Lonely Castle in the Mirror
Lonely Castle in the Mirror is a Japanese novel written by Mizuki Tsujimura and published by Poplar Publishing in May 2017. A manga adaptation illustrated by Tomo Taketomi was serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine Ultra Jump from June 2019 to February 2022, with its chapters collected into five volumes. An anime film adaptation produced by A-1 Pictures was released on December 23, 2022.
Plot
Kokoro Anzai, a first-year at Yukishina Junior High School, stays at home due to bullying. She tries attending a child development support class, but has not returned to school since. One day, she finds the magical portal within the mirror at her room. While inspecting it, she is dragged into the mirror and finds herself in front of a castle on the island surrounded by water. There, she meets a girl with a wolf mask. The self-proclaimed Wolf Queen introduces her to six other children: Subaru Nagahisa, Akiko Inoue, Rion Mizumori, Earth Masamune, Fūka Hasegawa, and Haruka Ureshino. Addressing them as Little Red Riding Hoods, the Wolf Queen instructs them to find a key hidden in the castle, which will lead them to a room where one can make a wish, before the deadline of March 30 of the following year. If anyone makes a correct wish, it will be granted and all children will lose their memories of the castle. She also tells the children to leave before 5pm. Any child who stays at the castle on the evening will be eaten by a wolf.The seven children start spending time together at the castle, occasionally looking for the key. Kokoro learns from the other children that they all attend the same school, except for Rion, and have been avoiding school for various reasons. Planning to meet up at school, they find out that they do not exist in each other's worlds. Therefore, Masamune theorizes that they are from parallel universes, but the Wolf Queen discovers and denies this. The deadline begins to near, but they have not found the key yet. In the meantime, Kokoro has opened up to her mother about being bullied and, with the help of her teacher, tries to resolve the issue. The others have also taken steps forward.
On the second to last day, Kokoro finds an illustration titled "The Wolf and the Seven Young Goats", and realizes that this was a clue to the key's location. As she returns home, she discovers the mirror has shattered into pieces. She learns from the other children that Aki broke the rule and stayed at the castle after 5pm. The rest of them are eaten by the wolf, as their collective responsibility. Kokoro passes through the broken remnants of the mirror, and uses the clues in the illustration to find the key. She sees fragments of the memories of her friends and learn they all had suffered from various problems while attending the same school. Suffering from bullying and harassment, Aki took refuge at the castle. Kokoro uses her wish to save her friends. Upon being resurrected, Aki reconciles with them.
Before returning home and forgetting the castle, they realize that they were in fact from the same universe but from different timelines spanning over 40 years. They carve their names on the wall and separately part ways. As they pass through the mirrors, Rion confronts the Wolf Queen, and it is revealed that she is his late sister, Mio. She removes the mask and bids him farewell. Back in her own timeline, Kokoro reunites with Rion and they head to school together.
Characters
;Kokoro Anzai;Rion Rion Mizumori
;Aki Akiko Inoue
;Subaru Subaru Nagahisa
;Fūka Fūka Hasegawa
;Masamune Aasu "Earth" Masamune
;Ureshino Haruka Ureshino
;Wolf Queen
;Kitajima-sensei Akiko Kitajima
;Kokoro's mother
;Moe Tojo
;Miori Sanada
Media
Novel
Written by Mizuki Tsujimura, Lonely Castle in the Mirror was originally published by Poplar Publishing on May 11, 2017. The company re-released the novel in a two-volume paperback format in March 2021. The novel was published in English by Doubleday in April 2021.Manga
A manga adaptation illustrated by Tomo Taketomi was serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine Ultra Jump from June 19, 2019, to February 19, 2022. Shueisha collected its chapters into five volumes, published from December 2019 to May 2022.The manga is licensed in North America by Seven Seas Entertainment.
Anime film
An anime film adaptation was announced on February 24, 2022. It is produced by A-1 Pictures, directed by Keiichi Hara, and written by, with the characters designed by chief animation director, visual concept and castle design by Ilya Kuvshinov, and music composed by. Yuuri performed the film's theme song "Merry-Go-Round". The film was released in Japan by Shochiku on December 23, 2022. GKIDS acquired the rights to the film in North America, and screened it in Japanese and English-language formats in June 2023. The film premiered on television for the first time on Nippon TV's programming block on February 9, 2024.Reception
The novel placed first in the novel category of Da Vinci magazine's "Book of the Year" list in 2017. It also won the Japan Booksellers' Award in 2018.The anime film adaptation debuted at 6th at the Japanese box office, earning million on its opening weekend. It was well-received by audience, and was rated 3.94 out of 5 on its first day on. Richard Eisenbeis of Anime News Network gave the film a 'B-', applauding its social commentary on bullying in Japan and its relatable cast of characters, but criticizing its plot twists, which are 'easy to see coming'. Writing for The Japan Times, Matt Schley gave the film 3 out of 5 stars, praising its social commentary and its characters as well while criticizing the direction of the film, which 'lacks anything resembling subtlety', noting its 'overbearing' soundtrack 'commanding its audience to feel at any given moment'. In 2023, the film was nominated for Animation of the Year at the 46th Japan Academy Film Prize.