The Imaginary Blu-ray

Welcome to the world of Imaginaries. A moving, grand fantasy adventure, with the future of loved ones and family at stake.

Following the hit Mary and the Witch’s Flower, Studio Ponoc presents its long-awaited second feature-length animated film to audiences around the world. Its meticulously detailed, beautiful background art and powerful animation bring this story to life, taking a film made in Japan to North America and other international audiences.

Friends, friendship, family and the future: Rudger’s battle, invisible to everyone, places his fate on the line. Rudger is an Imaginary, a friend created in the imagination of Amanda, a girl who has lost the love she once knew. Invisible to humans, Imaginaries cease to exist when they are forgotten. Separated from Amanda, Rudger faces the threat of his own disappearance. Through encounters and farewells with other Imaginaries, he tries to reclaim a future with the people and family he holds dear. But the mysterious Mr. Bunting appears, intent on claiming Rudger’s fate, and even greater dangers stand in his way. This moving fantasy adventure unfolds in a world where imagination and reality intertwine.

Beyond animation: collaboration between Japan and France opens a new path for hand-drawn animated expression. Working with French creators, the production introduces new digital techniques used for the first time in Japan. These achieve textures previously impossible in hand-drawn animation and groundbreaking images shaped by light and shadow. Echoing the expressive light and shade of painters such as Rembrandt and Vermeer, this new approach gives powerful form to the story of the Imaginaries and the people around them.

The film’s music brings a vibrant, life-affirming duet to its closing moments, with Nothing’s Impossible resonating through the world of the Imaginaries. The making-of documentary And So, The Imaginary Was Born explores the creation of the film, while interviews offer further insight into the performances.