FOREWORD

by Mamoru Hosoda

Mirai is a film inspired by my own children, especially the reaction of my oldest boy when his new baby sister arrived. It was both adorable and fascinating the way he cried, as if she were stealing our love, and I wanted to turn it into a movie.

I was an only child, so I didn’t really know what having siblings was like, and so was my own son when you think about it. But then we had another kid. The moment he had a sister, he ceased to be an only child.

It’s fascinating how a child tries to take back the love stolen from them when this happens. I truly believe that life is all about love, that everything ultimately comes down to it, and I think the first opportunity many children have to realize that is the birth of a sibling. The moment the baby is born, they find themselves in a competition for their parents’ love. How they progress from stealing affection from each other to finding a new way of loving is, I think, the theme of the film.

The main character, Kun, is a four-year-old boy because I thought that four was the proper age for a story about the birth of a sister triggering a first identity crisis. Also, I was visiting the home of one of this film’s producers, Mr. Adachi, and found his children in the middle of a furious war. At the time, his eldest girl was four, so that was also an inspiration (lol). Witnessing the intense love-hate struggle made me think, I should make a movie out of this.

When I started writing the novel version of Mirai, the thing I struggled with most was how to write from the perspective of a four-year-old boy like Kun.

When I asked Mr. Adachi, who also served as the novel’s editor, how I should write this, he immediately said, “Just do it in third person.” I wasn’t so sure (lol). Knowing it was going to be hard, I threw myself into it and somehow managed to write through it. I owe Mr. Adachi everything (lol). But it was a real struggle for a while there, honestly. I tried writing from the perspective of an older Kun and from the perspective of another character (for example, Kun’s father), but each time I ran into scenes the character didn’t witness. So I ended up writing it in third person after all.

The entire story takes place inside a very small house, so perhaps it might appear to be the smallest-scale film I’ve made, but I think that means it will reach audiences from any country in the world. The very fact that the story is limited to a single house and yard makes it easy to identify with, and all the elements add together into a film that people from around the world will be able to enjoy.

I hope you watch or read this story while thinking of your own family, relatives, or loved ones.

Mamoru Hosoda, director