Mai Mai Miracle (マイマイ新子と千年の魔法 Maimai Shinko to Sen-nen no Mahō), lit. Mai Mai Shinko and the Millennium-Old Magic) is aJapanese animated film based on Nobuko Takagi's novelization of her autobiography, Maimai Shinko. It was produced by the animation studioMadhouse, distributed by Shochiku, and directed by Sunao Katabuchi.

The film debuted at the Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland on August 15, 2009. It was released in Japan on November 21.

The part of the plot of this movie is collected data on by Sei Shōnagon's The Pillow Book.

In the spring of 1955 in a small town in southwestern Japan, a nine-year-old girl named Shinko Aoki discovers she has a family connection with a thousand-year-old province of legend, known as Suō. Joined by Kiiko Shimazu, a new student who has recently transferred to her school, they embark on a magical experience. In this same land, A girl called Nagiko Kiyohara had lived 1,000 years ago.[4]

Development

In November, 2007, the making picture was shown in France. However, the title of the movie was not revealed at this time.[5] The film was first announced by Madhouse at the 2008 Tokyo International Anime Fair as a new project of director Sunao Katabuchi.[6] While Katabuchi had served as a scriptwriter Hayao Miyazaki'sSherlock Hound, as an assistant director on Kiki's Delivery Service, and had directed his own film Princess Arete in 2001 at Studio 4°C, this was his first feature film since joining Madhouse. To create the film, he assembled his crew from Madhouse's staff animators and artists, as well as associates from Studio 4°C. Shigeto Tsuji, previously an assistant animation supervisor on Metropolis, designed the characters, while Kazutaka Ozaki and Studio 4°C artist Chie Uratani served as animation directors. Both had previously worked on Princess Aretewith Katabuchi. Shinichi Uehara, a veteran background painter at Madhouse, acted as art director.

Characters

• Shinko Aoki (Mayuko Fukuda)
• Kiiko Shimazu (Nako Mizusawa)
• Nagiko Kiyohara / Sei Shōnagon (Ei Morisako)
• Nagako Aoki (Manami Honjou)
• Kiyohara no Motosuke[8]

Release

Shochiku promoted the film online, aiming at international as well as domestic fans. A short English-subtitled trailer was posted on the studio's website in June. Additionally, Avex Network also promoted the film through their YouTube channel. A 31-second trailer was released on August 28, followed by a 100-second trailer on September 16.

The film opened on the December 11-13 weekend in South Korea, where it debuted in 13th place and grossed the equivalent of US$61,370 on 39 screens.