My Oni Girl (2024) Plot Summary
My Oni Girl is the latest Netflix anime movie, helmed by the makers of Drifting Home, A Whisker Away and the iconic Ghibli film, Spirited Away. A little over 100 minutes, My Oni Girl is a fantasy adventure following Hiiragi Yatsuse and Tsumugi, an oni demon. Hiiragi is a kind-hearted high schooler who also happens to be a pushover.
And as luck would have it, he runs into Tsumugi who needs his help finding her mother whose last-known location is the far-away Hie Shrine. In only their pyjamas, they hitchhike their way through the country and meet all kinds of people. If that wasn’t enough, they are targeted by Snow Gods who feed off people who suppress their true feelings like Hiiragi.
Why does the Snow God attack the kids?
From the beginning of the movie, whenever we see snow, it is a marker of the Snow Gods’ presence as they target either Tsumugi or Hiiragi. The Snow Gods end up finding the kids whenever anyone in a nearby vicinity has too many suppressed feelings which has them leaking mini-oni. Later, the kids learn that the Snow Gods were local gods who were the protectors of the Hidden Village, the oni’s home. However, now they have started eating oni.
It is later revealed that Tsumugi’s mother, Shion ordered the Snow Gods to attack the oni. With Tsumugi leaving the Hidden Village to search for her mother, two Snow Gods ended up following her.
Over the days, the kids narrowly escape the Snow Gods’ wrath. However, after Tsumugi and Hiiragi have a fight, they go their separate ways. With Hiiragi having much to say, his suppressed feelings attract a Snow God. At the same moment his father finds him, the Snow God eats up Hiiragi. However, he sees a memory of Tsumugi’s mother, Shion, and unwittingly says her name aloud. This startles Shion whose control over the Snow God wavers and Hiiragi escapes.
At the end of My Oni Girl, Shion reveals that she was angry at the oni for making her leave her family. So, out of vengeance, she ordered the Snow Gods to attack them.
Does Tsumugi find her mother, Shion?
After a disappointing reunion with her father and a confrontation with Hiiragi, Tsumugi goes her own way. But once she learns that a Snow God has eaten up Hiiragi, she heads to the Hidden Village to save him. Once she is reunited with him, their leader, Gozen explains that the Spirit Mask in the Oni Island shrine is the thing that controls the Snow Gods.
Tsumugi locks up Hiiragi for his own safety and heads through the treacherous tunnels to the Oni Island. She finally reaches and sees that the Spirit Mask is afloat. When she touches it, she ends up finding her mother who is ready to storm the village. They have a tearful reunion with Shion apologizing for abandoning Tsumugi.
But as the mask falls, it disappears and so do the two oni. An avalanche forms and Tsumugi is stuck in limbo. She sees Hiiragi’s footsteps and memories of all the people she connected with on her journey to Hie Shrine. Following it, she runs into past Hiiragi on the day he saw her at the bus stop. As she hugs him, Past Hiiragi decides to help past Tsumugi. At present, Hiiragi finds her at the island shrine as she finally makes her way back to the real world.
What happened to Tsumugi’s mother, Shion?
With the Hidden Village being a sanctuary for oni and those who have suppressed feelings, their leaders enlist the help of Snow Gods to protect and hide them from the rest of the world. They do this by asking an oni to wear the Spirit Mask which controls the Snow Gods. When Tsumugi is 3 years old, her mother is chosen to wear the Mask.
Initially, Shion believes it is the right thing to do as it would protect her village. As she wears the mask and is isolated in the Oni Island shrine, it gives her the power to see the village. Over the years, she gets envious that she has had to sacrifice her family while the other oni are able to happily live with theirs. Angry, she decides to take revenge on them by ordering the Snow Gods to attack the oni. Once, Tsumugi finds her, the mask falls and breaks Shion’s control over the Snow Gods.
Back in the real world, Shion is able to leave the shrine and reunite with her family. The Snow Gods go back to the Earth but still leave behind their magic which makes the village invisible to outsiders.
How does Hiiragi become human again?
At the beginning of the movie, it is shown that Hiiragi has a lot of suppressed feelings. Such humans leak mini-oni and are on their way to becoming an oni themselves. This is how he is able to see the mini-oni, the Snow Gods and Tsumugi’s horn.
After his fight with Tsumugi, Hiiragi has a lot of pent-up frustration which ends up making him a target of one of the Snow Gods. He is eaten up but by sheer luck, he escapes and lands in the Hidden Village. That’s when he realises that he has become an oni himself as he too has a horn.
After the Spirit Mask is destroyed, Hiiragi finds Tsumugi near the shrine. He finally confesses that he likes her and he will not keep his feelings to himself. With no more suppressed feelings, the horn disappears and he becomes human again.
What happens in the mid-credit scene?
The movie ends with Hiiragi reuniting with his family and everyone going back to their own lives. We also get a glimpse of the Takahashi siblings and the Yamashita family. One day, Hiigari is shocked to find Tsumugi in his town.
She scolds him for not visiting her and he reveals that he actually tried to visit but he cannot enter the Hidden Village anymore now that he is human. He gives her back her charm and thanks her for making him patch up with his father. She says it is her turn to confess her feelings for Hiiragi and he is flustered.
Read More: My Oni Girl Review