# Mirai (未来のミライ) (2018 film)
**Mirai** (未来のミライ) is a 2018 Japanese animated fantasy film directed, written, and originally conceived by [Mamoru Hosoda](https://www.edgepedia.org/mamoru-hosoda) and produced by Studio Chizu. It follows four-year-old Kun, who resents the arrival of a baby sister named Mirai, and his encounters with family members from the past and future through a magical gateway in the garden tree[1](https://www.annecyfestival.com/about/archives/2018/2018-programme/2018-index%3Aplng-100001501720). The film opened in Japan on July 20, 2018[2](https://prtimes.jp/a/?c=2198&f=d2198-262-pdf-0.pdf&r=262).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director, writer, origin | Mamoru Hosoda, his own original story; produced by Studio Chizu[2](https://prtimes.jp/a/?c=2198&f=d2198-262-pdf-0.pdf&r=262) |
| Japan release | July 20, 2018[2](https://prtimes.jp/a/?c=2198&f=d2198-262-pdf-0.pdf&r=262) |
| Running time | 98 minutes, PG certificate[3](https://www.timeout.com/movies/mirai) |
| Lead voice cast | Moka Kamishiraishi (Kun), Haru Kuroki (Mirai), Gen Hoshino (Father), Kumiko Aso (Mother)[4](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/mirai-review-hosoda-mamoru-freestyles-childs-exploration-sibling-hood) |
| Music | Masakatsu Takagi; opening theme "Mirai no Theme" and ending theme "Uta no Kisha" by Tatsuro Yamashita[2](https://prtimes.jp/a/?c=2198&f=d2198-262-pdf-0.pdf&r=262) |
| Festival | 2018 Cannes Film Festival, Directors' Fortnight[5](https://fetch.fm/media/uploads/production-notes/2018/09/06/12/27/MIRAI_Production_Notes.pdf) |
| Critical scores | 90% on Rotten Tomatoes from 84 reviews; Metascore 81 from 18 reviews[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mirai) • [7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/mirai/) |
| US box office | $682.2K gross, limited release November 29, 2018 through GKIDS[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mirai) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Kun is a four-year-old boy in a small house on a corner of a city, with a small garden and a small tree[8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McZbJmHrcJY). When his mother brings home a newborn baby sister, Mirai, his joy turns to disappointment as the new family member takes center stage[1](https://www.annecyfestival.com/about/archives/2018/2018-programme/2018-index%3Aplng-100001501720). Mysteriously, Kun discovers a magical gateway in the garden where he encounters his "older" sister from the future[1](https://www.annecyfestival.com/about/archives/2018/2018-programme/2018-index%3Aplng-100001501720).
The encounters move beyond Mirai herself. After meeting his pet dog in human form, Kun meets his mother as a girl his own age and bonds with his deceased great-grandfather, who appears as a motorbike-riding hero[3](https://www.timeout.com/movies/mirai) • [4](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/mirai-review-hosoda-mamoru-freestyles-childs-exploration-sibling-hood). The film's synopsis describes a series of adventures with his baby sister grown up, opening a new perspective on his world[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mirai). The action unfolds in a minimal space, a single-family house with a small garden, and the story is built from five roughly episode-length segments[9](https://www.cinematoday.jp/movie/T0022711/review). A recurring visual set piece is the fantasy world that opens when Kun runs away from home and ends up lost in a phantasmagorical railway station full of endless escalators[4](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/mirai-review-hosoda-mamoru-freestyles-childs-exploration-sibling-hood).
## Production and credits
Hosoda is credited as director, scriptwriter, and originator of the original story[2](https://prtimes.jp/a/?c=2198&f=d2198-262-pdf-0.pdf&r=262). The film was planned and produced by Studio Chizu, the animation company Hosoda founded, with Yuichiro Saito producing[1](https://www.annecyfestival.com/about/archives/2018/2018-programme/2018-index%3Aplng-100001501720) • [10](https://ba.jpf.go.jp/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/SpecialTalk_MamoruHosoda_JP.pdf). Animation direction was by [Hiroyuki Aoyama](https://www.edgepedia.org/hiroyuki-aoyama) and Ayako Hata, and artistic direction by Yohei Takamatsu and Takashi Omori[1](https://www.annecyfestival.com/about/archives/2018/2018-programme/2018-index%3Aplng-100001501720). The technique is listed as 2D/3D computer, and critics noted the integration of hand-drawn and CGI elements in the later scenes[1](https://www.annecyfestival.com/about/archives/2018/2018-programme/2018-index%3Aplng-100001501720) • [7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/mirai/).
Japanese financing included [NTT Docomo](https://www.edgepedia.org/ntt-docomo), Nippon Television Network, KADOKAWA, and Studio Chizu, with Toho handling Japanese distribution[11](https://www.kinenote.com/sp/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=89763). Overseas distribution was handled by Wild Bunch Distribution, Anime Ltd., and Charades[1](https://www.annecyfestival.com/about/archives/2018/2018-programme/2018-index%3Aplng-100001501720), with GKIDS releasing it in the United States[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mirai). The Japanese voice cast also included Koji Yakusho as the grandfather, Yoshiko Miyazaki as the grandmother, and [Masaharu Fukuyama](https://www.edgepedia.org/masaharu-fukuyama)[7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/mirai/). The English dub cast Victoria Grace as Mirai, John Cho as the father, [Rebecca Hall](https://www.edgepedia.org/rebecca-hall) as the mother, and Daniel Dae Kim as the great-grandfather[12](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1b22ff60-72ff-344c-974e-4bbd07299250).
## Setting
Hosoda chose the Negishi and Isogo-ku districts of Yokohama as the film's setting, saying he wanted to stage the story in a place that would keep changing over time[13](https://www.walkerplus.com/article/155476/). The film draws on real locations: a pilgrimage guide maps nine sites, including the Itabashi Tropical Environment Plant House in Tokyo, several spots in Ueda in [Nagano Prefecture](https://www.edgepedia.org/nagano-prefecture) (the Japanese Go Institute's Ueda branch, a barbershop, and others), Negishi Forest Park in Yokohama, Keikyu-era Jindai temple sites in Yokosuka, and Nakamura Station in Toyama[14](https://www.animepilgrimage.com/ja/maps/anime/UVPVcuDouxDp80lD6iDf/mirai).
## Reception
**Critical scores.** The film holds a 90% Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes from 84 reviews, with a critics consensus describing the simplicity and colorful warmth of the animation as underscored by a story with surprising depth and emotional resonance, and a Popcornmeter audience score of 80% from over 1,000 ratings[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mirai). On Metacritic it scored 81 based on 18 reviews, in the "universal acclaim" band[7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/mirai/). Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times wrote that Hosoda's films stretch the boundaries of both style and content within the family-film rubric[7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/mirai/), while Carlos Aguilar of TheWrap called it a hand-drawn work rivaling Pixar and Ghibli in family entertainment with a humanistic edge[7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/mirai/). Time Out awarded four of five stars, praising its attention to detail and intimate realism[3](https://www.timeout.com/movies/mirai).
Criticism focused on the film's structure and its tantrum-prone protagonist. Andrew Osmond, writing in [Sight and Sound](https://www.edgepedia.org/sight-and-sound), called it Hosoda's most unconventional film, with conspicuously offbeat rhythms and an episodic story that "coheres without building," and judged it questionable viewing for children twice Kun's age[4](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/mirai-review-hosoda-mamoru-freestyles-childs-exploration-sibling-hood). The [New York Post](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-york-post) review objected that Kun spends much of the film crying or whining[7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/mirai/), and RogerEbert.com's reviewer noted that Kun-centric scenes take up roughly 90% of the film and split between daydreams and full-blast tantrums[15](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/mirai-2018).
**Japan versus abroad.** A KAI-YOU analysis notes that overseas recognition stood in contrast to harsh Japanese criticism when the film opened in July 2018; Japanese reviewers, noting the similarity of the director's own family composition to the family in the film, described it as "like the director's diary"[16](https://premium.kai-you.net/article/17). The film premiered abroad at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival's Directors' Fortnight[5](https://fetch.fm/media/uploads/production-notes/2018/09/06/12/27/MIRAI_Production_Notes.pdf) before a UK release on November 2, 2018[3](https://www.timeout.com/movies/mirai) and a US limited release on November 29, 2018[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mirai).
**Box office.** In the United States the film grossed $682.2K in its limited release[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mirai). At the time of the Sight and Sound review in November 2018, its Japanese box office was substantially below those of Hosoda's recent films[4](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/mirai-review-hosoda-mamoru-freestyles-childs-exploration-sibling-hood). A Japan Society of Film and Media Studies bulletin cites it as a notable example of a Japanese time-travel film[17](https://japansociety-cinemastudies.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/kaihou-61.pdf).
## Themes
Commentary repeatedly identifies the film's central theme as family connection across generations. The story has been read as a [Japanese family](https://www.edgepedia.org/japanese-family) history told from a small child's perspective, prompting reflection on what family bonds mean[9](https://www.cinematoday.jp/movie/T0022711/review). The film's own trailer copy describes a story of family and life connecting past to future[18](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYg7HLCwQgI), and Hosoda's stated intent to set the story in a place that would keep changing links the domestic narrative to contemporary Japan[13](https://www.walkerplus.com/article/155476/).
## References
1. [Feature Film in Competition 5: Mirai, Annecy Festival 2018 Programme](https://www.annecyfestival.com/about/archives/2018/2018-programme/2018-index%3Aplng-100001501720)
2. [『未来のミライ』作品概要, PR TIMES](https://prtimes.jp/a/?c=2198&f=d2198-262-pdf-0.pdf&r=262)
3. [Mirai review, Time Out (Dan Jolin)](https://www.timeout.com/movies/mirai)
4. [Mirai review: Hosoda Mamoru freestyles a child's exploration of sibling-hood, Sight and Sound, BFI (Andrew Osmond)](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/mirai-review-hosoda-mamoru-freestyles-childs-exploration-sibling-hood)
5. [MIRAI Production Notes, Fetch.fm](https://fetch.fm/media/uploads/production-notes/2018/09/06/12/27/MIRAI_Production_Notes.pdf)
6. [Mirai no Mirai, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mirai)
7. [Mirai Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/mirai/)
8. [未来のミライ 予告, Studio Chizu official YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McZbJmHrcJY)
9. [未来のミライ (2018)：映画短評, Cinema Today](https://www.cinematoday.jp/movie/T0022711/review)
10. [「未来のミライ」公開記念 細田守監督特別トーク, 国際交流基金バンコク日本文化センター](https://ba.jpf.go.jp/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/SpecialTalk_MamoruHosoda_JP.pdf)
11. [未来のミライ, KINENOTE](https://www.kinenote.com/sp/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=89763)
12. [Mirai, Rotten Tomatoes (dub cast page)](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1b22ff60-72ff-344c-974e-4bbd07299250)
13. [細田守監督『未来のミライ』の舞台を語る, Walkerplus](https://www.walkerplus.com/article/155476/)
14. [『未来のミライ』映画の聖地（ロケ地）マップ, Anime Pilgrimage](https://www.animepilgrimage.com/ja/maps/anime/UVPVcuDouxDp80lD6iDf/mirai)
15. [Mirai movie review, RogerEbert.com (Simon Abrams)](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/mirai-2018)
16. [細田守『未来のミライ』日米における評価のギャップはなぜ生まれたか？, KAI-YOU Premium](https://premium.kai-you.net/article/17)
17. [日本映画学会会報 61号](https://japansociety-cinemastudies.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/kaihou-61.pdf)
18. [未来のミライ 予告３, Studio Chizu official YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYg7HLCwQgI)
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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 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license