Do you know the screenwriter Mari Okada?
She's known for writing 'Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day,' 'Toradora!,' and 'Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans,' and more recently she directed 'Maboroshi.' Miyuki Nakajima, who sang the theme song 'Shinon' for Maboroshi, reportedly said, 'I don't usually watch anime, but I became a huge fan!'
Mari Okada has a somewhat unusual background—she was apparently a recluse in her childhood. This is recounted in her autobiography 'From Truant to Anohana and The Anthem of the Heart,' which was even dramatized. From elementary school she couldn't fit in with the atmosphere of school, and by middle school she'd fallen into a full-blown shut-in life. When she learned that in high school you could graduate even without enough attendance days, she studied desperately and successfully enrolled. But she couldn't adjust to the school atmosphere there either, and became a recluse for a third time. However, at the game vocational school she entered afterward, she met all sorts of otaku like herself, and was reportedly able to rejoin society safely.
Mari Okada has also said that with 'Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day,' she poured out everything inside her heart. For 'The Anthem of the Heart,' which the same staff reunited to make, she reportedly agonized quite a bit, feeling she had nothing left to pour out.
And the work where Mari Okada made her directorial debut is the one I'm introducing this time: 'Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms.'
The Iorph are a people who stop aging in appearance in their mid-teens and live for several centuries. One day, the peace of these people living in a remote land is shattered by another race seeking their long-lived blood. An Iorph girl who escapes amid the chaos eventually finds a human infant in the forest and resolves to raise the child. It's a story that comes together quite beautifully all the way to the end.
While 'Maboroshi' is a somewhat difficult, artistic work, this one is crafted to appeal to everyone.
The character designs are by Akihiko Yoshida, familiar from Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions and others. Perhaps because he comes from a game background, the faces can be a little hard to tell apart, but that hardly detracts from the work's beauty.
The music is by Kenji Kawai. He masterfully renders the delicate psychological portrayal of weaving threads together.
Well then, let's give the music a listen.
First, track 1, 'Iorph, the Clan of Farewells.' This melody begins to play along with the sound of a loom, packing all kinds of emotions into a single piece—the modest yet gentle nature of the Iorph people, as well as the loneliness of the heroine Maquia, who has no family. There's simply nothing to say but that it's wonderful.
Next is track 4, 'The Days of Becoming a Mother.' It's a piece about Maquia, a member of a clan that doesn't age, picking up and raising a human child—the child grows, but she does not. And yet, even so, she spends fulfilling days with the first family she's ever had. It's a gentle, joyful melody.
Now, let's part ways with the teaser.
As of now, you can watch this film on Netflix.
Quoted from the official site https://sayoasa.jp/
