# Lonely Castle in the Mirror (かがみの孤城)
**Lonely Castle in the Mirror** (かがみの孤城, *Kagami no Kojō*) is a 2022 Japanese theatrical anime film directed by Keiichi Hara, adapted from Mizuki Tsujimura's bestselling fantasy-mystery novel of the same name. It follows Kokoro, a first-year middle school student who has lost her place at school after bullying by classmates, and six other withdrawn students who are drawn through a mirror into a mysterious castle where a girl in a wolf mask, Ōkami-sama, tells them a single hidden key grants any wish to whoever finds it.[1](https://eiga.com/movie/96695/) • [2](https://www.pref.nagano.lg.jp/jisedai/kyoiku/kodomo/shisaku/suisentosho/documents/202212161.pdf)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Japanese release | December 23, 2022; 116 minutes; distributed by Shochiku[1](https://eiga.com/movie/96695/) |
| Source novel | Mizuki Tsujimura's *Kagami no Kojō* (Poplar Publishing); won the 2018 Honya Taisho with a record number of votes, cumulative circulation over 1.7 million copies[3](https://www.shochiku.co.jp/cinema/lineup/kagaminokojo/) |
| Director | Keiichi Hara, known for *Crayon Shin-chan: The Adult Empire's Strike Back*, *Summer Days with Coo*, and *Colorful*[3](https://www.shochiku.co.jp/cinema/lineup/kagaminokojo/) |
| Studio | A-1 Pictures; character design and chief animation direction by Keigo Sasaki[4](https://a1p.jp/works/kagaminokojo/) |
| Lead voice cast | Ami Touma as Kokoro, chosen from more than 1,000 auditionees; Mana Ashida as Ōkami-sama[1](https://eiga.com/movie/96695/) |
| Theme song | "Merry-Go-Round" by Yuiry (Sony Music Labels)[3](https://www.shochiku.co.jp/cinema/lineup/kagaminokojo/) |
| International recognition | Selected for the competition section of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival; screened in South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, with further showings planned across Europe[5](https://www.ntj.jac.go.jp/grant/annualreport/case-studies-2022/26/) |
## Spoilers
### Story
Kokoro has lost her place at school and spends her days shut in her bedroom. One day her mirror begins to glow, and she is pulled through it into a castle resembling one from a fairy tale, where six strangers her own age are already gathered. A girl wearing a wolf mask, called Ōkami-sama, appears and explains that the seven have been chosen, that a single secret key is hidden somewhere in the castle, and that whoever finds it can have any wish granted; the deadline is about one year, and anyone who breaks the rules will be eaten by a wolf.[1](https://eiga.com/movie/96695/) • [3](https://www.shochiku.co.jp/cinema/lineup/kagaminokojo/)
As the seven search for the key and spend time together, they discover they share one thing in common. Their individual circumstances gradually come to light, and the castle begins to become a place of belonging for them, until an event strikes the group.[3](https://www.shochiku.co.jp/cinema/lineup/kagaminokojo/) The Nagano Prefecture child welfare committee's recommendation sheet describes the film as a fantasy mystery in which adolescents who have lost their place in the world find something important as they grow, and recommends it for middle school students and older and for families.[2](https://www.pref.nagano.lg.jp/jisedai/kyoiku/kodomo/shisaku/suisentosho/documents/202212161.pdf)
## Production
The film was planned and produced at the initiative of Shochiku and Nippon Television Network, with animation by A-1 Pictures. Miho Maruo wrote the screenplay; Keigo Sasaki handled character design and chief animation direction; Ilya Kuvshinov created the visual concept and designed the castle; and Harumi Fuuki composed the music.[4](https://a1p.jp/works/kagaminokojo/) • [1](https://eiga.com/movie/96695/)
Hara said the project came to him as a commission from a Shochiku producer he had worked with on *Hajimari no Michi*, and that he approached it deliberately as a "craftsman director" hired for the job. He also said his first thought was that, with a novel that had won the Honya Taisho and sold 1.7 million copies, he had to adapt it in a way that would not disappoint readers of the original. Tsujimura was sent the script, storyboards, and character designs and, according to Hara, was pleased that the film largely matched her own image of the story.[6](https://cinema.u-cs.jp/interview/kagaminokojo_hara-keiichi/) The novel runs to two paperback volumes, and the film had to fit the story into about two hours.[7](https://cinema.ne.jp/article/detail/50681)
**Casting.** Ami Touma, a young actress known for being chosen as the 14th Calpis Water commercial character, won the role of Kokoro in an audition against more than 1,000 candidates; Hara praised her as the only possible choice. The cast also includes Takumi Kitamura as Rion, Sakura Kiryu as Aki, Rihito Itagaki as Subaru, Naho Yokomizo as Fūka, Minami Takayama as Masamune, Yuki Kaji as Ureshino, Kumiko Aso as Kokoro's mother, Aoi Miyazaki as Kitajima-sensei, and Mana Ashida as Ōkami-sama.[1](https://eiga.com/movie/96695/) • [8](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/lonely-castle-in-the-mirror-movie-review-2023)
**Funding and accessibility.** Shochiku, as the production organizer, received a Japan Arts Council grant of 23,313 thousand yen toward the film's production, citing rising animation costs and schedule pressures that threatened the target quality. The grant also supported barrier-free materials and promotion for domestic audiences.[5](https://www.ntj.jac.go.jp/grant/annualreport/case-studies-2022/26/)
## Reception and release
The film ran in Japanese theaters for an extended period and was re-released in May 2023. It was selected for the competition section of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, described by the Japan Arts Council report as the world's largest and oldest international animation festival, though it did not win an award there. Screenings followed in South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, with further showings planned across Europe and other regions.[5](https://www.ntj.jac.go.jp/grant/annualreport/case-studies-2022/26/) The International Film Festival Rotterdam programmed it in 2023, describing it as an enchanting young-adult fantasy whose mysteries build to an astonishing climactic passage.[9](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2023/films/lonely-castle-in-the-mirror)
Critical response was divided. On Rotten Tomatoes the film held a 50% Tomatometer from 8 reviews alongside a 91% audience score from more than 50 ratings.[10](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lonely_castle_in_the_mirror) Rendy Jones of RogerEbert.com called it dull and overlong, weighed down by heavy-handed discussions of teenage trauma, and criticized the characterizations as stereotypical anime archetypes.[8](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/lonely-castle-in-the-mirror-movie-review-2023) Autumn Wright of Paste Magazine argued that without the interior access of prose the film feels like an abridged version of the novel, which Philip Gabriel had translated into English in 2021, though he singled out the climax, in which the protagonist embodies the memories of the other six children, as the one place the film does something with animation beyond literal storytelling.[11](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/anime/lonely-castle-in-the-mirror-review) The Japan Society review praised the adaptation for closely following the original text.[12](https://www.japansociety.org.uk/review?review=851)
**Resonance with audiences.** People with experience of school refusal responded strongly: the SNS account of the Futoko Shinbun, a project in which teenagers who cannot attend school and former non-attenders help with planning and reporting, drew comments such as "I couldn't stop crying as it overlapped with my past self." Hara said at a 2023 talk event that although a film director's job is not to solve the problem of school refusal directly, making the film gave him the wish to extend a hand to children who cannot go to school, adding that what happens at school is not very useful in adult life and that children should be told so.[13](https://sukusuku.tokyo-np.co.jp/education/66253/) • [14](https://note.com/rapturhythm3/n/nf4f1537218de)
## The novel and its context
The source novel won the 2018 Honya Taisho, Japan's bookseller-voted award, with a record number of votes, and by the time of the film's release had surpassed 1.7 million copies in circulation; it had also been recognized in the bunkobon (paperback) division of Da Vinci Book of the Year 2021, among nine total honors cited by Shochiku.[3](https://www.shochiku.co.jp/cinema/lineup/kagaminokojo/) Before the film, the novel had already been adapted as manga and for the stage.[6](https://cinema.u-cs.jp/interview/kagaminokojo_hara-keiichi/) The film's theme of school refusal connects to a broader social situation: a 2024 Japanese commentary noted that the number of children not attending school had reached a record high of about 300,000, meaning roughly one or two per class of about 30 in middle school, with the education ministry's survey attributing causes including listlessness and anxiety (52%), disrupted daily rhythms and play (11%), friend relationships excluding bullying (9%), and parent-child relationships (7%).[15](https://commulabo.com/colums/cinema_therapy/ct202402_kagaminokojo_1_1.html)
## References
1. [かがみの孤城 : 作品情報・キャスト・あらすじ・動画, 映画.com](https://eiga.com/movie/96695/)
2. [推薦映画一覧（令和４年11月以降公開予定）, 長野県社会福祉審議会児童福祉専門分科会](https://www.pref.nagano.lg.jp/jisedai/kyoiku/kodomo/shisaku/suisentosho/documents/202212161.pdf)
3. [かがみの孤城, 松竹 映画・アニメ作品ページ](https://www.shochiku.co.jp/cinema/lineup/kagaminokojo/)
4. [かがみの孤城 | WORKS | A-1 Pictures オフィシャルサイト](https://a1p.jp/works/kagaminokojo/)
5. [かがみの孤城 | 日本芸術文化振興会助成事業ウェブサイト](https://www.ntj.jac.go.jp/grant/annualreport/case-studies-2022/26/)
6. [映画『かがみの孤城』原恵一監督 インタビュー, Cinema Art Online](https://cinema.u-cs.jp/interview/kagaminokojo_hara-keiichi/)
7. [『かがみの孤城』原恵一監督インタビュー, CINEMAS＋](https://cinema.ne.jp/article/detail/50681)
8. [Lonely Castle in the Mirror movie review, RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/lonely-castle-in-the-mirror-movie-review-2023)
9. [Lonely Castle in the Mirror, IFFR 2023](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2023/films/lonely-castle-in-the-mirror)
10. [Lonely Castle in the Mirror, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lonely_castle_in_the_mirror)
11. [Lonely Castle in the Mirror Review: An Unflattering Reflection, Paste Magazine](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/anime/lonely-castle-in-the-mirror-review)
12. [Lonely Castle in the Mirror (film), The Japan Society](https://www.japansociety.org.uk/review?review=851)
13. [「ガチ泣き」「涙が止まらない」 不登校経験者が強く共感する映画「かがみの孤城」, 東京すくすく](https://sukusuku.tokyo-np.co.jp/education/66253/)
14. [2023年3月18日 キネカ大森 しゃべれ場「かがみの孤城」メモ, note](https://note.com/rapturhythm3/n/nf4f1537218de)
15. [映画「かがみの孤城」けっきょくなんで学校に行けないの？－不登校の心理, コミュニケーションラボ](https://commulabo.com/colums/cinema_therapy/ct202402_kagaminokojo_1_1.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Films by genre, form, and subject › Animated and short films › Japanese anime features › Released 2014 to 2026*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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