My Oni Girl
好きでも嫌いなあまのじゃく
Detailed parental analysis
My Oni is a Japanese animated film with a contemplative and slightly fantastical atmosphere, tinged with gentle melancholy and emotional tension. The plot follows a teenager who suppresses his emotions to the point of risking a monstrous transformation, and a young oni who draws him into a journey to find his missing mother in the spirit world. The film targets a young adolescent audience, although some fantastical sequences may frighten younger children.
Parental and Family Portrayals
The relationship between father and son is at the heart of the film and deserves attention. The father is portrayed as authoritarian, imposing his life choices on his son without leaving him any room for personal expression. This dynamic is treated in a nuanced manner rather than in black-and-white terms: the father is not a monster, but the narrative clearly shows that his behaviour contributes to the son's emotional blockage, to the point of threatening his inner health physically. It is a strong angle for discussion after viewing, particularly with a child experiencing heavy parental authority.
Underlying Values
The film builds its entire narrative mechanics around the idea that repressing emotions has concrete and serious consequences. The inability to express what one feels is literally translated into demonic transformation, making it a powerful and accessible metaphor for adolescents. Implicitly, the narrative values empathy, friendship and the courage to be vulnerable, without ever reducing them to explicit lessons. Conformism and social pressure are questioned without the film veering into the glorification of systematic rebellion.
Violence
The violence is fantastical and not realistic, but certain sequences are genuinely anxiety-inducing. Flying creatures threaten to devour characters, including children, and one of these scenes shows a character trapped and visible inside a translucent monster. A cliff fall leaves a character unconscious at the bottom of a ravine. A moment of railway tension, with a character on the tracks facing an approaching train, is brief but striking. These sequences serve the dramatic escalation of the narrative and are in no way gratuitous, but their visual intensity is sufficient to disturb sensitive children under 10 years old.
Substances
Tobacco consumption is visible on two occasions in outdoor scenes, one with a father smoking a cigarette, another with an adult using a vaporiser. These appearances are incidental and not valorised narratively, but they are present and may prompt a brief remark if your child notices them.
Strengths
The film offers an accessible and sincere transposition of oni folklore, demonic figures from Japanese mythology, into a contemporary adolescent emotional setting. The central metaphor, transforming emotional repression into a physical threat of dehumanisation, is both clear and subtle enough to sustain an adult reading. The friendship between the two main characters is built gradually and benefits from genuine emotional writing, without rushing. The film has greater inner depth than its reputation as a modest title might suggest, even though the pacing of the first half and a somewhat abrupt conclusion limit its full resonance.
Age recommendation and discussion points
The film is not recommended for children under 10 due to several potentially frightening fantastical sequences. From age 10 onwards, and especially for young adolescents, it is a calm and relevant viewing experience. Two concrete discussion angles to open after the film: why does the hero struggle so much to express what he feels, and what does the film say about what one risks by staying silent too long? You can also address the question of parental authority as the film presents it: can a father want what is best for his child while still doing him harm?
Synopsis
A shy teenage boy's inability to say no is tested when a headstrong girl drags him on a mystical journey amid summer snow to find her missing mom.
Where to watch
Availability checked on Apr 03, 2026
About this title
- Format
- Feature film
- Year
- 2024
- Runtime
- 1h 52m
- Countries
- Japan
- Original language
- JA
- Directed by
- Tomotaka Shibayama
- Main cast
- Kensho Ono, Miyu Tomita, Shintaro Asanuma, Aya Yamane, Tomoko Shiota, Shirou Saitou, Miou Tanaka, Satsuki Yukino, Shouzou Sasaki, Noriko Hidaka
- Studios
- Studio Colorido, Twin Engine
Content barometer
- Violence2/5Moderate
- Fear3/5Notable tension
- Sexuality0/5None
- Language0/5None
- Narrative complexity2/5Moderate
- Adult themes1/5Mild
Watch-outs
Values conveyed
- Courage
- Friendship
- Acceptance of difference
- Compassion
- self-assertion
- identity quest
- family bonds
- emotional acceptance
- solidarity
- Japanese folklore