Japanese high schooler Maezawa Shiori finds herself trapped inside her smartphone. While she journeys, Alice in Wonderland-style, in search of an exit, a more selfish and driven copy of her runs amok in the real world.

DIrector Kawamori Shoji seems deeply unimpressed with contemporary teen culture. His approach is not exactly subtle: magically trapping a social media obsessed teen inside her own smartphone, where – should she fail to break free from its limits – she will be forcibly transformed into a two-dimensional sticker with no hope of escape. A simulacrum of Shiori does get left behind in her place, and the film makes it clear that this copy is a summation of all of Shiori’s most selfish and negative aspects. The immediate goal of that villainous doppelganger? To become a popular idol via video-sharing platforms; no one is going to breach copyright by mentioning platforms by name, but Kawamori means Tiktok.

With that premise it becomes somewhat difficult to engage with Labyrinth on its other merits. No matter where one turns with the film there is a palpable sense of the 66-year-old Kawamori telling his target audience to pull up their pants and stop listening to music he dislikes.

It is all a little sad, since over the decades Kawamori has exerted a pretty strong influence over Japan’s young viewers. He effectively created the idea of transforming robots through Macross and Diaclone – the latter rebranded as Transformers in the USA – and perfected the odd blend of giant robot action and pop idol singers. As an anime creator and producer he spearheaded The Vision of Escaflowne, Earth Maiden Arjuna, and Genesis of Aquarion. Long-term fans of his work and designs will be surprised and maybe reassured that both giant robots and pop concert spectaculars appear in Labyrinth.

The pop elements are enhanced rather effectively by idol group Atarashii Gakko!, who contribute the film’s central song. Group member Suzuka also plays the voice of Shiori. Also among the cast is Timelesz member Teranishi Takuto as the manipulative hacker Suguru. He is an increasingly creepy character with a master plan to control people’s mind with what he calls “XG”. Conspiracy theorists that had issues with 5G technology are going to have a field day.

Kawamori’s designs are bright and colourful, and it all builds up to a wonderfully over-the-top concert climax – you can tell Kawamori also created and designed the idol group science fiction series AKB0048. On the other hand, at almost two hours in length Labyrinth gets glacially slow at times without enough to sustain its momentum.

The choice of Shiori as protagonist is also somewhat stretched. It really feels as if the screenplay is being rather unfair to her: it is peer pressure that drags her into performing on social media with friends, and she never really seems particularly committed to the idea. That she is effectively punished for her limited online activity is more than a little jarring.

Some anime fans will watch anything with the right visual aesthetic, and to an extent Labyrinth does present an eye-catching animated diversion. It only works so far, however, and more discerning audiences are likely to bounce right off it.