Maboroshi 2024 Ending Explained: Maboroshi or Alice to Therese no Maboroshi Koujou (Alice and Therese’s Illusion Factory), the recent anime film by Mari Okada and MAPPA, has finally been released. The film was well-received in Japan when it premiered in September, and now it’s on Netflix for a global audience to enjoy.
If you’re not familiar with Mari Okada, she’s a prolific writer and director in the anime industry, known for her complex and emotionally charged stories. And MAPPA, of course, is one of the best studios in anime right now, with hit series like Attack on Titan and Jujutsu Kaisen under their belt.
The voice cast for Maboroshi is a talented group of people, including, Misaki Kuno as Itsumi, Junya Enoki as Masamune Kikuiri, Reina Ueda as Mutsumi Sagami, etc.
Maboroshi 2024 Ending Explained: Recap Of Last Episode
Maboroshi 2024 Plot
After a factory explosion inexplicably freezes a town in time, two students, Masamune and Mutsumi, cross paths with an enigmatic feral child whom Masamune names Itsumi. She is very intricately tied to their current fate, and hence, keeping her the way she is is of utmost importance. Even if that means turning a blind eye to whatever is going on with her because her situation might be the only key to their existence in the first place.
Though both Masamune and Itsumi are not thrilled to be entangled with this weird child, their encounter sparks an impulsive surge of love, driven by the frustrations of their everyday existence, setting in motion a series of events that dramatically alter their world.
Who was Itsumi?
The most prominent question that arises from watching this movie in the first half is, who exactly is the mysterious girl called Itsumi? She does not act her age and could even barely speak before meeting Masamune. So, who is she, and where does she come from?
Well, she is the child of Masamune and Mutsumi from another reality. The explosion might have created a separate dimension or realm where Masamune and others are stuck while also living normally in the main/actual reality. We only know that the gods of the town are the ones who made this happen because this was the time the townspeople were at their happiest.
One day, when Itsumi or Saki gets separated from her parents, she lands herself in this unknown realm. The factory workers who found her should have returned her to her reality with the help of the same train she came from, but they did not because they thought she was a gift from the gods, and her existence kept their town from vanishing.
What happened to Masamune and Mutsumi in the actual reality?
In actual reality, Masamune falls in love and gets married to Mutsumi, and they have a child called Saki. One day, when Saki acts stubbornly to get a toy at a festival, her parents pretend to leave her there, thinking she will follow them soon. But Saki gets lost and ends up in another dimension.
The adult version of our main couple searches for their daughter relentlessly and waits for her to return someday. They are also devastated about what had happened to their daughter, feeling her absence even after years. Towards the end, we see that even when Saki has turned to them and is a grown-up, they keep worrying for her, calling her to check on her when she travels alone.
What happens to Masamune and Mutsumi in the artificial reality?
We do not exactly see what ensues in the artificial reality after Itsumi leaves it. But towards the end, Mutsumi happens to hear the voice of a baby crying. This can mean that the world has finally started to move with Itsumi, the anomaly leaving it, signalled by the birth of a baby.
And that Mutsumi and Masamune from this timeline, along with others, might be able to grow up like their original self.
Also Read: Maboroshi 2023 Review: A Beautiful Movie With Breathtaking Animation