Coming over sickness has unfortunately led to me not being able to work on any art pieces reently, so instead I shall be sharing a movie I watched that has given some influence to my view in life: “Maquia: When The Promised Flower Blooms”.
The movie follows Maquia, an Iorph girl. Iorphs are beings who are able to live for hundreds of years. They live in a place secluded from the world, weaving Hibiol, a cloth they use to tell stories through its threads. They are often told one thing by their leader, “Never fall in love with someone from the outside.”
After their city is attacked, 15 year old Maquia escapes and is finds herself in a forest. There, she finds a human baby and decides to raise him, giving him the name Ariel.
The story then follows Maquia and her hardships as she tries to raise Ariel and be a good mother to him. She may not have given birth to Ariel, but he is the thing she loves the most in the world.
I’m a sucker for these types of stories, so it had me hooked immediately. Maquia has easily become one of my favorite protagonists in any type of media I’ve consumed and for good reason: 15 years old, most of her clan killed off, and being a mother for a baby she she found in the woods. She could have ignored Ariel and gone about trying to live her life, but she instead chose to help a baby in front of her who would have died without her.
I enjoyed seeing the growth of both Maquia and Ariel and the influence they had on each other. Maquia learned how to be an amazing mother and, after a long rebellious phase, Ariel looked back and truly understood that Maquia was doing her best for him.
One thing I especially love about this movie is the contrast of the characters to the backgrounds. Many of the character designs are simple and have a simple shaded style, which really makes them stand out in a good way against the more complex and fleshed out backgrounds. It really brings focus to the characters and is definitely something I will be keeping in mind for my works.
This movie is great at making you truly appreciate those around you and I highly recommend it with a 10/10!
Are there any movies or other types of media that get you thinking about those around you?
Thanks for reading!!