Alice to Therese no Maboroshi Kojo(アリスとテレスのまぼろし工場), Alice to Teresu no Maboroshi Kōjō is a Japanese animated film produced by MAPPA released in 2023. It's an original work directed and scripted by Mari Okada. Prior to its release, a novel adaptation was published by KADOKAWA's Kadokawa Bunko starting from June 13th.
Overview[]
This film is the second directorial work by Mari Okada, following their first film Sayonara no Asa ni Yakusoku no Hana o Kazaro, and reunites the main staff from that movie. It is Okada's second directorial work and also marks MAPPA's first original theatrical anime.
Plot Details[]
Mifuse, surrounded by the sea and mountains, was an industrial town beneath the corporate castle of a steel mill. Masamune Kikuiri, a third-year middle school student living there, was the son of a steel mill employee and his uncle. In January 1991, while Masamune was studying for exams with friends at home, an explosion occurred at the steel mill. Since then, Mifuse had been completely cut off from the outside world, and the seasons had stopped changing. Sago Mamoru, an employee of the Mifuse Shrine and a relative of Masamune's, explained that the incident was a "divine punishment by the 'Divine Machine' of the steel mill, which had cut into the local mountain believed to house a deity, trapping them." He emphasized that until the deity's mood improved, it was necessary not to change anything from before the explosion to return to the original world. This policy was adopted, and residents were required to periodically submit a document called a "self-confirmation form," detailing their personal circumstances and interests, to ensure consistency when returning to the original world. Cracks occasionally appeared in the night sky, and smoke from the steel mill blocked them, becoming part of daily life. Minors whose growth had stopped were allowed to obtain driver's licenses.
Masamune and his friends started playing games involving pain, such as "fainting games." One day, Masamune, who harbored a sense of disgust towards a classmate, Mutsumi Sagami, was forcibly taken by him to the steel mill. When they arrived at Blast Furnace No. 5, they found a girl there, almost like a feral child who hardly understood human speech. Sago Mamoru, who was taking care of the girl without a name and prohibited her from going outside, instructed Masamune to help with waste disposal and bathing, ordering him to come three times a week from then on. That night, Masamune was told by his father, Shosho, that "there's no escaping from here anymore," and Shosho, who had gone for the night shift, didn't return.
On a day Mutsumi Sagami skipped school, Masamune went alone to the steel mill and gave the purchased hot sandwich to the girl, giving her the name "Itsuzumi." When Itsuzumi started playing in the courtyard, Sago Mamoru and his uncle, Tokimune, appeared. Sago Mamoru explained that Itsuzumi was a "girl meant for the deity" and that she would be allowed into the "Divine Machine" when the deity accepted her. Tokimune responded that Shosho had said something different, which Masamune secretly overheard. On the way back from the steel mill, Masamune met a classmate, Sonobe Yuko, who was delivering school documents to Mutsumi Sagami. They went to Mutsumi Sagami's house together, and near there, they met Mutsumi Sagami. Mutsumi Sagami spoke of her relationship with her blood-unrelated father, Sago Mamoru. Masamune drove Sonobe home. Since then, Masamune had been going alone to Blast Furnace No. 5, bringing books from home to read to Itsuzumi. Masamune, who liked drawing, sketched Itsuzumi's figure.
Masamune and his classmates played a test of courage with male-female pairs in an abandoned tunnel where trains no longer passed through. Paired with Sonobe, Masamune drew a couple's umbrella on the tunnel wall indicating the endpoint and wrote their names. Sonobe said she had thought Masamune had feelings for her because he had given her a ride on the front seat. When other classmates arrived, Sonobe ran to the tunnel's exit. As Masamune and others chased after her, many cracks appeared in the sky, and Sonobe emitted light from her body. Sonobe expressed embarrassment, wanting to escape, feeling her affection had become a spectacle, and as she spoke, the light cracked and immediately smoke rose from the steel mill, hitting where Sonobe was, causing her to vanish, and the cracks in the sky were closed. At a meeting held after the incident, Sago Mamoru spoke of how the smoke from the factory was the "Divine Machine Wolf," sealing the cracks in the sky, and also about the cracks in people's hearts. Masamune, who left the meeting, didn't return home but sat in a corner of the shopping district. When Tokimune came to look for him, Masamune vented his frustration at being confined in this town and expressed distrust about what Tokimune and his father had known and hidden about Itsuzumi. Tokimune answered that Itsuzumi shouldn't be here.
After some time, when Masamune visited the steel mill alone, Itsuzumi hugged him and repeatedly pressed her nose against his face. When Mutsumi Sagami appeared, furious, Masamune said he would take Itsuzumi outside, which calmed Mutsumi Sagami down. Itsuzumi, once outside, climbed onto a crane wagon, and Masamune followed her. When Tokimune arrived and told them not to move, Masamune shouted that he wanted to see more of the world, and Itsuzumi, reaching out her hand, echoed "more and more." Suddenly, not only the sky but also space cracked, and beyond that, a summer scene was visible where the steel mill was in ruins. Tokimune told Masamune that world was the reality. A briefing was held for the residents, and Sago Mamoru spoke about this world being an unrealistic space created by the Divine Machine. Despite the residents' resistance, Sago Mamoru argued that there were no inconveniences even in the unrealistic world and insisted that to continue indefinitely, Itsuzumi must return to the Divine Machine. However, Tokimune revealed that the end of this world was not far off and explained that they had only accepted Sago Mamoru's argument because there were no clues about the world. Many residents agreed with this.
The "self-confirmation forms" were returned. However, the Divine Machine Wolf frequently appeared, erasing residents, and classmate Senba disappeared during a physical education class. Itsuzumi and Mutsumi Sagami started living at Masamune's house. One night, when Masamune woke up in the middle of the night, he saw the world beyond the crack from the living room. There, a middle-aged man resembling his father and a woman named "Mutsumi" were talking about the Bon festival. As Masamune tried to go there, he was pulled back by Itsuzumi. Itsuzumi revealed that when she first met Masamune, she had a nametag saying "Kikuiri Saki." Itsuzumi said that the woman there was the "real me" and was completely different from her, waiting for her disappeared daughter.
At school, Nogami confessed to Harada, a classmate. After school, Masamune told Itsuzumi that he liked her at an auto-snack shop. Although Itsuzumi refused and went outside, she fell in the snow, and Masamune, who followed her, was on top of her. When Masamune indirectly conveyed his feelings to Itsuzumi again, she pulled Masamune's body closer, and the two kissed. Witnessing this, Itsuzumi, who had come closer, cried out "excluded" as cracks appeared in the sky all over the town, juxtaposing real-life scenes. Meanwhile, the blast furnace at the steel mill, which had released the Divine Machine Wolf, stopped.
Evacuation orders were issued in the city. While sorting belongings, Masamune was shown a diary left by his father. In it, it was written that Itsuzumi was "Kikuiri Saki," the real Masamune's daughter who had come to this world on a freight train, the potential for this world to change due to Saki's major emotional shift, and Sago Mamoru's opposition to return to reality, delighted at Masamune's improvement in drawing but regretful about depriving Saki of the possibility of change and not being able to change like Masamune.
In the evacuation center, Masamune sought the cooperation of his classmates to return Itsuzumi to the real world. Meanwhile, Tokimune aimed to prolong the "ending world" by restarting the blast furnace at the steel mill to regenerate the Divine Machine Wolf. Sago Mamoru invited Itsuzumi to become the "deity's woman," dressing her in a wedding dress. As the scene of the Bon festival from the reality beyond the crack was visible, Masamune and Itsuzumi took the reluctant Itsuzumi outside and boarded a train driven by Masamune's grandfather, Soushi, who had once worked as an engineer at the steel mill, departing. However, the train derailed due to interference. After a struggle for Itsuzumi between classmates driving cars, Masamune drove a car himself and approached the train from the reality beyond the crack, and when the train stopped, Itsuzumi boarded as prompted by Itsuzumi. On the train, Itsuzumi told Masamune that there are various things waiting for her beyond the "tunnel," and therefore, she would only take Masamune's heart. Saying "I hate it" while hugging Itsuzumi, Itsuzumi put a veil on Itsuzumi's head. Just before the train entered the tunnel, escaping from the Divine Machine Wolf, Itsuzumi jumped off. When Masamune caught up by car, Itsuzumi said she was alive because Masamune was there.
Several years later in the real world, Kikuiri Saki descended at the Mifuse station by train and headed to the site of the former steel mill by taxi. Amidst mostly vanished buildings, the remains of Blast Furnace No. 5 were still visible. On one of the walls, among many farewell messages written at the time of the steel mill's closure, a picture depicting Itsuzumi and Mutsumi Sagami was left behind.
Characters[]
The main characters from "Alice to Teresu no Maboroshi Kōjō" (movie):
- Masamune Kikuniri (Voiced by Junya Enoki):
The protagonist, a 14-year-old middle school third-year student who aspires to become an illustrator. He lives in the same house as in the real world, but his occupation and other details are undisclosed. - Mutsumi Sagami (Voiced by Reina Ueda):
Masamune's classmate. She often tells lies and has a complex relationship with Masamune. She is revealed to be Masamune's daughter from the real world, originally named Saki Kikuiri. - Itsumi/Saki kikuiri (Voiced by Misaki Kuno):
A girl resembling Mutsumi, confined in the fifth blast furnace of the steel mill. She is actually Masamune and Mutsumi's daughter from the real world, named Saki Kikuiri. - Daisuke Sasakura:
One of Masamune's classmates, highly interested in romantic relationships. - Atsushi Nitta:
Another classmate of Masamune's who accepts a confession from a girl named Hara. - Yasunari Senba:
A classmate aspiring to be a DJ who becomes skeptical after discovering the truth about the world. - Yuko Sonobe:
A girl resembling Mutsumi. She shows interest in Masamune and collaborates in a test of courage. - Hina Hara:
Resembles Mutsumi and is called "Hara-chan" by other female classmates. She is considered the leader of the girls in their class and admits to liking someone as her future goal. - Reina Yasumi:
A girl similar to Mutsumi. She laughs heartily at the mention of liking someone as "sweet pain." - Mamoru Sagami:
Mutsumi's stepfather and a steel mill employee. - Akimune Kikuiri:
Masamune's father and a steel mill employee who was present during the explosion. - Tokimune Kikuiri:
Masamune's uncle and a smoker. He is infatuated with someone from the past and is the reason for restarting the "God Machine." - Misato Kikuiri:
Masamune's mother, who disregarded Tokimune's advances. - Sōji Kikuiri:
Masamune's grandfather and a former employee (engineer) at the steel mill.