History Anime / MiraiOfTheFuture

* AnAesop: Life is made up of little moments, so don't take them for granted.

* ForWantOfANail:
** Mirai explains to Kun that their family as it is now is made up of an amalgamation of instances in their family history -- the earliest and most significant moment that the siblings witness being the instance of their great-grandfather being caught in a shipwreck during the war. Had he been the slightest bit more unlucky beyond having a heavily injured leg, he'd have been killed and Kun and Mirai would have never been born.
** Kun's mother and father probably would have gotten a cat instead of their current dog Yukko if Kun's mother hadn't lost her love for cats after witnessing a cat attacking and killing a bird as a child.

* NoNameGiven: Aside from Kun, Mirai, and the dog, Yukko, none of the characters in the film are named. Even the credits simply names them as "Mother", "Father", "Grandfather", etc. [[DiscussedTrope This is a plot point]], and reflects the central themes of the movie, [[spoiler:as Kun is at the stage in his emotional development where he's putting together a true sense of identity, including a realization that his family members are unique individuals and not just fixtures of a self-centered reality. This manifests physically when he's questioned by the nightmare train conductor who he is and realizes, to his sudden horror, he doesn't even know what his parents are called. To him, they were always just "mom" and "dad".]]

* MythologyGag: Several from Hosoda's previous films.
** Kun becoming a dog after stealing a tail from Yukko came right out of ''Anime/WolfChildren''.
** [[Anime/TheGirlWhoLeaptThroughTime This isn't the first time]] Hosoda made a movie about a high school girl traveling to past.
** [[spoiler: Teenage Mirai and Kun soaring through family genealogy very much resembles Oz in ''Anime/SummerWars'' and the Internet in ''Anime/DigimonTheMovie'' (specifically ''Our War Game'' segment), or the time traveling sequence from ''Anime/TheGirlWhoLeaptThroughTime''.]]

* WhatAreRecords: In the light novel, Kun has no idea what the video tapes in his mother's childhood home are supposed to be and is surprised at how large the back of the TV is. Justified since Kun is growing up in the digital age where flatscreen tvs are commonplace.

* WhatAreRecords: In the light novel, Kun has no idea what the video tapes in his mother's childhood home are supposed to be and is surprised at how large the back of the TV is. Justified since Kun is growing up in the digital age with flatscreen tvs.

* WhatAreRecords: In the light novel, Kun has no idea what the video tapes in his mother's childhood home are supposed to be and is surprised at how large the back of the TV is. Justified since Kun is growing up in the digital age with flatscreen TVs.

** Early in the film, Kun's breakfast plate resembles a clock. This is indicative of the film's theme of time-travelling and the little assistant to the lost and found attendant at the train station has a clock for a face.

* RuleofSymbolism: At the beginning of the film, the garden has patches of dead grass and Kun witnesses snow falling right before his parents bring home baby Mirai. This signifies the end of his time as an only child.

* SurpriseCreepy:

* AdultFear: The idea of children going missing is bad enough in safe Japan. [[spoiler:The demonic bullet train to Lonely Land, the implication that any children who board it are never seen again and how it actively tries sucking Kun and Mirai on board]] make for even more uncomfortable viewing for anyone from a country where child abduction is rampant.

** Kun becoming a dog after stealing a tail from Yukko came right out of ''Anime/WolfChildrenAmeAndYuki''.

* NotSoDifferentRemark: When Kun meets Yukko in human form, the latter is able to identify how the former must feel, eaten up by jealousy while his parents fawn over the new baby. How does he know Kun's feeling jealous? Because even though he's a dog, Yukko says he's been where Kun is today: quickly going from the most pampered member of the family to TheUnfavorite because of a new baby.