Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko

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1:37

Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko

2022

1h 37m

Comedy

Drama

Anime

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

92%

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24 Reviews

85%

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Brash single mother Nikuko is well-known for her bold spirit, much to the embarrassment of Kikuko, her pensive yet imaginative daughter. In contrast to her mother, Kikuko wants nothing more than to fit in as she navigates the everyday social dramas of middle school. Life in the harbor is peaceful until a shocking revelation from the past threatens to uproot the pair's tender relationship.

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Critics Consensus

While it could stand to be a lot more enlightened in its treatment of its protagonist, Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko is also a sensitive and refreshingly honest look at adolescence.

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Phuong Le

Guardian

Aug 9, 2022

3/5

[An] intimately scaled coming-of-age story that acutely understands the embarrassment that teenagers have towards their parents once puberty hits.

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Carlos Aguilar

RogerEbert.com

Jun 3, 2022

3/4

Misshapen parts and all, Fortune Favors fulfills its purpose as a joyfully eccentric tribute to personal authenticity.

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Tasha Robinson

Polygon

Jun 3, 2022

A glowingly beautiful film that on first viewing seems to have a surprisingly ugly heart.

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Ridge Harripersad

CGMagazine

Sep 4, 2025

8

Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko somehow managed to add a small chunk to the coming-of-age genre, regardless of all live-action or animated films or web/TV series out in the digital ether.

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Kate Sánchez

But Why Tho?

Apr 15, 2023

Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko hits hard. It’s a beautiful look at untraditional family units, the choices we make, and the love that binds us to those around us. It’s about learning how to understand instead of judge and how to let people in.

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Rich Cline

Shadows on the Wall

Aug 17, 2022

3.5/5

It's a remarkably complex film that takes on some enormous ideas.

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Hula Hipp

Jun 9, 2022

My mate likes anime. So went for him to see this. He enjoyed it. I found some of the eating scenes were gross, especially dealing with a character that was obese. But guess that was part of the story. Scenery was good.

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Reagan R

@ReddRover Oct 4, 2025

Charming and heartwarming. This brought me joy

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Kyle M

@RT77296778 Sep 20, 2025

Besides being another one of those beautifully creative anime films that are hearteningly and humorously spirited as guaranteed feel-good pictures, there’s light complexity observationally shared between the mother-daughter pair in embracing life’s necessities and preparations, from the upbeat mother’s charmingly infectious aloof positivity to her intuitively witty daughter establishing acceptance over confusion per unprecedented heft. (B+)

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Airez T

@RT66965473 Dec 11, 2024

I really love this movie, First i thought it was just that don't have any particular romance or teenage advantage but surprisedly it was interesting, and i kinda like the bond of the mother and daughter. 😀

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Chris F

@RT52347836 Sep 6, 2023

What an odd little film! One thing that is inarguable is that it's ultra good vibes, ultra wholesome, and very beautiful. The animation is on a completely different level. You can feel the passion behind the team, and they really brought their A-game on what was otherwise not a notable film. It's weird that a film like this can exist. It just has so many little things in it, steeped in narrative from a narrative, with so many tiny details and eccentricities. Does it make sense as a film? Not really. The story is heartfelt and nice, but also, a bit convoluted at points. And it feels about as slice-of-life as you can get, as the story follows the two main protagonists in their whirlwind of a life. It's all about the little things, the little dramas, the little interactions. And that's why it's so special that something like this exists, even if it's a little haphazard in communicating its points. It's just nice, and it's nice that films that are "just nice" can exist.

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Ayumu Watanabe

Director

Kenichiro Akimoto

Director

Shinobu Ôtake

Nikuko

Cocomi

Kikuko

Natsuki Hanae

Ninomiya

Ikuji Nakamura

Sassan

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Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

Brash single mother Nikuko is well-known for her bold spirit, much to the embarrassment of Kikuko, her pensive yet imaginative daughter. In contrast to her mother, Kikuko wants nothing more than to fit in as she navigates the everyday social dramas of middle school. Life in the harbor is peaceful until a shocking revelation from the past threatens to uproot the pair's tender relationship.

Director: Ayumu Watanabe, Kenichiro Akimoto
Producer: Sanma Akashiya, Shu Kamigaso, Eiko Tanaka, Mitsugu Yamada
Screenwriter: Satomi Ohshima, Satomi Ôshima
Distributor: GKIDS
Production Co: Studio 4 C
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Anime
Original Language: Japanese
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 3, 2022, Limited
Runtime: 1h 37m

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