Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms

Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms is a 2018 anime film written and directed by Mari Okada and produced by P.A. Works.

Separated from the world of ordinary men, the long-lived Iolph spend their days weaving cloth, and weaving their histories and emotions into their personal "hibiol" cloths. Then the outside world comes to force them to join it. Maquia is separated from the other Iolph, finds a newborn baby orphaned in a bandit attack, and (despite being only 15 years old herself) names him Erial and resolves to raise him as her own. Thus begins a story that explores the question "what happens when a small group of people have vastly longer lifespans than everyone else?"

This is a character-driven small-scale fantasy-style speculative-fiction story; the plot is nearly incidental.

The movie runs 115 minutes. As of January 2023, it had a 100% "fresh" rating with 27 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.


 * Big No: Maquia's reaction to realizing the Renato that attacked her village brought her very far away.
 * Country of Hats: The Iolph are long-lived weavers.
 * Driven to Suicide:
 * Ghibli Plains: The film ends with Maquia travelling on a cart through golden Ghibli Plains. The last shot in the film before the credits roll is of green grass and flowers swaying in the wind.
 * Go Out with a Smile: On his deathbed, Erial smiles when Maquia takes his hand.
 * I Will Definitely Protect You: Maquia's promise to the infant Erial, and Erial's promise to Maquia once he becomes an adult.
 * If I Can't Have You:
 * Instant Illness: The effects of Red Eye act very fast if a Renato is in action.
 * Last of His Kind:
 * Mayfly-December Romance: Played with in that the love is parental rather than romantic, otherwise played straight.
 * Opposite Gender Protagonists: Maquia and Erial. This is an interesting case, due to their age difference. It's clear that Maquia is the protagonist, however Erial, being the orphaned child, plays a huge role in the film, as the film focuses on his growing up and interactions with his mother Maquia, who does not age and is stuck looking eternally young. Instead of the heroes facing an external conflict, the first part of the film sees the heroes facing an internal conflict between themselves, before introducing an external source of conflict with a war.
 * Our Dragons Are Different: The Renato are the film's version of dragons.
 * Really Seven Hundred Years Old: The Iorph people look young, but can live much longer than humans.
 * "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Leilia's words to her husband when confronting him are scathing, saying she was deprived of her freedom and her daughter because of her forced marriage.
 * Spontaneous Combustion: A Renato with Red Eye will have its body burst in flames before dying.
 * Time Compression Montage: The upbringing of Erial is shown that way.
 * Time Skip: Used throughout the film.