J Alford

Tomotaka Shibayama who directed The Girl Who Leapt Through Time once again does a solid job in this new film that premiered on Netflix, My Oni Girl. This urban fantasy borrows story elements you've probably seen in Spirited Away and Suzume. It was a joint production with Studio Colorido which created Penguin Highway, and Twin Engine that animated Zom 100. It has a great visual aesthetic similar to recent movies like Weathering With You, but the main attraction is the plot that drives the whole journey co-written by Yuko Kakihara. High schooler Hiiragi lacks any social gusto and acts as a doormat for anyone to dump their problems on. Even his father has little faith in his decision making as he gets him a tutor for the summer instead of allowing him to go to cram school. Hiiragi meets the pastel-haired oni named Tsumugi who he notices has a horn on her head. He can tell she's an oni because of his lack of being able to speak up for himself resulting in his negative feelings taking parts of his spirit away. If he loses too much of it, Hiiragi runs the risk of becoming an oni himself. Tsumugi has left her hidden oni village to find her mother which her father says went to a shrine years ago. Hiiragi decides to accompany her on this journey as he knows the way to the shrine. There are bizarre long spirits called "snow gods" who are following the two of them on their trek that threaten to devour Tsumugi. The first half of the movie becomes a road trip with the intrepid youngsters coming across various characters who help them on their way, as well as being helped by the teenage runaways in return. The second half unveils the true secret behind what happened to Tsumugi's mother and why the snow gods who normally hide the oni village are now attacking the horned humans as Hiiragi is slowly turning into an oni because he can't express his feelings for Tsumugi. The finale is very gratifying and ends on a post-credits scene you will want to stick around for. My Oni Girl might sound like it's a sappy 90s supernatural romance, but truly breaks the mold by playing out as a young adult fantasy. The main message of the film is not to bottle up your emotions and speak your mind otherwise these negative feelings will slowly eat you away. Those who suffer from introversion will see how opening up makes you more aware of the larger world and what place you can make for yourself in it. It's possible that this movie could have played out like a short anime TV series, the first part with the teenagers on their journey, and the concluding part delving a little more into the oni lore which gets a slapdash explanation near the end to wrap up the story. The soundtrack is admissible and helps capture the strange scenes when it starts snowing in the middle of summer. Despite the shuffled finale, this is a family-friendly picture that fits nicely next to your Ghibli library.