Tomori

Synopsis

Shizuku, a young worker, undergoes a unique hypnosis by therapist Ayano. The audience enters this trance alongside her, revisiting a teenage family life and Tomori’s past. To adults, adolescent struggles seem trivial, yet they leave lifelong scars. To unveil the truths society ignores, we must look through the eyes of our younger selves. A surreal journey into the depths of memory.

Statement

Ever since first encountering XR art, Misa Haru has been captivated by its radical departure from flat cinema. In XR, we do not merely consume content with our eyes and ears; rather, we open every pore of our bodies to breathe in the very atmosphere of the artwork. A common critique of XR is that while virtual objects feel incredibly real, the ultimate lack of tactile feedback upon touching them breeds a profound sense of disappointment. Misa decided to subvert this psychological gap, turning this very limitation into a creative asset. In Tomori, inspiration sparked from developing a narrative intertwined with the various windows and crevices of a room. By designing these structural gaps, Misa entices players to actively alter their physical positions and postures, thereby amplifying the narrative weight of their own bodily presence. The anxiety of having one’s vision confined, the disorientation of vertigo, and even the physical fatigue brought on by movement—all are weaponised as mediums for storytelling rather than treated as technical obstacles. Misa firmly believes that within these most immediate, visceral human sensations lies the infinite – and perhaps even philosophical – potential of XR.

Credits

Director

Misa Haru

Production

Tokyo University of the Arts (Mitsuko Okamoto, Nahomi Maki)

Running Time

20'

Language

English

Country

Japan

Main Cast

Sumika Sawada, Megumi Tsukada, Ryotaro Mitani, Liwei Yang, Siming Xuan, Hal Xing, Marina Mikami, Chandler Azling, Haruna Kakegawa, Reika Kawano

Editor

Misa Haru

Music

Yugo Akita

Sound

Xixi Ge

Art directors

Misa Haru, Hal Xing

Lead developer

Misa Haru

Artists

Chihiro Yamanaka, Siming Xuan