Lonely Castle in the Mirror

Alternate Titles

かがみの孤城
Kagami no Kojo

Synopsis
Kokoro is a junior high school student who doesn’t fit in at school and has secluded herself in her room. One day, the mirror in her room begins to suddenly shine and she is sucked inside. There, she finds a fairy tale castle and six unknown junior high students. Then a girl wearing a wolf mask appears and tells the seven of them that they have been chosen to have any one wish they want granted. Why were they chosen? What do the seven of them have in common? What is the wish that they each hold but can’t tell anyone about? When all is revealed, a miracle beyond their wildest dreams awaits.

Background

Lonely Castle in the Mirror started as a light novel series by Mizuki Tsujimura that was published in May 2017 by Poplar Publishing. The series won the Honya Taisho Award in 2018 and has surpassed 1 million copies in print as of March 2021. An audiobook of the series has also been published.

A manga adaptation with artwork by Tomo Taketomi was serialized in Shueisha's Ultra Jump seinen manga magazine from June 2019 to February 2022 and was published in five collected tankobon volumes under the Young Jump Comics imprint.

A feature-length animated film adaptation was announced in February 2022. It is being produced by A-1 Pictures and features Keiichi Hara as director, with Miho Maruo handling the screenplay, Keigo Sasaki as character designer and chief animation director, and Harumi Fuuki composing the music. The film will begin screening nationwide in Japan on Dec. 23, 2022.

Characters

Kokoro (Voiced by: Ami Toma)
Kokoro is the series protagonist and is a first-year junior high school student. She is a quiet and shy girl with no special qualities who lacks self-confidence. After being bullied by her class’ queen bee and being ignored by the transfer student that she thought she was getting along well with, she stops attending school and secludes herself in her room. One day, while feeling frustrated and alone, the mirror in her room begins to suddenly shine and before she knows it she is sucked inside.

Aki (Voiced by: Sakura Kiryu)
Aki is a third-year junior high school student. She is bright, vivacious, tall, and strong-willed. She freely speaks her mind without hesitation, but her comments sometimes create a negative mood for her friend group. She can also fly off the handle at times, which causes trouble for her friends.

Subaru (Voiced by: Rihito Itagaki)
Subaru is a third-year junior high school student. He is tall, fair-skinned, and has freckles. Kokoro likes to tease him that he looks like Ron from Harry Potter. He is kind and gentlemanly. For some reason, he is separated from his parents and lives with his brother at their grandparents’ house. He is good friends with Masamune, and they often game together.

Masamune (Voiced by: Minami Takayama)
Masamune is a second-year junior high school student. He has a sassy, logical personality and a crass mouth, which makes him clash often with others. He is a video game otaku and has a stronger sense of attachment to games than others. He often boasts about his gaming skills and gets into fights with those who aren’t as knowledgeable as he is.

Fuka (Voiced by: Naho Yokomizo)
Fuka is a second-year junior high school student. She wears glasses and has a pleasing voice like that of a voice actress. She is skilled at playing the piano, which she has been studying since she was a child, but she is struggling to grow and get into the top ranking in competitions.

Rion (Voiced by: Takumi Kitamura)
Rion is a first-year junior high school student. He is as handsome as a celebrity, has a cheerful, friendly personality, and treats everyone equally. Though usually calm, he can become scary when he’s angry. He is studying abroad in Hawaii but wants to go to public school in Japan.

Ureshino (Voiced by: Yuki Kaji)
Ureshino is a first-year junior high school student. He is a plump boy who loves to eat. He is a bit thirsty to have a girlfriend and falls for girls over and over again, which he is made fun of for. He is also often teased for his off-the-wall remarks.

Kitajima-sensei (Voiced by: Aoi Miyazaki)
Kitajima-sensei is Kokoro’s teacher who gently watches over her.

Miss Wolf (Voiced by: Nao Toyama)
Miss Wolf is a strange girl who wears a wolf mask. She always wears a cute doll-like dress and speaks in a pompous tone. She appears before Kokoro when she enters the mirror and guides her to the castle. Her true identity is unknown.

Kokoro's Mother (Voiced by: Kumiko Aso)

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• Original Creator: Mizuki Tsujimura
• Director: Keiichi Hara
• Screenplay: Miho Maruo
• Character Design/Chief Animation Director: Keigo Sasaki
• Lonely Castle Design: Ilya Kuvshinov
• Visual Concept: Ilya Kuvshinov
• Music: Harumi Fuuki
• Production/Planning: Nippon Television Network, Shochiku
• Animation Production: A-1 Pictures