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Mari Okada, MAPPA's Alice to Therese no Maboroshi Kōjō Anime Film Reveals Cast, Story, Teaser, September 15 Debut
posted on by Crystalyn Hodgkins
The MAPPA Stage 2023 event on Sunday revealed the main cast, story introduction, a new teaser trailer, teaser visual, and September 15 release date for Mari Okada's original anime film Alice to Therese no Maboroshi Kōjō (Alice and Therese's Illusory Factory).
Okada is also writing a novel of the film (cover pictured below) that Kadokawa Bunko will release on June 13.
The film centers on third-year middle school student Masamune, who lives in a town where time has stopped because a sudden explosion at a steelworks factory has sealed off all exits to the town. In order to hopefully one day return to normal, the residents of the town are forbidden from changing, and they live out their gloomy everyday lives. Masamune's enigmatic classmate Atsumi leads him one day to the fifth blast furnace of the steelworks factory, and there they meet a girl who is wild like a wolf and who cannot talk. The meeting of Masamune and these two girls upsets the balance of the world. The unstoppable "love impulse" of the boys and girls who are tired of their everyday lives begins to destroy the world.
The film will star Junya Enoki as 14-year-old protagonist Masamune Kikuiri, Reina Ueda as Masamune's classmate Atsumi Sagami, and Misaki Kuno as the mysterious girl Itsumi (character name spellings are not confirmed).
Okada is writing and directing the film, which MAPPA originally announced in 2021. Okada is also credited with the original work.
Tadashi Hiramatsu is serving as the assistant director, and Yuriko Ishii (Another, Persona -trinity soul-) is designing the characters and serving as chief animation director. Kazuki Higashiji (Angel Beats!, Hanasaku Iroha - Blossoms for Tomorrow, The Piano Forest) is directing the art. All of the above animators collaborated on Okada's Maquia - When the Promised Flower Blooms film. Masaru Yokoyama (Her Blue Sky, Horimiya) is composing the music. Warner Bros. is distributing the film.
Sources: Press release, MAPPA Stage 2023 livestream
Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more of the companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.
