Directed by Mamoru Hosoda and produced by Studio Chizu, Mirai tells the story of 4-year-old Kun and his family. Their house, designed by Kun’s architect father, is of a very modern design with an open-air yard in the middle of it. Kun is initially excited by the arrival of his new baby sister, Mirai, but excitement soon turns to jealousy when he finds he is no longer the center of his parents’ undivided attention. And between his parents, tension rises as his mother prepares to return to her job while his father works freelance from home and assumes the duties of caring for the children.

Mon, Dad, and Mirai. IMDb.com.

One day, after a particularly angry exchange, Kun enters the yard on the way to his detached playroom and encounters what turns out to be the family dog, Yukko, manifesting in human form. Yukko complains that he once had all the attention, but things changed for the worse when Kun was born. From here, the films shifts back and forth between scenes of Kun’s parents trying to cope with their responsibilities and Kun, himself, having a series of encounters with Mirai as a teenager, his mother as a child, his great-grandfather as a young man, and Kun, himself, as a teenager. Each encounter gives Kun an opportunity to learn about his family and about himself. Continue reading →