Mai-Mai Miracle

Synopsis

The tale unfolds in 1955 within Kokuga, Hofu City, Yamaguchi Prefecture. A millennium earlier, this location hosted the ancient capital of Suo no Kuni, and remnants of the Heian Period (year 794-1185) endure today through its ruins and historic place names. Shinko, a third grader at the local elementary school, hails from one of the town's old, respected families. The little girl is known for the odd curl on her forehead, which she nicknames "Mai Mai," and for spending much of her time romping through the fields. In private, though, her true delight lies in envisioning and daydreaming about life a thousand years in the past, letting her mind roam freely through the Heian era. Then one day, a transfer student named Kiiko arrives from Tokyo and joins Shinko's class. Accustomed to the big city, Kiiko struggles to feel at ease in this small town, yet bit by bit her bond with Shinko grows stronger. In time, the pair find themselves swept up in a strange occurrence from a thousand years ago...?!

Background

The film was nominated for the 4th Asia Pacific Screen Award for Best Animated Feature Film. Mai Mai Miracle won the 2010 Audience Award for the Best Animated Feature for adults at Anima, the Brussels Animation Film Festival (February 2010 in Belgium). It also won the BETV Award for Best Animated Feature at the same festival. It won the Best Animated Feature Film award in the Jury Prize categories at the Fantasia Film Festival in Montréal, Canada (July 2010). The film won the Excellence Prize for Feature Length Animation at the 2010 Japan Media Arts Festival (the 14th festival edition).