Maboroshi

Not to be confused with Maborosi.

Maboroshi
Theatrical release poster
Japanese name
Kanji	アリスとテレスのまぼろし工場
Literal meaning	Alice and Therese's Illusory Factory
Transcriptions Revised Hepburn Arisu to Teresu no Maboroshi Kōjō
Directed by	Mari Okada
Written by	Mari Okada
Produced by	Manabu Otsuka
Starring	Junya Enoki Reina Ueda Misaki Kuno
Cinematography	Yuusuke Tannawa
Edited by	Ayumu Takahashi
Music by	Masaru Yokoyama
Production company	MAPPA
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures Japan (Japan) Netflix (International)
Release date	September 15, 2023 (2023-09-15)
Running time	111 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

Maboroshi (Japanese: アリスとテレスのまぼろし工場, Hepburn: Arisu to Teresu no Maboroshi Kōjō, lit. 'Alice and Therese's Illusory Factory') is a 2023 Japanese animated science fantasy drama film. Produced by MAPPA and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures Japan, the film is directed and written by Mari Okada. The film debuted in Japanese theaters in September 15, 2023 and was released worldwide on Netflix on January 15, 2024.

Plot

Mifuse is a steel mill town in rural Japan. In January 1991, a catastrophic explosion at the mill isolates the town from the outside world, trapping it in an eternal winter. Mamoru Sagami, a mill worker and head priest, declares the disaster divine punishment for mining a sacred mountain. He convinces the townspeople to maintain their pre-disaster identities, submitting periodic ID forms, as he claims they are bound to a "sacred machine." Meanwhile, fissures occasionally open in the sky, only to be sealed by the mill's smoke.

Masamune Kikuri, a student, discovers a feral girl, Itsumi, in the steel mill blast furnace under the care of his classmate, Mutsumi. While bonding with Itsumi, Masamune learns conflicting theories about her origins, with Sagami claiming she is a “woman of the gods” and his uncle Tokimune hinting she doesn’t belong in their world. As Masamune continues visiting Itsumi, the town’s surreal nature becomes increasingly apparent.

The arrival of summer imagery through sky fissures coincides with escalating tensions. During a school test of courage, Masamune's classmate Sonobe emits light and vanishes when enveloped by mill smoke, sparking more doubts about the town’s reality. Sagami asserts that their world, created by the sacred machine, is perfect and eternal. Tokimune, however, argues it is doomed to collapse.

Through revelations in his father’s diary, Masamune learns Itsumi’s true identity: Saki Kikuri, a girl transported from the real world, and the town itself is a constructed reality. Determined to free Saki, Masamune enlists his classmates and disrupts Sagami's ritual to offer her to the sacred machine. During an Obon festival visible through the fissures, Masamune and Mutsumi rescue Saki and place her on a freight train bound for the real world. After a climactic chase, Mutsumi leaps off the train to reunite with Masamune, allowing Saki's train to escape.

Years later, Saki returns as an adult to a deserted Mifuse. Reflecting on her past as Itsumi, she visits the steel mill's remnants, where farewell messages and memories of her previous life remain preserved.

Voice cast

Character	Japanese	English
Masamune Kikuiri	Junya Enoki	Max Mittelman
Mutsumi Sagami/Mutsumi Kikuiri	Reina Ueda	Jeannie Tirado
Itsumi/Saki Kikuiri	Misaki Kuno	Kitana Turnbull
Akimune Kikuiri	Kōji Seto	Robbie Daymond
Tokimune Kikuiri	Kento Hayashi	Isaac Robinson-Smith
Daisuke Sasakura	Taku Yashiro	Jonathan Leon
Atsushi Nitta	Tasuku Hatanaka	David Errigo Jr.
Yasunari Senba	Daiki Kobayashi	Brandon Engman
Yūko Sonobe	Ayaka Saitō	Lizzie Freeman
Hina Hara	Maki Kawase	Valerie Rose Lohman
Reina Yasumi	Yukiyo Fujii	Madeline Dorroh
Mamoru Sagami	Setsuji Satō	Andrew Kishino

Production

Maboroshi is produced by MAPPA, written and directed by Mari Okada, with Yuriko Ishii designing the characters, and Masaru Yokoyama composing the music. Much of the animation staff from Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms worked on the film.

Release

The film was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures Japan, who released the film in theaters on September 15, 2023. Miyuki Nakajima performed the film's main theme, "Shin-on". Netflix has acquired the global rights to the film and released it, as simply Maboroshi, on their platform on January 15, 2024.

Marketing

Okada wrote a novelization of the film, which Kadokawa Shoten published under their Kadokawa Bunko imprint on June 13, 2023.

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 67% of 9 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.1/10.

Accolades

Maboroshi won the Mainichi Film Award for Best Animation Film in 2023. In March 2024, the film won a Kabuku Award at the Niigata Int'l Animation Film Festival.

External links

• Official website (in Japanese)
• Maboroshi on Netflix
• Maboroshi at IMDb 
• Maboroshi (film) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia