What's It About?

In the town of Mifuse, time halted following an explosion at the local steelworks. Ever since the blast, bizarre phenomena have filled the sky, and the townspeople discover they can't leave the area or contact the outside world. The same old radio and TV shows play, as if they are stuck repeating the day of the explosion. Hopeful that things will go back to normal, the town leaders forbid change to avoid any inconsistencies when time begins to flow again. One day, a teenager named Masamune breaks from the monotony of the usual routine and restrictions when his mysterious classmate Mutsumi brings him into the steel factory's fifth blast furnace. There, he meets a wild, wolflike girl who cannot speak…and looks startlingly like Mutsumi. The interaction between Masamune and the two girls disrupts the tenuous balance of a world frozen in time. What future awaits these young people when faced with the unstoppable impulse of love?

maboroshi has story by Mari Okada. English translation by Amelia Imogen. Published by YenOn (April 15, 2025).

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Is It Worth Reading?

Rebecca Silverman
Rating:

I haven't seen the maboroshi film, but I do feel like it might be the better venue for the story. That's not to say that this isn't good, though; Mari Okada is a skilled creator, and as an author she's able to write with impressive visual clarity. But the overarching themes get a bit muddled as the story unfolds, and more questions than answers are left after turning the final page.

The story takes place in a closed world. One day a steel factory explosion in a small mountain town seemed to blow the whole world out of existence – only to bring it back as an eternal repeat of the two or three days leading up to the disaster. Nothing changes, not the people's bodies or the programs on television. Desperately seeking answers, the towns turn to the local heir to a temple, who convinces them that this is all the divine will of a god, and that they must avoid anything that would implement change, lest their chances of returning to reality be destroyed. We don't know how long the town has been isolated when the story proper starts, but there are hints that it's been decades.

The cornerstone of the local prophet's theory is a strange girl kept in the fifth blast furnace of the factory. He believes her to be the god's destined bride, but local seeming-teen Masamune begins to have his doubts when he begins to interact with her. The story delves into themes of what reality truly is, parallel timelines, and how belief shapes action. None of them are ever as fully explored as they might be, and at the end, we still lack a lot of answers. But perhaps the most important element is the way that Masamune and the other “teens” in the town begin to rebel. They're being held captive in a childhood that should have ended decades ago, held back from growing up by a madman who has convinced the town that he's right. It's a study in power and corruption on a deceptively small scale.

maboroshi as a novel isn't quite as deep or dreamlike as it wants to be. It has some issues with providing solid answers, which may be deliberate, a sign that we're meant to question all “truths.” It's certainly an interesting exercise in fiction. But I couldn't help feeling like I was missing something as I read it, and wondering if that “something” mightn't be better expressed through film.

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