Movie
Description
Kanna Hayama is a young elementary school girl with fair brown hair and reddish-brown eyes that lose their shine after her mother's death. She typically wears a red high-necked jacket over a white short-sleeved shirt, black knee-length shorts, long white socks, and distinctive mustard-yellow and sea-green shoes. She consistently wears her mother's amulet: a red coiled cord bracelet fastened with purple thread, featuring a magical jade stone shaped like a curved teardrop at its center. By journey's end, the bracelet appears significantly dirtier.
Before her mother Yayoi's passing, Kanna actively enjoyed running and approached life with enthusiasm. Following her mother's death from illness, Kanna suppresses her grief, maintaining a soft smile and pretending to be fine to prevent others from worrying. This emotional burden extinguishes her passion for running and causes physical symptoms like leg stiffness during school athletic activities. She internalizes blame for her mother's death, linking it to her failure to win a marathon, and becomes withdrawn, often seeking solace with a white rabbit named Shiro at her school's enclosure.
Her story begins mid-race during a school marathon; overwhelmed by grief and rain, she stops running. Fleeing to Ushijima Shrine, she trips, activating her mother's bracelet. This triggers a supernatural journey where time slows and she encounters a divine black cow. Shiro, revealed as a deity's messenger, explains Kanna must travel to Izumo Taisha shrine during Kamiarizuki (the month deities gather) to deliver feast offerings collected from shrine deities across Japan, all before a strict 7 PM deadline. The offerings are stored in a magic gourd provided to her.
Accompanied by Shiro and later joined by Yasha—a demon boy descended from speed-running ancestors stripped of divine status—Kanna faces trials gathering offerings. A key challenge involves confronting Ryūjin, a dragon god at Lake Suwa, who tests her honesty. Kanna initially lies, claiming her mission is solely to deliver offerings, but later confesses her true desire: to see her mother again. Relating to her grief through his own separation from his father, Ryūjin grants his offering. Later, Yasha temporarily steals her bracelet and gourd, leading to a race that highlights Kanna's unresolved insecurities about her speed.
A critical emotional turning point occurs near Izumo when a manifestation of Kanna's "dark side" assumes Yayoi's form, preying on her guilt over the marathon. This false Yayoi manipulates Kanna's vision, painting Shiro and Yasha as monsters. After Yasha intervenes and is wounded, Kanna succumbs to despair, ripping off the bracelet and severing her connection to the supernatural world. However, a vision of her mother's past reveals Yayoi's own role as an Idaten (divine messenger) and her joy in running, regardless of winning. This helps Kanna understand her mother cherished running as an expression of passion, not competition. Reigniting this inherited spirit, she ties her hair with the bracelet and races toward Izumo through a typhoon, persevering despite missing the initial deadline.
Kanna successfully delivers the offerings at Izumo Taisha, where Ōkuninushi (the supreme deity) acknowledges her efforts. Though matchmaking cannot revive Yayoi, Kanna accepts this reality. By spring, she runs again along a riverwalk, having moved forward with her life while honoring her mother's memory and reclaiming her own identity.
Before her mother Yayoi's passing, Kanna actively enjoyed running and approached life with enthusiasm. Following her mother's death from illness, Kanna suppresses her grief, maintaining a soft smile and pretending to be fine to prevent others from worrying. This emotional burden extinguishes her passion for running and causes physical symptoms like leg stiffness during school athletic activities. She internalizes blame for her mother's death, linking it to her failure to win a marathon, and becomes withdrawn, often seeking solace with a white rabbit named Shiro at her school's enclosure.
Her story begins mid-race during a school marathon; overwhelmed by grief and rain, she stops running. Fleeing to Ushijima Shrine, she trips, activating her mother's bracelet. This triggers a supernatural journey where time slows and she encounters a divine black cow. Shiro, revealed as a deity's messenger, explains Kanna must travel to Izumo Taisha shrine during Kamiarizuki (the month deities gather) to deliver feast offerings collected from shrine deities across Japan, all before a strict 7 PM deadline. The offerings are stored in a magic gourd provided to her.
Accompanied by Shiro and later joined by Yasha—a demon boy descended from speed-running ancestors stripped of divine status—Kanna faces trials gathering offerings. A key challenge involves confronting Ryūjin, a dragon god at Lake Suwa, who tests her honesty. Kanna initially lies, claiming her mission is solely to deliver offerings, but later confesses her true desire: to see her mother again. Relating to her grief through his own separation from his father, Ryūjin grants his offering. Later, Yasha temporarily steals her bracelet and gourd, leading to a race that highlights Kanna's unresolved insecurities about her speed.
A critical emotional turning point occurs near Izumo when a manifestation of Kanna's "dark side" assumes Yayoi's form, preying on her guilt over the marathon. This false Yayoi manipulates Kanna's vision, painting Shiro and Yasha as monsters. After Yasha intervenes and is wounded, Kanna succumbs to despair, ripping off the bracelet and severing her connection to the supernatural world. However, a vision of her mother's past reveals Yayoi's own role as an Idaten (divine messenger) and her joy in running, regardless of winning. This helps Kanna understand her mother cherished running as an expression of passion, not competition. Reigniting this inherited spirit, she ties her hair with the bracelet and races toward Izumo through a typhoon, persevering despite missing the initial deadline.
Kanna successfully delivers the offerings at Izumo Taisha, where Ōkuninushi (the supreme deity) acknowledges her efforts. Though matchmaking cannot revive Yayoi, Kanna accepts this reality. By spring, she runs again along a riverwalk, having moved forward with her life while honoring her mother's memory and reclaiming her own identity.