ANI-MOVIES, *Maquia: When The Promised Flower Blooms

Longtime animator Mari Okada made her directorial premiere in the full-length original feature, Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms. Not based on any existing material like a large number of anime movies, this production by P.A. Works was one of their first theatrical releases. A high fantasy drama that manages to separate itself from the standard Tolkien-inspired tropes that have flooded the market in the last few decades, with more emphasis on composite animation instead of relying solely on CGI, plus the added bonus of an amazing musical score by Ghost In The Shell's Kenji Kawaii.

Taking place in a world where most of the legendary magic has retreated due to the power struggles of humans, a race of immortals known as the Iorph spend their time hidden away from civilization weaving enchanted fabrics that records their history. A shy Iorph named Maquia has her life turned upside down when a team of dragon-riding knights from a neighboring kingdom kidnap some of the Iorph females to mix their immortal blood with the royal family. Maquia's friend Leilia is taken to be the mother of a powerhungry prince, so his father's realm can maintain its hold on the nearby kingdoms. Maquia accidently gets flown off by one of the dragons, and falls in the middle of a forest where she finds a newborn orphan boy that she names Ariel. The outcast immortal now sees herself as Ariel's surrogate mother, and raises him with help from some kindly diary farmers. Maquia learns of Leilia being imprisoned in the royal castle, so she sets off with Ariel to take up residence in the capitol in an attempt to rescue her old friend, even teaming up with some other Iorph remnants to free her. Leilia can't escape though as she wants to keep the royal baby she is carrying, forcing the other Iorph's to go into hiding, and Maquia continue to masquerade as a regular human, but having to move around alot as she eventually has to pretend to be Ariel's sister as he continues to grow. From this point, the majority of the story has the struggle between an aging teenager with his adopted mother remaining as a teenage girl. Ariel is later a young man who marries an old frenemy, and now expecting their own child, all while he is a part of the royal guard assigned with defending the capitol from warring nations that have had enough of the magic-snatching kingdom's tyranny. Maquia enters Ariel's life again in another attempt to liberate Leilia, and ends up helping to deliver Ariel's son while he is away with the rest of the guard. The mother and son's reunion is a heartfelt scene that strangles your heartstrings, and the film still has several other extended finales that continue the tale in the spirit of The Return Of The King as all the other characters' plots are concluded.

This is a tender saga of true familial love that will leave you wanting to call your mother for her years of faith and duty. The relationship between parents and their children, whether they are by blood or love, and how struggles of the outside world takes it toll are brilliantly showcased. The passage of time is the major theme highlighting a parentage between an immortal teenager and her mortal son, with how each person shaped the other in the long run. Mari Okada created a pure modern day masterpiece which only reached the level of sleeper hit in the States from Eleven Arts, with an impressive dub just as effective as the Japanese edition. This movie is the ultimate Mother's Day card, and a strong watch for fans of mature fairy tales.