company P.A.Works Showgate distributes Date of publication: February 24, 2018 ( ) 115-minute running time Japan Country Japanese Language [1] Ticket office 4.3 million dollars [2] When the Promised Flower Blooms Maquia [3] (Japanese: a®«ç'®è, Hepburn: Sayonara no Asa ni Yakusoku no Hana o Kazar), officially shortened as Sayoasa (),[4] is a 2018 Japanese animated high fantasy drama film written and directed by Mari Okada and produced by P.A.Works. [1] [5] Yuriko Ishii directed the animation and designed the characters, who were taken from Akihiko Yoshida's original concepts, while Kenji Kawai wrote the soundtrack. [1]
Humans and their Renato wreak havoc on the Iorph country, killing the majority of its people. Maquia is abducted in the middle of the onslaught by one of the Renato who has gone insane. It quickly perishes, and she is left alone in a wilderness far from home, save for the distant screams of a solitary infant. Maquia discovers the infant in a ruined town and adopts him, name him Ariel. Although she has no idea how to navigate the human world, how to nurture a kid who matures far more quickly than she does, or how to live with the blazing loneliness within, she is determined to make it all work. [Assembled by MAL Rewrite]
THE STORYMaquia is a member of a clan whose members cease to age in their mid teens. She is without parents and, despite the tranquility of her days, she is lonely. Their tranquillity is destroyed when an army invades in search of the key to her people's immortality. Leilia, her clan's most beautiful girl, is kidnapped, and the guy Maquia has hidden affections for vanishes. Maquia manages to flee, but she loses her friends and her house in the process. While wandering alone through the jungle, she comes upon Erial, a newborn boy who has been abandoned by his parents. The narrative chronicles their evolving relationship as Erial matures while Maquia does not.
I had never watched this film before buying it, but what drew me in were the visuals/bright colors and intricacies in the artwork, as well as the expectation of an animated action/drama film. (FYI, this is not an action film). Without giving too much away, this is basically a film that explores the notion of the life cycle over the duration of a little more than a human's normal lifetime (lets say maybe 80ish or more years). The central characters mature emotionally and mentally through time, and very realistic answers to given situations are formed (intentionally vague:)). For me, the finale was a genuine tear-jerker. It's sad but charming, and the artwork is rather lovely.
