Mirai unfolds through the eyes of Kun, a four-year-old boy traveling through time and space with his teenaged sister from the future, Mirai. (Her name means "future.") The main conflict hinges on Kun learning to accept the addition of his new sister to their family (in the time he's most familiar with, Mirai is just a baby), but through his adventures, the film sinks into the wonder of all the small instances that had to occur for Kun to be born at all. Hosoda loves time-travel and technology-based stories, and his best movies up to this point, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and Summer Wars, used animation's visual possibilities to create unique worlds for these explorations. What solidified my love for this film the most is how easy and life-affirming it is, without sacrificing any smarts. I was struck by the unique personalities of the characters (especially Kun's mother and father, who have a secondary conflict running in the background). There are no real villains in Mirai, just differing perspectives. Seeing Kun's mom get tough, feel guilty about it, but still stand up for her needs feels very progressive. by Suzette Smith