Mirai (2018) : Full Synopsis & Explaining the Story to the End (Spoilers)

Mirai(Official) is an animated feature film directed by Mamoru Hosoda, released on July 20, 2018. This fantasy work depicts family love and the cycle of life through the mysterious adventures of Kun, a spoiled four-year-old boy, and Mirai, his younger sister who travels from the future.

In this article, while summarizing the detailed synopsis of the story, we will provide explanations and analysis on points such as the “mysterious house design,” “evaluation of the story,” and “comedy scenes.” First, let’s look back at the basic information of the film.

*This article is an English translation of the original Japanese article, “「未来のミライ」のあらすじ(ネタバレあり)-結末までのストーリーを解説・考察-”.

Mirai Basic Information

Film Overview

Main Characters and Voice Cast List

Character Map

Mirai Synopsis (Spoiler-Free)

The protagonist of the story is a four-year-old boy named Kun (Kun Ota), living in a certain metropolitan area (Isogo Ward, Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture). He lived with his parents and their beloved dog, Yukko, in a unique house designed by his architect father. One snowy day, his mother, who had been hospitalized, is discharged and a new family member arrives at the house. It was a newborn baby sister.

Curious about the first baby he has ever seen, Kun is told by his mother, “If anything happens, please protect her,” to which he obediently replies, “Yeah.” However, from that day on, life changes completely, and his parents’ attention is poured entirely onto his sister, and Kun begins to feel that he is being neglected. As his frustration grows, he plays pranks on the baby behind his parents’ backs, only to be severely scolded by his mother.

“I don’t like her!” crying out, Kun runs out into the courtyard alone. Suddenly, the scenery of the garden distorts and transforms into a place like an old, worn-out castle he has never seen before. There, he meets a mysterious man who claims, “I used to be the prince of this house.”

Mirai Full Synopsis to the Ending (Spoilers Ahead)

(※Warning: Major spoilers for the ending of the film follow. Please proceed with caution if you have not seen it.)

Beginning: Jealousy and the Encounter with the Former Prince

The protagonist of the story is Kun (Kun Ota, 4 years old). The story begins when his mother returns home on a snowy day after being hospitalized for childbirth.

Until now, he had lived with his two parents and one dog, but now a baby girl has been added. Facing such a new family member, Kun responds “Yeah” to his mother who says, “If anything happens, please protect her.” However, everything begins to revolve around the baby, and Kun starts to feel dissatisfied with the situation.

One day, while Kun is “messing with” the baby while his parents aren’t looking, the sleeping baby starts crying. Kun, who is scolded unilaterally by his mother who rushes in, also starts crying, and the situation falls into chaos. In the midst of this, Kun runs out into the courtyard alone, but from the direction of a single tree growing there, he hears a man’s voice saying, “How pathetic!” When he looks in the direction of the voice, strangely, the surroundings become like the inside of an old, worn-out castle he has never seen before, and a mysterious man appears. The man explains Kun’s feelings as “jealousy” and says that he is “the prince who was here before Kun came.”

Continuing on, he begins to give a speech eloquently about how he received all of his parents’ love before Kun came, and how he was pushed into the corner because Kun was born. The true identity of the mysterious man was Yukko, the dog they lived with. After that strange experience, Kun also regains his composure and has a peaceful dinner with the whole family. And that night, the baby’s name is decided as “Mirai.”

Middle: Operation Doll Festival with Future Mirai

Three months after Mirai was born. It was the Peach Festival (Hina Matsuri). At that time, the mother has to leave the house for two nights on a business trip. The father was handling housework and childcare by “one-ope” (solo operation), but he also had work (as a freelance architect), and Kun feels lonely.

At that time, Kun goes out into the courtyard and steps into a mysterious world again. There was a place like an indoor garden spreading out, but surprisingly, there was the figure of Mirai who had become a junior high school student. Mirai begged him to put away the Hina dolls that were still displayed even after March 3rd. Mirai, who heard her parents and grandparents talking about how marriage would be delayed by one year if putting them away was delayed by one day, was terribly worried about that.

Kun tries to ask his father to put them away, but he is concentrating on work and won’t listen. Having made up her mind, the grown-up Mirai attempts to put away the Hina dolls herself, but she almost gets found by the father and rushes back to the courtyard.

Then, accompanying Yukko who humanized again, the three of them execute a strategy to put away the Hina dolls. Although there was a slight trouble, they succeeded in putting away the Hina dolls, and a deep bond was supposed to be born between Kun and Mirai… but even after finishing such joint work, Kun still seemed dissatisfied with Mirai’s existence.

Climax: Mother’s Past and Adventure with the Great-Grandfather

On the mother’s day off after a long time, while the father is out for work, Kun is strongly scolded by his mother for not cleaning up his toys. Kun, whose frustration grows, meets the future Mirai again in the courtyard. Mirai speaks to Kun saying that he shouldn’t trouble his mother on her precious day off, but Kun murmurs, “Mirai and Yukko are cute, but Kun is not cute,” and starts crying. The dissatisfaction that had been accumulating since Mirai came overflowed there. Mirai tries to soothe Kun saying “That’s not true,” but Kun runs away alone while crying.

Before he knew it, Kun was in an old town where it was raining. And there was the figure of his mother when she was a child. Kun was welcomed into his mother’s house, but taking advantage of the fact that her parents weren’t there, he makes the inside of the house messy together with his mother. Unfortunately, the mother (Kun’s grandmother) comes back there, but the mother as a child lets Kun escape from the back door and gets scolded severely alone. Kun, covering his ears to the grandmother’s angry voice scolding the mother and the mother’s voice apologizing while crying, leaves the place and runs in the rain. Before he knew it, Kun was sleeping on the futon at home.

In the summer, Kun gets a bicycle bought for him and goes to the park (modeled after Negishi Forest Park) with his father and Mirai, where he sees children riding bicycles without training wheels. Kun, who decided that he also wants to ride a bicycle without training wheels, starts practicing with his father, but it doesn’t go well. At that time, Mirai starts crying, and the bicycle practice stops. Kun, who was strongly dissatisfied with the situation, is led to the past world again in the courtyard.

There was the figure of his great-grandfather in his youth. He was a young man who had a somewhat unapproachable atmosphere and walked dragging his leg due to a wound suffered in the war, but in reality, he was a very good-natured person and let Kun experience riding a horse and a motorcycle. Kun, who returned to the original world, asks his father that he wants to practice riding a bicycle in the park again. This time, he practices to ride a bicycle on his own, just having him watch over him. In the process, keeping in his heart the words “Don’t look down. Look only far ahead no matter what happens” that the young man said when he put him on the horse, he succeeds in riding the bicycle even though he falls several times.

Ending: Lost in Tokyo Station and Establishing Identity

That day, the family was supposed to go camping, but Kun starts whining because his favorite yellow pants were being washed. Kun was expressing his dissatisfaction by hiding in the bathtub and closet, but before he knew it, his parents and Mirai were gone (actually they were just loading luggage into the car). Kun, feeling that he was left behind, carries a backpack and attempts to run away from home, but there he is led to a mysterious world again.

Kun arrives at a single-track platform (Isogo Station on the Negishi Line, the model of the appearance is Etchu-Nakamura Station on the Toyama Chiho Railway Main Line), but he hears a voice saying “Not good~” from the waiting room. The owner of the voice was a high school boy, and it was the figure of the future Kun. The boy blames Kun’s attitude for whining about just pants when they were about to make memories of the holiday. On the other hand, Kun also resists it, but while doing so, a train arrives at the platform. The high school student stops Kun, but Kun, who intended to run away from home in the first place, gets on that train.

The train arrives at “Tokyo Station (a space different from the actual Tokyo Station).” Kun tries to ride his favorite Shinkansen, but fails to pass through the ticket gate. While doing so, he gets lost in the vast “Tokyo Station.” Kun, who couldn’t find the lost child center, reluctantly tells the lost and found clerk that he is lost, but he is strangely convinced saying “So what you lost is yourself,” and starts asking questions to get necessary information for paging. Kun could answer his own name but couldn’t answer his parents’ names. As other family members, he mentions Yukko’s name, but he is told that a pet’s name is not acceptable.

And he is told that if no one comes to pick him up, he will be put on a special Shinkansen and taken to the “Land of Loneliness.” Asked that he “needs to prove himself” as a last chance, Kun answers “Mother’s child,” “Father’s child,” and “Person in charge of giving snacks to Yukko,” but the situation didn’t change with those answers. However, at the very end, when he answers “Mirai’s big brother,” the announcement begins and Mirai is paged.

Kun, who returns to the original world while traveling through time and space with Mirai (junior high school student) who rushed to him, sees memories of various families on the way. It is the history of the family that has been accumulated continuously, and Kun understands that he himself is a part of it. Kun, who returned to the original world, wears blue pants and heads for camping happily with Mirai.

Mirai Analysis & Interpretation

The Mystery of the Strange House: Design Intentions

Kun’s house was designed by actual architect Makoto Tanjiri(Wikipedia, in Japanese). Director Hosoda noted that for a four-year-old, the house is the entire world. Tanjiri brought the “dynamic movement of slopes” found in films like The Girl Who Leapt Through Time into the interior. The 100cm steps are roughly Kun’s height, meaning when he is on one level, he cannot see the next, making every climb an adventure into the unknown.

“And I feel that 4-year-olds themselves are interesting because they are at the final age where the ‘world’ is everything inside the ‘house.’”

(Original Text, in Japanese)
「それと4歳児そのものがおもしろい存在だなと感じるのは、『世界』というものすべてが『家の中』という最後の年齢だというのがあります。」

Source: JDN “What Director Mamoru Hosoda Wants to Convey Through the Movie Mirai and the Exhibition” (2018-08-10), in Japanese

And to convert that “House = World” into an interesting movement as a movie, architect Makoto Tanjiri talks about the idea of bringing the “dynamism of slopes” that runs through Hosoda’s works into the indoor space. In other words, the steps in the house are not only for “convenience of living” but also a device to create Kun’s adventure (pleasure of movement) (Below is Mr. Tanjiri’s actual comment).

“I read the script first, but I couldn’t imagine it at all (laughs). So I rewatched all of Hosoda’s works. I noticed that The Girl Who Leapt Through Time also has slopes, The Boy and the Beast has scenery like going down slopes and stairs in Shibuya, and Summer Wars also has a big slope leading up to the mansion. I thought that scenes using slopes to create a sense of speed and dynamism are common in Hosoda’s movies. But since this movie is about the inside of a house, we can’t make a slope. So I thought a stepped house along a slope would be good, and that it would play a role equivalent to the slopes in Hosoda’s works.”

(Original Text, in Japanese)
「最初に脚本を読ませていただいたんですが、全然イメージできなかった（笑）。それで細田作品を改めて全部見直したんです。気づいたのは、『時をかける少女』も坂道、『バケモノの子』も渋谷という街を舞台に坂と階段を下りて行くような風景があるし、『サマーウォーズ』もお屋敷に行くまでに大きな坂道があること。細田さんの映画の中では、坂道を使ってスピード感とか躍動感を作り出すシーンが共通してあるんじゃないかなと。でも今回の映画は家の中が題材なので坂道が作れない。ならば傾斜地に沿うような階段状の家がいいんじゃないか、それが細田作品の坂道に値する役割を果たしてくれるものになるんじゃないかと」

Source: GOETHE “The ‘House’ Created by Architect Makoto Tanjiri as Another Protagonist” (2018-08-04), in Japanese

Furthermore, Director Hosoda clearly states that these steps visualize, at a dimensional level, that “the way the world looks changes between children and adults.” Because the steps are close to Kun’s height, when he is on a certain floor, he cannot see the floor above from his eye level, and climbing the stairs becomes a movement into an unknown world.

On the other hand, for adults, it is not a big step, so it is just a movement between floors, and as a result, the difference between the world seen by children and the world seen by adults is expressed spatially. It could be said to be a spatial expression of the parent-child miscommunication depicted in the main story. Director Hosoda’s actual comment on this matter is as follows.

“The step between rooms is 100cm each, which is exactly about the same height as a 4-year-old. In other words, the world seen by the protagonist Kun and the world seen by adults are completely different depending on the viewpoint, which is something unique to this movie.”

(Original Text, in Japanese)
「部屋と部屋の段差はそれぞれ100cmなんですけど、それがちょうど4歳児の背丈と同じくらいなんです。つまり、主人公のくんちゃんが見ている世界と大人が見ている世界は、視点によって全然違うのもこの映画ならではというところかな。」

Source: JDN “What Director Mamoru Hosoda Wants to Convey Through the Movie Mirai and the Exhibition” (2018-08-10), in Japanese

In addition, Mr. Tanjiri positions the “inconvenience” of this house not as a defect but as an element that turns into family pride and attachment over time. The stepped house functions not only to create Kun’s adventure but also as a vessel where family life accumulates.

“Inconvenience turns into attachment as you live there. …omitted… Rather, inconvenience was an important keyword in creating this house.”

(Original Text, in Japanese)
「住みづらさは住んでいくうちに、愛着へと変わるんです。～中略～ むしろ不便さというのは、この家をつくる上では重要なキーワードでした」

Source: CINEmadori “Mirai: A House Unique to an Architect Built on an Inconvenient Slope” (2018-07-13), in Japanese

Regarding this statement, while I can certainly understand it emotionally, considering that a “house” cannot be easily changed and that the accumulation of small inconveniences can lead to major dissatisfaction because it is daily life itself, if asked if I actually want to live in that house, personally I have to say “No.” I feel like I could rather have an attachment to a “layout that is nothing special, that you’ve seen somewhere.”

Of course, Mr. Tanjiri is also aware of such things, and answers as follows in the same interview:

“My thoughts as an architect are included, but there is definitely the wife who can be called the noisiest client right next to me (laughs). …omitted… I tend to create more aggressive houses, so I was conscious of a slightly gentler life.”

(Original Text, in Japanese)
「建築家としての思いは込められているんですけど、間違いなくもっともうるさいクライアントと言える奥さんが隣にいるわけです（笑）。～中略～ 僕だともっと攻めた家をつくってしまいがちなので、もう少し優しい生活を意識しました」

Source: CINEmadori “Mirai: A House Unique to an Architect Built on an Inconvenient Slope” (2018-07-13), in Japanese

In the movie setting, that house is supposed to be designed by the father who is an architect. Although he showed a somewhat pathetic appearance in the main story, at the end of the movie, the mother says, “You’ve become kinder lately. You weren’t like that before. You were always on edge with work.”

Probably that house was designed when the father was still “edgy,” exploding his dreams and wishes as an architect while “reluctantly” listening to his wife’s requests.

As mentioned earlier, personally I don’t think I want to live in that house, but I think it is interesting that the “edginess” of the father, who didn’t have many good points in the main story, can be glimpsed.

In this way, the design of that house, which many viewers probably felt a certain discomfort with its “strangeness,” contained dramatic intentions and thoughts as an architect.

The Deliberate Choice of an “Affluent Household” as a Setting

In the previous section, I think the mystery regarding the structure of Kun’s “house” itself has been solved to some extent, but I think there remains a certain “discomfort” regarding the setting of the “family.” In other words, the family of Kun, which is the stage of the story, is depicted as an obviously “affluent” family.

Living in a unique detached house designed by his architect father (not even a built-for-sale house), Kun owns an extraordinary amount of Plarail tracks and toys. Both parents work (one is a freelancer) and have enough economic power to maintain a more than sufficient standard of living in the metropolitan area (Isogo Ward, Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture).

There is a setting for why they can live in that place, and Director Hosoda speaks as follows:

“Since it is a slope, the land price is not that high, and since it is not developed, the price for that is also kept down, and moreover, the design is by the father himself. I think we can further reduce costs. On top of that, the total floor area is 148 square meters, but being able to secure that much is, in a sense, a sign of hardship.”

(Original Text, in Japanese)
「傾斜地だからそこまで土地の価格は高くないし、造成していないからその分の値段も抑えられるし、しかも設計がおとうさん本人ですからね。さらにコストダウンできるんじゃないかと。そのうえで延床面積が148㎡あるんですけど、そのぐらい確保できたというのはある種、苦労の表れだと思いますね。」

Source: JDN “What Director Mamoru Hosoda Wants to Convey Through the Movie Mirai and the Exhibition” (2018-08-10), in Japanese

According to the setting, they had their own ingenuity and hardships, but it would still be true that they are wealthy. In fact, no financial problems appear in the hardships of child-rearing depicted in the main story, and what the parents are struggling with is purely the relationship with the child.

It is thought that the background of making such a setting is related to the times at the time of release in 2018. As the definition of an “ordinary family” becomes difficult and economic disparity becomes a social problem, if one tries to depict a “general family” half-heartedly, there is a risk of a gap in perception with the viewer. If noise from an economic perspective such as “They are wealthier than I thought” or “No, it should be tougher” occurs, there was a fear that the themes of “family psychology” and “child growth” that the work originally wanted to depict would be blurred.

Therefore, by daring to clearly set it as a “wealthy family,” there may have been an aim to intentionally exclude problems such as economic poverty and social disparity and focus the audience’s consciousness purely on the “story of the family.” At least I think it is producing such an effect.

“Fairytale Structure” Divides the Evaluation of the Work

Picture Book-like Story and Reason Why Yukko Was Depicted as Human

The biggest feature of this work lies in the depiction of the mysterious world mediated by the tree in the courtyard and the experience of transcending time and space. However, no SF explanation is given in the work regarding the principle or mechanism of that time leap. Therefore, although it is classified as fantasy as a genre, personally, it seems appropriate to perceive it as an “‘Otogi-banashi’ (fairytale) where a small child grows through mysterious experiences” (I cannot verbalize if asked what the difference between “fantasy” and “otogi-banashi” is, but please consider it as just a mere “nuance”).

Whether the experience of the mysterious world is “reality” or “a kind of Kun’s fantasy” remains ambiguous until the end, and the boundary line is not recognized by anyone other than Kun. Such a structure of “a world visible only to children” is exactly the lineage of children’s literature itself. This work can be said to be a work in which Director Mamoru Hosoda vividly expressed the universal themes that many picture books have depicted so far using the method of animated film.

Thinking in this way, it seems possible to explain the reason why Yukko appeared as a human “mysterious man” in the mysterious world.

Unfortunately, I have never lived with an animal, but I have wanted to talk to animals when I was a child (or even now). That would be even more so for people who keep pets like dogs and cats.

It would be that such a simple “wish” was realized as the world of Kun’s subjectivity as the “mysterious man.” Personally, I feel this part is also “fairytale-like” or “picture book-like.”

Actually, analyzing the timing when this “mysterious phenomenon” occurs, it can be seen that there is a surprising commonality (law) with that masterpiece My Neighbor Totoro by Director Hayao Miyazaki, but I have summarized that matter in the following article:

“Fairytale Structure” as a Point That Divides Movie Evaluation

As mentioned earlier, I think this work is quite “fairytale-like,” but I also think that the “fairytale-like depiction” in this work is an important point that divides the evaluation of this movie.

Because, leaving aside the mysterious phenomena occurring in the courtyard, basically nothing special happens in this movie. The figure of parents worrying about child-rearing is something that has been depicted in many works, and at the same time, it is something that many parents have experienced since the beginning of history in real society. The same applies to Kun’s “loneliness due to having a sister,” “loneliness of not being cared for by parents because he is the eldest son,” and “awareness and growth as a brother.”

Therefore, if you do not find the specific mysterious depictions occurring such as mysterious things happening in the courtyard, meeting humanized Yukko and future sister there, and witnessing family history interesting, this movie is probably not interesting.

I feel like one of the reasons why the evaluation of this work is not so good stems from around here.

Speaking personally, I myself didn’t find the “fairytale-like depiction” that interesting. However, actually, Mirai has become a work I like quite a bit. The reason for that is the “comedy depiction” summarized next.

“Comedy Expression” as Another Point Dividing Work Evaluation and the Theme of “Depicting Children”

This work contains themes that tend to be heavy and preachy, such as “child-rearing” and “suffering not understood by parents.” However, the comical scenes inserted everywhere serve as a cooling agent for the story, making the whole work light. Personally, I feel that the comedy expression in this work is one of the charms of this work, and it was honestly funny.

I think there were at least the following intentional comedy expressions in the main story:

These scenes serve as a “break” for the story that tends to be serious, giving it a good rhythm.

Also, it seems important in this context that “depicting children” was an important theme of this work. The following comment by Director Hosoda is also published in the Cinema Today article:

“Old animations used to draw lots of animals, but now we can’t do that much either. This time, I made a great effort to draw a dog too (laughs). We can’t do things like that now. The role of animation has become to depict adults more, to depict characters. But I have a feeling that I want to object to that.”

(Original Text, in Japanese)
「昔のアニメーションは動物をいっぱい描いていたのですが、今はそれもあまりできないんです。今回は大変な努力をして犬も描いたんですけどね（笑）。今はああいうことはできない。もっと大人を描く、キャラを描く、というのがアニメーションの役割になった。でもそれに対して異議を唱えたいという気持ちがあるんです。」

Source: Cinema Today “Director Mamoru Hosoda: Anime Should Depict Children! Thoughts Put into New Work Mirai” (2018-05-25), in Japanese

What makes the “comedy scenes” listed above funny is exactly the depiction of the child, Kun. Some are blatant and exaggerated depictions (for example, the scene blown by the engine wind), but on the other hand, I think it is also true that the interesting “posture” and “gestures” shown by Kun are certainly things children do.

Being able to successfully depict “the somewhat strange appearance unique to children” that can be observed by watching children nearby might be the reason why the comedy scenes felt funny, at least for me.

In this way, the comedy scenes of this work are a cooling agent for the work and at the same time an important charm, but conversely, whether you can enjoy these comedy expressions and directions may also be a point that divides the evaluation of the entire work.

In other words, if this vibe doesn’t suit you, only stressful depictions such as “hardship of child-rearing” and “child’s tantrums” will remain, and there is a possibility that the whole work will feel cramping.

If you feel the charm in either the aforementioned “fairytale structure” or the “comedy depiction” summarized here, I think the evaluation of the work will be somewhat good, but if you don’t feel the charm in either of them, you will be shown “a story you’ve seen somewhere often” for 98 minutes, so I think the evaluation will not be good.

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This concludes my personal summary of the synopsis and analysis of Mirai. In a word, this work is a “growth story of a 4-year-old boy gaining self-awareness as an older brother,” but it is honestly difficult to think it is interesting just with this part.

Personally, as mentioned in this article, I like this movie because the comedy scenes felt funny, but what kind of work was Mirai for you all?