Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Child of Kamiari Month’, an Uplifting Magical Adventure Where a Goddess’s Daughter Dashes Toward Her Destiny

Child of Kamiari Month is the latest in Netflix’s original anime lineup, a partnership with Liden Films. The directorial debut of Takana Shirai (Children of the Sea, The Tale of the Princess Kaguya), this heartfelt fantasy tale explores grief and loss, as well as the often difficult path to healing, in ways viewers of all ages can understand.

The magical adventure follows a young girl named Kanna Hayama (Mia Sinclair Jenness). Before her mother died, Kanna was a tireless and dedicated runner. Now, Kanna finds herself withdrawn and looking for time to be alone as the loss of her mother has left a massive hole in her life. Her grief has also overtaken the joy that running used to give her. Instead of sharing these feelings with others, however, she wears a mask with her friends and pretends she’s just fine, so no one actually knows what she’s going through.

One day, during a race, anxiety and grief get the best of her, and she runs away on her own in a panic. She meets a strange fanged demon boy named Yasha (Mark Allen Jr.) who demands “Yayoi’s amulet” (Kanna’s bracelet). There’s also a talking white rabbit named Shiro (Luci Christian), who happens to be an assistant to the gods. As it turns out, Kanna’s mother Yayoi (Morgan Lauré) used to be the god of footrace — a descendant, to be exact — but Kanna never knew anything about this double life. It’s now Kanna’s turn to take on the role and travel to the land of Izumo, where all the gods meet up for a special summit in October: “kamiari month”.

Now, Shiro is there to keep Kanna safe from encroaching forces, including Yasha, as Kanna proceeds to take on her mother’s role as the Idaten, who delivers offerings to the gods throughout Japan for their descent upon Izumo. Kanna must travel with Shiro with time stopped across the country to the Gods’ land, then deliver offerings to complete her family mission, all the while pursued Yasha, part of a rival family, and dealing with a series of supernatural roadblocks.

CHILD OF KAMIARI MONTH: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: Kanna’s role as Idaten takes her all over the country as she meets a variety of gods, including a bull-like deity, a massive dragon, and creatures of all shapes and sizes in between. Her journey to Izumo is sprinkled with different challenges, such as a race in midair across floating rock platforms against Yasha to be awarded a “chiso”, or an offering, and even demonic images of her mother bent on forcing Kanna to stray from her path. The path to Izumo is fraught with danger, but Kanna finds the resolve to fight it all at every turn. By her side every step of the way, rabbit Shiro offers advice and assistance, and even Yasha becomes a stalwart companion as he opens up about his thoughts about being a descendant of a demon god. The threesome become a mighty team together, with different goals and motivations.

Kanna becomes a stronger, more resilient person on her journey to Izumo, and befriends unexpected creatures and allies along her journey. She learns to compartmentalize the part of her that conflates running with the grief over losing her mother, and eventually how to enjoy the activity itself again, pushed along by the thought she may very well see her mother again one day. Even when she learns a harsh truth about what’s possible about seeing her mom again, Kanna maintains her role as the Idaten, continues receiving the chiso offerings from the gods she’s met, and pushes on to Izumo in an inspirational journey that proves she’s stronger than she ever thought she was.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Child of Kamiari Month is cut from the same cloth as new anime classics like Your Name and Weathering With You, with inspiration from lengthier epics like Mirai and Belle. It’s a colorful, fantastical whirlwind that’s simple to follow and beautiful to behold.

Performance Worth Watching: Mia Sinclair Jenness was a spunky and memorable Powder in Netflix’s breakout hit Arcane, and as Kanna, she’s appropriately sprightly and believably grief-stricken. Even though she’s lost her desire to continue running the way she used to, Kanna is a determined young woman because she believes she’ll get to see her mother again. Jenness does a fantastic job of combining a child’s love for her mother with a yearning for normalcy once more along with the precociousness of a personable teen. She’s an excellent fit for the character.

Memorable Dialogue: “If you get tired of running, you can always walk.” It’s a heartfelt statement from a god who takes the form of a bull, who’s been watching Kanna since she was a child. The god is talking about Kanna’s lengthy trip, but its words take a double meaning: Kanna doesn’t have to continue sprinting toward healing. She can move at her own pace toward moving past her grief.

Sex and Skin: None. This film is as squeaky-clean as they come, save the occasional violence.

Our Take: There are few films that work for all ages that take concepts like grief, sadness, loss, and anxiety and weave them into an easy-to-understand story that helps anyone dealing with the same move on. Child of Kamiari Month begins where some viewers could find it depressing or frustrating, but it soon takes shape into a soothing, enjoyable story that reminds us we can shape our own destiny, no matter how difficult things may be. If Kanna can regain her love for running despite losing the person that inspired that love in her the most, we can live the lives we want just the same.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Child of Kamiari Month is a gentle fantasy film that grapples with grief and healing. Its heroine Kanna is an inspirational young woman who will no doubt stir something in viewers to also “hold onto the things they love” despite dealing with loss or hardship. It’s beautifully drawn and animated with a great English voice cast, and plenty of reasons for viewers young and old to gravitate toward it.

Brittany Vincent has been covering video games and tech for over a decade for publications like G4, Popular Science, Playboy, Variety, IGN, GamesRadar, Polygon, Kotaku, Maxim, GameSpot, and more. When she’s not writing or gaming, she’s collecting retro consoles and tech. Follow her on Twitter: @MolotovCupcake.