Mai Mai Shinko to Sennen no Mahou

Mai-Mai Miracle

マイマイ新子と千年の魔法

15/08/2009 7.2 0 PG

Synopsis

The story unfolds in 1955 in Kokuga, Hofu City, Yamaguchi Prefecture. A thousand years ago, this area was the site of the ancient capital, Suo no Kuni, and traces of the Heian Period (794-1185) are preserved in ruins and historical place names. The protagonist is Shinko, a third-grade elementary school student from one of the town's venerable families. Known for her distinctive forehead curl (which she calls her "Mai Mai"), Shinko loves playing in the fields. Her secret joy is imagining and daydreaming about the world of a thousand years ago. Her fantasies transport her to the Heian Period... One day, a girl named Kiiko transfers from Tokyo and joins Shinko's class. This city girl struggles to feel at home in the small town, but her friendship with Shinko deepens over time. Before long, the two become involved in a strange incident from a thousand years earlier...?!

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).