MAPPA's Maboroshi Anime Film Releases This September

The highly anticipated film is set to premiere on September 15, featuring a talented cast led by Junya Enoki as the 14-year-old protagonist, Masamune Kikuiri. Reina Ueda takes on the role of Masamune's classmate, Atsumi Sagami, while Misaki Kuno portrays the enigmatic and mysterious girl, Itsumi (character name spellings are subject to confirmation). The film also stars:

Koji Seto as Akimune Kikuiri, Masamune's father, who works at a steel mill.

Kento Hayashi as Tokimune Kikuiri, Masamune's uncle, who also works at the steel mill.

The story centers around Masamune, a third-year middle school student living in a town where time has come to a standstill after a sudden explosion at a steelworks factory sealed off all exits. As a result, the town's residents are forbidden from changing and are forced to live monotonous, gloomy lives. However, Masamune's life takes a dramatic turn when his mysterious classmate, Atsumi, leads him to the fifth blast furnace of the steelworks factory. There, they encounter a girl with wolf-like wildness and an inability to speak. The meeting of Masamune with these two girls upends the balance of the world, and the unstoppable "love impulse" of the weary boys and girls begins to threaten the very fabric of reality.

The film is a creation of Okada, who serves as both writer and director, with MAPPA originally announcing the project in 2021. Okada is also credited with the original work and even penned a novel for the film, released by Kadokawa Bunko on June 13.

The creative team behind the film includes Tadashi Hiramatsu as the assistant director, and Yuriko Ishii (known for work on Another and Persona -trinity soul-) as the character designer and chief animation director. Kazuki Higashiji (known for work on Angel Beats!, Hanasaku Iroha - Blossoms for Tomorrow, The Piano Forest) is overseeing the art direction. These animators previously collaborated on Okada's Maquia - When the Promised Flower Blooms film. The music for the film is composed by Masaru Yokoyama (known for Her Blue Sky and Horimiya). Warner Bros. is handling the film's distribution.

Adding to the excitement, singer-songwriter Miyuki Nakajima will be performing the film's theme song titled "Shin-on" (Heartbeat). Notably, this marks Nakajima's first time performing a theme song for an anime or game, despite her songs appearing in other anime soundtracks and writing songs for Cosmowarrior Zero and Space Battleship Yamato 2199 for other singers. Okada personally approached Nakajima for the theme song last fall, and after reading Okada's script, Nakajima became convinced and created the song exclusively for the film. This collaboration adds a unique and compelling element to the movie's overall experience.