The new animated film from studio MAPPA has arrived on Netflix, and is having fun losing its viewers: Who is Itsumi really? What happened to the Mifuse steelworks? What happens to the townspeople in the end?
Japanese animation has clearly caught the eye of Netflix, which has understood the potential of works from the biggest anime studios. The streaming giant has decided to start the year 2024 in style by purchasing the international rights to a very nice feature film, Maboroshi.. a>
Straight from the kitchens of the MAPPA studio, which has become a must in the industry despite recent controversies over working conditions a>.a story as touching as ‘convoluted, the film has benefited from particular care. In the script and direction of the film which was initially to be titled Alice to Therese no Maboroshi Koujou (i.e. “the illusion factory of Alice and Thérèse”), we found Mari Okada, who had already amazed his spectators with Maquia – When the Promised Flower Blossoms. And MAPPA’s animation skills allowed the director to deploy all her know-how, offering us sublime images, an exceptional and very accurate soundtrack, for
This is also the point which probably disturbed its audience the most: worthy of typical anime scenarios, the story, imbued with melancholy, romance and messages of hope, will not have lacked in lose more than one. What really happened in the town of Mifuse? Who is Itsumi really and what does his character represent? What happens to the heroes at the end? If you feel lost, don’t panic: we offer you ways to interpret the plot of Maboroshi.
Warning: This article spoils the entirety of Maboroshi!
Summary
- What happened to Mifuse Town in Maboroshi?
- Who is Itsumi, and what is her role in Maboroshi?
- How to interpret Mifuse’s world of illusion?
- What happens to the characters at the end, once Itsumi leaves Mifuse Town?
What happened to Mifuse Town in Maboroshi?
From the beginning, Maboroshi puts his feet in the dish: while putting us in the point of view of Msamune, a 14-year-old teenager, we discover that Mifuse finds herself locked in a bubble stuck in time. A permanent winter, characters who don’t change, no more contact with the rest of the country.
In the middle of this space frozen in time, everyone does their best to “not change” and prepare for a possible return to normality. And hidden in the fifth blast furnace of the steelworks, there is a wild teenager, who clearly did not receive a normal education and remained hidden from everyone: Masamune will rename her Itsumi. But what happened at Mifuse?
It all started with an explosion at the steelworks, a factory serving as an economic engine for the city. It is this event that creates a rift in our heroes’ space-time, propelling them into an illusion. In the last part of the film, we are confirmed what we had already guessed, as Masamune and Itsumi peek through the cracks: the town of Mifuse in which they live is no longer really real. She is locked in a precise moment, right before the catastrophe. The characters who find themselves stuck there are nothing more than illusions, copies of their “true selves” , ghosts imitating reality.
Everyone has their own interpretation: Mamoru Sagami transforms into a guru and affirms that it was the gods of the region who brought down divine punishment on the inhabitants of Mifuse. For Mifuse’s grandfather, it would on the contrary be a blessing: the gods would have saved the happiest moment before the explosion of the steelworks, to protect the inhabitants of the city.
In the end, the director will not give a clear answer on the reasons for the divide between reality and the illusion in which the characters are immersed. At least, not in the diegesis: like any human, the heroes can only suppose, invent and cling to convictions.
For spectators, however, it is possible to understand the incident differently, seeing it more as a metaphor.
Who is Itsumi, and what is her role in Maboroshi?
Because the point of the film does not lie solely in the resolution of the love story of Masamune and Mutsumi: in the middle of the voluntarily anesthetized group of inhabitants of Mifuse, there is Itsumi.
This “wolf girl” , wild, rude, uneducated and incapable of putting two words together, suddenly appears like a hurricane in Masamune’s life: at first an intruder jostling the uncomfortable young man, she never stops to surprise him, to worry him or to rush headlong into where he does not dare to move. His curiosity and enthusiasm seem dissonant compared to the immobility of the other characters, always so calm and static.
It must be said that emotions that are too strong cause new cracks: and a broken heart means disappearing, swallowed by the smoke monsters protecting the world and its inert tranquility. Strangely, our young heroes are precisely looking to feel something: their games are violent, the challenges dangerous, but they are a way to overcome boredom and prove to themselves that they exist. Because even before the revelation of the illusion world, the schoolchildren understood that something was wrong and that they were not “real” .
Itsumi is not concerned by all this, because she is not an illusion. When she was very young, she took refuge on a train that passed through a crack and took her to the ghost world.
Unlike the others, time has an effect on her: where Masamune and his friends are stuck at their fourteen years for a decade, Itsumi really grows up. And when she is heartbroken to discover that Masamune loves another, even though the cracks appear in the sky, her body remains intact and she does not disappear into the smoke monsters. So who is Itsumi really?
The girl’s real name is Kukuiri Saki. She is the daughter that the “real” Masamune and Mutsumi, the originals who did not stay in the reality-copying illusion world, had.
Upon her arrival, Mamoru Sagami decides in her religious madness that she is destined for the gods. He wishes to preserve it in all its purity and therefore makes sure to limit his interactions with the rest of the world. The little girl therefore learns nothing, barely sees anyone, which explains her mental retardation when Masamune meets her. But as soon as he learns the truth about Itsumi, the young man’s choice is made: he will do everything to send her back to her parents.
How to interpret Mifuse’s world of illusion?
Far from simply providing a context for the story, the world of illusion in which the characters evolve can be interpreted as a metaphor.
We understand at the end of the film, when Saki goes to the ruins of the steelworks in the real world: the explosion was terrible. In addition to ruining the city’s economy, it also caused the death of many employees there – including Masamune’s father.
It is possible that Mifuse’s illusion world is actually a metaphor for the refusal to mourn a more peaceful time, when everything was fine. Refusing to When facing the reality of the steelworks, the characters find themselves trapped in their memories of the moment preceding the tragedy. We see here an illustration of a defense mechanism deployed by many victims of trauma: denial.
And everything is done to remain in this state of apathy: the weekly notes to ensure that none of the inhabitants of Mifuse change, to ensure that they experience as few emotions as possible – no more love stories, too dangerous! And when a “real” little girl appears, we lock her up and hide her, in an attempt to cover up the affair and curb the curiosity of the child who does not suit the new way of life.
But this state cannot last forever: the most violent emotions, such as heartache or despair, sweep away the affected characters. But what if they were not simply saved from this general apathy? When Masamune and Mutsumi decide to help Itsumi return to the real world, we can see it as a desire to save the future. To come out of this anesthetized state and experience things again, you have to move forward, discover, face the unknown in order to grow. And this, even if it sometimes means suffering!
We can also see the need to face our fears when we have to move from childhood to the “adult” world, Itsumi having to accept growing up and being pushed by her “parents” to move forward on her own, and alone. on his train.
Ironically, the scene can even recall another famous sequence from Japanese animated cinema: that of Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away, in which the final stage of the heroine’s adventure, which ” finally grows up and becomes independent, is shown as she boards an old wagon alongside the Faceless One. By finding herself alone on board this train which transports her between Mifuse and the rest of her life, Itsumi also grows up.
What happens to the characters at the end, once Itsumi leaves Mifuse Town?
But only Itsumi can return to the real world: Masamune, Mutsumi and the others are only illusions. This is also what the word “maboroshi” means, which can be translated as “illusion” , “dream” or “ghost” in Japanese.
It is entirely possible that the schoolchildren, stuck at a key moment in the history of the city and its steelworks, are therefore simple memories, “ghosts” from the past of Mifuse before the explosion of the steelworks. The fact that they too have accepted their fate and that good weather has returned may even mean that they will disappear altogether.
If Itsumi, who becomes Saki again at the end, does not forget them and returns to the place, it is because the characters really existed for her: they represent a memory, which it is not necessary to forget completely, but which we must know how to leave in its place to continue moving forward.
In the same way, it is these memories that pushed the young girl to return to reality: they can also be her driving force, as long as she agrees not to get lost alongside them.Because in the phases of mourning, if denial generally comes first, we find acceptance at the end of the cycle. This is what Masamune’s voice-over implies as the train moves away, carrying the teenager towards reality: “Continue on your way, Itsumi. Go discover what is beyond our reach. Take a deep breath, and intoxicate yourself with new smells. As for us, we don’t know how much time we have left here.”
The end for our young heroes could therefore seem bitter, but Mari Okada brings a note of hope. Indeed, Mutsumi announces hearing a voice after the climax of the film: “It sounds like the voice… of a newborn.” The image makes then a transition to Itsumi who screams her sorrow while coming out of the tunnel and returning to reality.
We can see it as a second birth, and the representation of life returning to its normal course for the young girl. But we can also interpret it as an illustration of reincarnation, very widespread in certain religions such as Shintoism: our heroes have accepted their fate, they are ready to start a new life too by abandoning their frozen world.
Maboroshi is available on Netflix since January 15, 2024.
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