Sugiura explained that Japanese culture remarked that the tree keeps blooming abundantly while its flowers fall.

The film takes place when O-Ei reaches adulthood, while her father, aged about fifty, is already a recognized artist in his country.

The film alternates episodes of the life of O-Ei and her father and the painters that visit, especially Zenjirō Ikeda (Keisai Eisen), who later became known for his bijin-ga, and Kuninao Utagawa.

The Amitābha Pure Land Buddhism is also a theme, such as when the wife of a patron is losing her mind because of a painting of jigoku (Buddhist hell) by O-Ei.

Tetsuzo realizes that O-Ei did "not finish" the painting and he completes it by adding the image of Kṣitigarbha, which finally gives the wife peace.

When O-Ei's younger sister falls ill, she convinces her father to finally visit, and he even paints a picture of a protective deity.

She enters the studio in the form of a strong gust of wind, leaving behind on the floor a single tsubaki flower her older sister once gave her.

Her father entrusts her with orders for erotic shunga prints, and customers reproach O-Ei's drawings for being too coldly executed.

In producing the adaptation Hara chose to focus on the character of O-Ei due to how her role becomes more important as the original manga progressed.

It received its North American premier at the Fantasia International Film Festival between July 12 and August 5, 2015.

The website's consensus reads: "Miss Hokusai illuminates the life and creative legacy of its brilliant subject with a beautifully animated biopic whose absorbing visuals are matched by its narrative grace.

"[8] Boyd van Hoeij of The Hollywood Reporter called the film "an episodic but extremely rich anime".