A fantastic animation directed by Yonebayashi Hiromasa, who used to work for Studio Ghibli. Mary is a twelve-year-old girl with curly red hair. Although she makes lots of mistakes, she’s cheerful and full of curiosity. While spending boring days in the sleepy countryside during vacation, she accidentally follows a strange black cat into the forest. There she finds the Witch’s Flower which blooms only once every seven years. Thanks to the special magic of the flower, she is mistaken as a witch and gets admission to the best magic academy. However her little lie has Peter, a local boy, kidnapped as a hostage. The school warns her to return the flower otherwise she won’t see him ever again. She promptly returns it, but contrary to the promise, she gets imprisoned in an underground lab full of secrets and danger. The adventurous story with beautiful watercolor-like scenes is based on the British young adult literature The Little Broomstick (1971) by Mary Stewart. (PARK Sungho)