Lonely Castle in the Mirror (film)

Directed by Hara Keiichi

Screened at the ICA in London as part of The Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 
11 February 2023

Review by Eleanor Garrett

Lonely Castle in the Mirror is a brilliant animated adaptation of Tsujimura Mizuki’s popular novel of the same name (see review of the novel here). Directed by Hara Keiichi with a screenplay by Maru Miho, the film closely follows the original text, seamlessly bringing Tsujimura’s well-loved story to life on the screen. As a lover of the novel and a former English teacher in Oita, Japan, I was excited to have the opportunity to watch the film at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) as part of The Japan Foundation’s 2024 Touring Film Programme.  

In keeping with the novel, the film follows Anzai Kokoro, a junior high school student who recently stopped attending school due to continuous acts of bullying, or ijime, on the part of her homeroom classmates. One day, while Kokoro is sat at home, alone in her bedroom, her mirror suddenly begins to glow. Curious, she steps forward, delicately reaches for the glass, now shining with a kaleidoscope of rainbows, and is roughly pulled through the frame. When Kokoro opens her eyes, she finds herself at the base of a large, stone castle. The camera widens out to reveal the structure stands atop a solitary peak, surrounded by an expansive ocean.

Inside this magnificent castle, Kokoro and audiences are introduced to the castle’s caretaker: the Wolf Queen – a young girl who teleports in and around the castle, donned in bright, Lolita-like dresses and an unmistakable wolf mask. Urgently, the Wolf Queen ushers Kokoro inside to meet the six other children who were each brought to the castle through their respective mirrors at home. Kokoro quickly discerns that the other children must also be unable to attend school; how else could they all afford to be at the castle during the weekday (Japan time)? As the “seven little red-riding hoods” gather together, the Wolf Queen reveals the purpose of their invitation through the mirror. While in the castle, the children will have the chance to search for a hidden wishing room and special wishing key, a key that once found, will allow the bearer to make one wish that is guaranteed to come true. But there are rules. The children must not stay past 5 o’clock in the evenings, they must find the wishing key before the end of March, and once the key is found and a wish made, the children will all lose their memories of their time in the castle.

Hara’s adaptation perfectly matches the charm and gravity of the beloved novel. The delicate and brightly colored animation style pulls audiences into the story, immediately connecting viewers with the characters. Reminiscent of works like A Silent Voice and Your Name, Lonely Castle in the Mirror touches audiences through its vibrant and honest portrayal of young adulthood. Adapting a heartfelt and successful tale is no easy task, as fans are protective of the source material and characters they grew to know so well. As a lover of the novel, I was, at first, skeptical of the adaptation. Would the film be able to fully capture the beauty of Tsujimura’s language? I cried for several minutes after completing the novel— would the film leave the same effect?

Despite my skepticism, when the credits rolled and the lights came up, the theatre echoed with sniffles and several people walked away not yet dry-eyed. While online reviewers seem to have mixed impressions, audience ratings both at the ICA and as recorded on Rotten Tomatoes reflect raving reactions. Described as “beautiful,” “honest,” and “breathtaking,” this animated adaptation won the hearts of many through telling an important story that hopes to heal those in and outside of Japan.

To accompany viewers, the Japan Foundation passed out a small handout providing information about the film and the novel. Additionally, the form provided further context about one of the film’s major themes: ijime. According to the text in the handout written by XXX, although similar to bullying, ijime is differentiated by unique features of physical violence and psychological torture. While in contexts outside of Japan “bullying” may occur between different age groups or races, ijime in Japan occurs between students of the same age, and often of the same homeroom class. Furthermore, ijime is seen as a group activity as opposed to between individuals. One of the early climactic scenes of the film clearly displays the horrific dynamics of group ijime. The scene shows the three young girls, Kokoro, Aki, and Fuka, sitting together and drinking tea at a round table in the castle’s kitchen. The audience watches as Kokoro reveals to the other girls that the conflict between her and Sanada escalated when a group of female classmates showed up at Kokoro’s home while she was home alone. The camera follows Kokoro as she rushes throughout the house, frantically locking the doors and drawing the curtains as the girls pounded on the doors, banging and trying desperately to enter. Unsuccessful in their attempt to break in, we hear the leader of the group, Sanada, hurl insults and violent death threats at Kokoro.

This incident, although fictional, reflects a very real violence within Japanese schools. More recently, the popularization of severe cases of ijime has caused the government to take more serious actions towards recognising the presence of violence within Japanese schools. Unfortunately, as the film further demonstrates, research points to teachers and educators as additional perpetrators of ijime. As Kokoro’s homeroom teacher completely mishandles the incident with Sanada, choosing to prioritise his identity as a “cool” teacher, the film demonstrates how students are not always able to rely on their supposed “advocates” in the school. Both the film and the novel bring attention to the importance of not only understanding but acknowledging the violence that occurs within schools to protect vulnerable children. Lonely Castle in the Mirror is an important story; for children in and outside of schools, including those who can no longer walk the halls they are forced to attend; for families of the so called futoko children who refuse to go to the school; for those who want to protect the vulnerable.

The film managed to capture the charm of the original story without leaving too much out from the novel’s plot. It was clear that any changes, although minor, were made due to time constraints or for the audience's sake to better translate elements of the story that are difficult to convey without written words. However, as someone who fell in love with the novel and finds myself constantly returning to reread the ending, there were parts of the film that left me slightly disappointed. Although the adaptation excellently captured the atmosphere of the castle and the brightness of the individual characters, I wish the screenwriter had stuck closer to the language of the book. Through personal nostalgia, I found myself waiting for quotes to be spoken by the characters. Similarly, the silence of reading a book in one’s mind often adds to the intensity of the story. The only other issue I had with the film came from the audio elements. At times, the music and scoring felt slightly out of place. In sincere moments, like when Kokoro finally reaches Aki through the wishing room behind the clock, the sudden introduction of rock music distracts from the emotion of the scene. However, these are small criticisms and in no manner outweigh the overall success of the adaptation.

In visual terms, the film often heightens the emotion and themes of the original text. For example, the opening scene shows Kokoro walking through a dark, empty cave-like hallway. The sound of her shoes slowly pacing forward is the only company for our main character. The dark and slow-paced scene directly sets the tone of the story. From her first introduction, Kokoro’s isolation and loneliness are immediately highlighted for the audience. Throughout the film, the animation continues to establish a clear narrative tone that mirrors the emotion of the original text.

In addition to the emotional elements, I was surprised by how closely the animation followed the locations of the novel. The castle interior, the children’s individual bedrooms, the shared family room, and even the Koshino Number 5 Junior High School perfectly matched what I had envisioned while reading. Even before they introduced themselves, our main characters were easy to pick out due to how closely the animation followed the original text. In some instances, the film actually heightened certain elements of the story. For example, depicting the scary Wolf who prowls the halls of the castle at night as a flaming, fiery mystical beast enhanced the fairytale elements of the story and at the same timealso maintained the ferocity of the beast when he arrives to gobble up the children for staying past the castle’s closing time. 

The story of Lonely Castle in the Mirror is brought to life and made available to new audiences through its beautiful adaptation to the big screen. Viewers can expect an exciting and heartfelt story that displays the vulnerable intimacies of how it feels to be pushed to the outside of your supposed community. Pack your tissue boxes, bring your eye drops, and prepare your 10 Pounds because after seeing this film, you’ll want to buy the book.