Maquia & Mari

Maquia: When The Promised Flower Blooms is prolific writer Mari Okada's directorial debut - and in many ways it feels like the film her entire career has been building towards. In this video I take a look at Okada's difficult life and explore how it has influenced her work in the two decades she has spent shaping the anime industry.

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Isla McTear:

Mari Okada Rawr clip:

[AmuroX]

*Maquia gets mentioned*
Me: *ugly cries on command*

[ZeusPluchinoish]

I had no clue about Okada’s personal life and how tightly intertwined Maquia was to it. This was profound.

[AConstanTole]

Anybody who even mentions Maquia gets my eternal respect, that's how I know they're an OG. Knowing your channel tho, I had a feeling you would make a review. Thanks for proving me right lol.

[DongHuaReviews]

Mari Okada is definitely one of the most emotional storytellers in anime. My favourite of her works tend to be melancholy and angsty ones. I thought she had lost it a bit after anohana, nagi no asukara and anthem of the heart but her newest series O Maidens brought back all that I love from her.

Thanks for the beautiful video as always.

[MultiMetal]

One of my all-time favorite movies. I watched the movie without having seen any trailers and only knowing it was directed by Okada. I only wish there were more people in my local cinema watching it.

[andrewkawam]

I can't wait to see how Okada's work continues to evolve. I'm super excited for her second directorial work 'Alice and Therese's Illusion Factory'. Honestly if she keeps things up I feel like she could become like the female Miyazaki.

[AngelaTehaha]

when the maquia theme played ( 4:42 ) I felt a pierce in my Maquia is definitely underrated, and is sucha beautiful story.

[lizhasasthma]

I work at a library and we have a copy of Maquia that I see just about every time I shelve dvds, so if it's there when I work tonight I'll check it out.

[JoelBurger]

Regardless of how you feel about her work (personally thought AnoHana, Hanasaku Iroha, NagiAsu, Wixoss, Dragon Pilot, and now O Maidens were some of the best shows their respective years, and that complaints of "melodrama" usually don't hold up to scrutiny), I think it's good that we have a creator like Okada out there. Someone who is able to break down the barriers around anime screenwriting and get her name out there, when usually those responsible for screenplays and series composition are all but unknown to the wider anime-watching populace.

[MrApple-ywvp]

Oh Man, There the promised flower blooms is such a gem. I really fell in love than I first saw it, somehow the struggles story of an immortal girl seems more real than all the media we consume in the last decade, I am not saying that the shows now are all bad, but they all are disconnected with the audience, you can't relate to a character and you can't feel, in Maquia though I get a feeling like I am speaking to my grandmother and he passes me the knowledge and struggles of her youth. I love this movie, and I recommend it to all of you

[damoodaiki]

I'm speechless. I have already seen Maquia and cried my eyes out. Tapped on the vid and i was instantly brought to tears the moment the first scene cut off and you started narrating. You give us so many feels BG. Thank you. Thank you for your research into this.

[SephiMasamune]

Immortality is not a blessing, it's one of the darkest curses you can imagine. Maquia is a hauntingly beautiful story that shows this fact again and again. AnoHana introduced me to Mari Okada's style of storytelling, but Maquia has made me fall in love with it. This movie needs more people to watch it, i still consider it an insult that it has received so little attention thus far. Thank you, Joe and Isla, for shedding some much-needed light on this film.

[teiadam]

I saw this movie on a flight to Tokyo and it broke my heart. It's an amazing movie

[clsandals]

I didnt plan on snotting all over my dinner from crying too much tonight so thanks for that.

[rixku]

This movie somewhat made me cry and I never thought I would cry for this movie.

[dr.shinkai]

Thank you very much...thank you . This video & 'Maquia' will remain In my heart forever. Even after my death. Thank you.

[nicolaimarquez]

Man that first part of the video is a brutal recontextualization of every work Okada has ever done, especially Maquia. And the rest is no slouch. What a great ode to Mari Okada. She's the only writer that actually makes me give shit about narrative, because her works's characters are always so true to life that I rarely even care if the narrative is making any sense or not. Though that isn't to say that she's bad at narrative. She's been progresively becoming better at it, with Maquia being a masterwork in narrative, theme and, of course, characters. But as flawed as some of her works might be, I still consider her one of the best writers out there, and one of my personal favorites.

[IslaMcTear]

I'm so damn happy this video ended up going a different way because the way it went was so insightful, I feel like I understand Okada a bit more! Thank you so much for letting me be a part of another video - this was a true pleasure!

[stratoge]

I knew Okada's life was bad I had no idea about her relationship with her mother. This brings all her works into a whole new context. Thank you for this well-edited insightful video.
I shelved watching this vid for a few days cuz I knew I had to be emotionally ready (I was on the verge of tears the entire time).

[Ariel]

Water comes from my eyes. Thank you for making this video. God bless you.