Production I.G. is best known for producing Mamoru Oshii’s films (Ghost in the Shell, The Sky Crawlers) as well as working on groundbreaking works like Tekkon Kinkreet, FLCL and Batman Gotham Knight. One of the things they’re well know for is their innovative use of computers for compositing and effects. Oblivion Island : Haruka and the Magic Mirror (ホッタラケの島 〜遥と魔法の鏡) is their first fully computer animated film and it doesn’t disappoint.

Haruka is a 16 year old teen who lives alone with her often absent workaholic father, her mother having passed away when she was younger. At that time, the young Haruka, following a story her mother had read to her, had prayed at a shrine to spirits who return lost things, offering eggs and asking for her mother to be brought back.

One day, Haruko remembers a mirror that her mother gave her and that she has since lost. She decides to go to the shrine and offer an egg to get the mirror back. Accidentally, she spies a small creature with a fox mask and follows it to a strange place called Oblivion Island where she will attempt to find her mother’s lost mirror.

[Crossover to Oblivion Island and reflect on the past (and future spoilers) after the fold]