11-year-old Yusuke and his classmates camp in the woods and see a strange light. They discover a small metallic object like a robot which talks, calls himself Tetra and knows Yusuke's name. Tetra can create wonderful gadgets but actually has to save the world with Yusuke's help from extraterrestrials with bad intentions.
Practical Effects
Tetra's tactile puppetry beats CGI robots every time
Production
Rural Japan locations feel authentically lived-in
Director
Takashi Yamazaki
Shingo Katori
Soichiro Kanzaki
Miki Sakai
Noriko Kinoshita
Anne Suzuki
Misaki Kinoshita
Yuya Endo
Yusuke Sakamoto
Katsumi Takahashi
Yusuke's Father
Kuniko Asagi
Yusuke's Mother
Kinzō Sakura
Takashi Matsuo
Misawa
Megumi Hayashibara
Female Researcher / Voice of Tetra
Kazue Tsunogae
Snack Shop Lady
Tamaki Ogawa
Misaki Kinoshita, 20 years later
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Director Takashi Yamazaki made this between his early VFX work and blockbuster breakthrough Always: Sunset on Third Street, marking his pivot from genre experiments to prestige cinema.
Shingo Katori's casting brought massive SMAP fan attention, deliberately bridging idol culture with family sci-fi—a strategy that barely existed in Japanese cinema before this decade.
JP
