time and appreciating what you have. I don't know if I would definitely recommend it to people, but it's a light watch that'll leave you with a full heart by the end of it.

Here is my review of this anime in 2023!

Story (10)
The story is about a boy who time-traveled to another timeline. He's going to learn about the past of his family and how to be independent. Not only that, but He can also interact with the world that He's traveled. There are several comedy scene on this anime. Overall it's a good slice-of-life movie anime!

Art (9)
The art of this anime is very good! I like how they animate 3D Animation and the future scene. Not only that, I also like the color they were using to match the vibes.

Sound (10)
All the sounds that they used were ... very good and adjusted to the animation.

Character (9)
The main character is very memorable along with the supporter.

Enjoyment (9)
It's very enjoyable to watch this movie in 2023.

Overall (9)
Recommended to those who love comedy and slice-of-life anime!

*Watching this with your family is recommended!

Mamoru Hosoda's fifth animated feature, MIRAI, may seem a bit more small scale compared to his earlier movies such as THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME, SUMMER WARS, and WOLF CHILDREN, but it's no less mesmerizing. To anyone unfamiliar with these aforementioned films, I do recommend them highly -- they're all magnificent movies, almost the equivalent of Hayao Miyazaki's work. MIRAI isn't quite that, but it's the next best thing.

The film tells the story of a pampered little boy named Kun, used to his parents catering to him all the time. So much so that when he gets a new sister, Mirai (which means "future"), ... his parents start neglecting him, and of course, he gets jealous. He behaves like any kid in his situation would. He throws tantrums, he bawls, he says nasty things, and at one point, even throws one of his toy trains at his sister. "Your attitude stinks," says another character in the film, quite accurately.

At the peak of every outburst he flees into the garden where a tree is growing, at which point the scene changes to a different location where he meets members of his family when they were younger -- including the pet dog(!), as well as, most mysterious of all, his new sister as a teenager. These close encounters send Kun on flashback journeys where he must learn to be more appreciative and caring and stop acting like a spoiled brat. (In a way, this is sort of like A CHRISTMAS CAROL for 4 year olds, but not feeling "dumbed down" in the least.)

Hosoda handles this story with just the right touch of tangibleness as well as his occasional trademark moments of surrealism. However badly Kun behaves, he remains a very relatable character throughout -- in fact this might be the most realistic portrayal of any such boy I've ever seen in any animated feature. And of course, the animation, as mentioned, is nothing short of gorgeous, complete with a mix of CGI and hand-painted backgrounds -- a rarity in animated films these days... even in Japan. (Hosoda laments how rare this style of background art is becoming and is quite vocal for its support, and rightly so.)

MIRAI is also a surprisingly funny film -- one scene in which Kun and two new friends of his have to put away some dolls without Dad in the room suspecting in particular is hilarious. There's even a brief episode in which Kun tries to ride a bike for the first time -- without training wheels! The results go as well as you'd expect, resulting in yet another outburst as well as a visitation, after which he gets a second chance. There's even a frightening climax at a train station, although I dare not reveal more about it at the risk of spoiling the story.

If you're a fan of Japanese animated features and Hosoda's work in general, MIRAI should be a great one to check out. It's accessible to children and adults, and easily superior to many other Western animated features released this year, notably the overbloated RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET. GKids is releasing this movie and treating it as a contender for Best Animated Feature Film for this year. Even if it probably doesn't nab the prize, it nonetheless is strong enough to make an impression of its own. I dare say it even stands alongside the recent Chinese animated fantasy BIG FISH & BEGONIA as one of my favorite animated films of 2018.

Adding to an already great movie is an even better dub provided by the folks at NYAV Post, with top notch directing by the always reliable Mike Sinterniklaas and script adaptation by the similarly talented Stephanie Sheh. This dub, like the similarly grand Disney-Gkids-Ghibli dubs, features a cast of noteworthy names such as John Cho, Rebecca Davis, and Daniel Day Kim. Surprisingly, too, Crispin Freeman -- yes, that Crispin Freeman(!) -- has a brief cameo, and it's always a pleasure to hear him. The real triumph of the dub is, as per usual in a NYAV Post, the casting of the kids. Young Jaden Waldman does an absolutely excellent job at rendering Kun, effectively conveying his mood swings and giving him a lot of appeal in spite of this character's sometimes unlikable personality. (Only issue is that he screams a bit too much, but on the other hand, it makes sense considering the circumstances.) I've always appreciated hearing children voice children -- as evidenced in my praise of the dub for "Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water", and it's a pleasure to see that there are dubs doing this practice today, MIRAI being one of them. The lipsync is also spot on with well timed and written dialogue -- a difficult task for any scriptwriter, but it's done well here.

MIRAI marks yet another glorious achievement for Hosoda, all the more so because he bases it on a personal story. It's often been said that some of the more inspiring features sing best when the writers write from their own experiences. This is no exception. I look forward to seeing what this director does next.

This will be my review on the movie 'Mirai no Mirai'. The movie has a runtime of an hour and around 30 minutes. It is produced by Studio Chizu who have been responsible for Wolf Children, Summer Wars, and The Girl who Leapt through Time. I just finished the movie a few minutes ago so everything is still fresh to write down. So, let's get down to this. Let's get this bread!

Story/Plot: The very young (maybe around 5 year old) Ken gets a little sister! And as it is always told and actually the case soon Ken feels neglected by his parents who only seem ... tk have eyes for the little girl. Her name is Mirai. You see, she's the title of the movie. Not wanting to be contained with this Ken almost hits Mirai with a toy train. His mother quickly takes Mirai in her arms and Ken runs out, crying. It's then that he sees the tree in their outdoor garden glowing. And suddenly she stands before the young Ken, his sister Mirai from the future now a young girl.
What is this tree and what's the deal with this Mirai from the Future?
I will try to not spoil anything about the movie so I will just say that while this story doesn't seem very grand the movie gives room for Ken. He's the main point of the movie. Through this tree that I won't explain any further Ken learns. A lot. And that's for the story. I feel like the story more or less is more part of the characters so I will say more there.


Art: Beautiful. That sums it up. Same animation and artstyle like Chizu's previous movies this one just sparks colors and great fluid animation. It just looks very pretty. There isn't actually anything else that I have to or can say about the art in this movie.


Sound: Just great. SFX were there but this is not a battle anime. Most importantly, the BGM. God, so beautiful. Great songs, great piano plays. Also the end credit song is very nice and the music in this movie really emphasizes on the mood and emotions of the characters, most importantly Ken of course.


Characters: And here comes the most important part of this movie: The characters. Okay, where do I begin? I guess I finish of the other characters of this movie. First of, baby Mirai. She's still a baby so not much here. Future Mirai though is different, or rather she's finally her. In fact, I can sum up pretty much all characters in this movie, even the very detailed father and mother as humans. Yeah. They act like real humans would. And this is very important for this movie. To be normal. Ken's father and mother are both very human in what they do and how they do it. And why. And most importantly, Ken. This young and very annoying boy is what this movie is all about. About this very normal child that acts like one. Now you would say that of course he acts like child, he's a child after all. No no no, what I mean is that Ken acts and thinks exactly what a child at his age thinks and does. And that's the point of the show. Ken is the one character that grows the most in his personality. Obviously he should, he's the youngest one who can talk after all. He grows from each experience. This is what this movie is about. Ken facing through things a regular child his age would and then experiencing solutions to those things, those obstacles, those problems. This movie shows the struggles of a family, of bearing a child and loving with it, it shows what fathers might deal with when having children, what mothers have to go through. And what siblings have to go through. This movie shows all this and shows how Ken changes, how he begins to see things in a new light. There are a lot of facets and other deep and less deep angles in this movie, and talking about all those woidl be tiring. And spoiling. So I'm not gonna do that.


Overall Enjoyment and verdict: Did I enioy this movie? Oh yes. This movie is very important and it should be watched by all siblings and parents. A movie rich on lessons to be learned for multiple people. The things this movie can teach you are abundant. I am very glad to have watched this movie and I recommend it to anyone. The score here on Mal is laughable for this movie. I hope I could make you watch this amazing movie and I truly hope that more people do. Greatness approaches.

See you in the next review

Mirai no Mirai is an anime about a family portrait made out to be interesting. And it comes out naturally. I can not describe all the feelings. But it makes me smile. And it was happy to see it.

Although at times I was bored. But there is a feeling something that it is still interesting and wants to watch to the end with the image and
miraculous movement. (It would be a weakness of this makes it difficult to understand the content.)

The show comes through some of Kun's consciousness, which makes him see the family's past in the form of fantasy and miracles. Using the ... story of time in the narrative, It make me see the relationship of this family in past and future, all through the painful past. At least it made me see Kun learning to love and understand the feelings of the family more.

So you should not look for the rationality of this. I want you to understand the family story. It can be used to teach your wayward baby to have a good attitude. Even if I do not have a brother or sister, what I feel is that if I have a brother or sister, I should not be angry with them if the parents love one another. It is common for a parent to be loved by a parent. When I grow up and have a family, I will understand it.

Although I can’t give “great”, but it is good for parents have more than two children.

Mirai no Mirai, Future of Mirai in English. To start off, you can immediately tell it's a Mamoru Hosoda done film. Which immediately gives off a "good news vibe." I'll try to avoid spoilers to heavily.

The movie is great.
The Story is definitely an experiment playing with classic ideas coming from such things as even Christmas Carol and the link. Moral lessons being essential to the plot. Wonderfully done in execution, for the most part, really cool plays in the character involved teaching. The trailer was a bit dishonest as far as execution, but unbelievably great story idea and playing on it from it. As far ... as music goes, the movie opens with a pretty cute poppy song and ends with a notably disco-ish pop tune, which are both nice. The soundtrack plays its role and doesn't call much attention but was definitely noticeable occasionally in the more "surreal" moments of the movie.

And here comes the big negative of this movie for me personally:
The kid, Kun, on the other hand (the main focus of the film), watching him really tried my patience for most of this film. It almost feels like a necessary evil, As the brattish pestering nature of kid is almost completely needed for the story to be told and make sense, Which knowing helps teaspoon some sugar down with the sour. But it still doesn't help how absolutely annoying Kun is. Watching a child act like a brat for that long just gets frustrating. And upon thinking about it, if you've seen Wolf Children, you know that Mamoru Hosoda has totally been able to make child characters working through issues and being rebellious or having massive child issues without shoving how shitty a kid is acting down your throat.

The shoving down your throat metaphor is a bit exaggerative, but not by a crazy amount. On top of all that, to be fair to the movie, I am a person who doesn't really like dealing with children, to begin with normally, but I also didn't feel this way in Wolf Children (not to compare the movies directly, obviously.)

Just saw it 2 days ago and wanted to jot down some thoughts.
This is a fabulous film, probably Hosoda's most personal one.

As a Pediatrician, I appreciated how detailed the movie animates 4-year old milestones, from temper tantrums to climbing up and down stairs with some difficulty to concrete versus abstract thinking. The facial expressions are top notch; very nice, exaggerated just to the point of not overdoing it. And the details on the baby! Hosoda really knocks it out of the park. Eye-tracking, babbling, cooing, to older toddler milestones of eye contact, grasping at toys, oral fixation, it's all there in wonderfully animated glory.

But I ... digress. Others may find the detail a bit boring, as in its core it's a film about a 4 year old coming to terms with the presence of a new baby sister. The simplicity, however, is what makes the film wonderful. At the end of the film there was an interview with Hosoda and he was asked the question of whether this film was directly aimed at a young audience, and he makes a point that having such a simple down-to-Earth plot allows him to create a story that anyone can appreciate, an epic of sorts. I agree, there is something that someone of all ages can appreciate. I loved the realistic tantrums, the older-brother, younger-sister dynamics. The various vignettes offer a beautiful nostalgic feeling that reminds me of Isao Takahata's Only Yesterday.

The plot, I admit, is threadbare. Once the magic portal gimmick shows itself for the 4th time, there's this feeling of "Is this it?" No grand narrative, no buildup to a villain is present. But I feel that the third act of the film is the strongest. The learning how the ride a bike scene, the scene with the Lonely Train, and the family tree vignettes were all very well done. Hosoda deftly builds up the family narrative to an emotional climax that eventually pays off very well.

The sound and music is very low-key, and the color palette is very subdued as well. The CG is not too overbearing. The movie is quite technically proficient.

Well worth the $16 with the convenience fee added on. I saw it in Mobile AL where on the premier showing there was only 6 people in the theater. Sad.