Maboroshi

Synopsis

In the isolated village of Mifuse, time has frozen. Following an explosion at the local steel mill, the residents become trapped in a bizarre state of suspension, cut off from the outside world. A prominent local leader quickly blames this event on divine punishment, prompting the community to adopt various superstitions meant to maintain their fragile situation until things return to normal. Masamune Kikuiri, a middle school student, along with other young people in Mifuse, has begun losing hope of ever returning to the real world. Their senses have dulled, and they show no visible signs of aging despite the passage of years. Masamune has grown accustomed to a life of quiet desperation and self-doubt. However, everything changes when his classmate, Mutsumi Sagami, takes him to the steel mill's fifth furnace, where they encounter a feral young girl who resembles a wolf. This meeting becomes the spark that ignites a shift, breaking through the stagnation that has long defined Mifuse's reality.

Background

Alice to Therese no Maboroshi Koujou won the Best Animated Film Award at the 78th Mainichi Film Awards in 2024. The film also won the Kabuku Award at the second Niigata International Animation Film Festival.