Mai Mai Miracle: Movie Full Length Reaction! PATREON COMMISSION!
Added 2025-05-16 17:00:08 +0000 UTC*MIRACULOUS HEADPHONE WARNINGS*
I did not know what I was walking into with this movie but it made me nearly cry five times and was so moving and heartfelt!
The sheer nostalgia, coming of age, and the unforgiving but beautiful passage of time and cycles of life --- oh, this movie came out and smacked me for sure...but in the best way! Thanks to Patron Shimoyama for the commission!
LINK TO PIP REACTION: https://share.vidyard.com/watch/ZDU55tC3EJtKmAk4UUgsjR
Thank you for watching with me and for all the support!
Comments
Thank you so much for the comment and kind words! I took a week off but I am excited to get to Sweet Bean this coming week! 😀 You thought this would be MORE grim?! Oh wow, I thought this was going to be SO fluffy walking into this, hahaha; I was surprised how startling and “mature” this was! But yes, the environment and SETTINGS of this movie was so stunning - the sounds - the feel of countryside nostalgia was REAL! Yes, it feels so lived in! The way that they went through mature topics through a “child’s eye” was amazing! It very much was through the lens of childhood and I felt so connected with the perspective. Shinko was a great protagonist but Tatsuyoshi surprised me SO MUCH as a character I thought would just be an “extra” in this and then he took center stage! I really feel the connection to Miss Hokusai and Inu-Oh as you pointed out here! Yessss, I can see the threads that tie them together really well throughout this! Especially in terms of how children have and do not have authority or “power” in the world compared to adults. And yes, the grandfather dying…ugh, that cut me to the core - but I get the theme of it tying in, but we didn’t “have” to have it hahaha! I agree! Thank you for the kind words about the discussion; I’m glad you enjoyed that, too! Oohhhhh, That is AWESOME that this got the English dub provided! How could they NOT see this as marketable?! Insanity, but I’m so glad it worked out for them! Huzzah! <3
Romaniablack
2025-05-26 20:34:55 +0000 UTCLoved the reaction and discussion! This was another one on the long-list, so am very happy to have finally gotten around to it. 🥰 I somehow had the impression that it would be much more grim – was in a similar state of anticipatory anxiety throughout on first watch. 😆 Really loved the way they built the environments and how lived in everything felt. The soundtrack was wonderful. The art of the kids’ imagination and how everything transitioned back and forth between times, dreams, the imagined and the real. I feel that the way you enjoyed this and the way it evoked memories is such a great testament to how well they realized the world – it felt instantly comfortable and familiar. 🥰 I think it was also such an interesting presentation of childhood and that balance of absurdity and underdeveloped emotional expression – that scene with the chocolates, the use of the soundtrack, how they progressed through the topics. Just so well observed and presented, I loved it. Honestly, I think my anxiety about terrible things happening made it all even more interesting. And the film itself was so compassionate and empathetic towards all the kids! Shinko was just a delight to watch – especially loved her protective streak. “I brought rice so we can go anywhere!” 😆 what a sweet bean. And the moment when Tatsuyoshi is crying loudly and she screams alongside him? So astute! Makes absolute sense how she was the one who brought people together and helped them come out of their shells. Themes of resistance? Definitely here! 😂 Especially in the imaginative sense, as in opposition to boredom, circumstances but also ‘adult’ logic and handling of grief. To me this especially links to Miss Hokusai and Inu-Oh: in the transition of time, connections to the history of a place, reverence for forgotten histories. But also – erasure of the stories of those who have less power e.g. the various situations of the kids getting moved around due to circumstances outside of their control. I do feel like that whole last minute of ‘conclusions’ could have been cut, why not just finish on that walk home? I get that it reinforces the idea that they (the kids) have no power, have to find joy in the moments where they can, etc; but I still feel like that walk home would have been a more 'interesting' ending. The discussion was really excellent – was good to see how well the film connected. A curious note is that I remembered seeing a Kickstarter years ago but didn’t know what it had been about, so I found it again. They actually had to crowd-fund an official English language sub and dub release (the dub is great, btw) - as otherwise it was seen as not ‘commercially viable’! So while the original release was 2009, the official English language one wasn’t until after 2017! Preposterous! Sad to think that in 2009 this film was seen as something not worthy of picking up by distributors, very odd. The good news is they nearly quadrupled their original goal – so the audience showed up! 🥰 I will link it here, it’s really interesting: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/alltheanime/mai-mai-miracle Thank you to Shimoyama for this commission! 🥰 Cannot wait for next week! 💙
Sunspots
2025-05-17 09:55:33 +0000 UTC
