[3][4][5] The Japanese voice cast includes Kokoro Terada, Rio Suzuki, Sakura Ando, Riisa Naka, Takayuki Yamada, Atsuko Takahata and Issey Ogata.

After a terrible accident separates them, Rudger is forced to confront an inexorable fate to which all Imaginaries are subject: dissolution with human forgetfulness.

The film opens with Rudger, an invisible entity known as an Imaginary, in the midst of a colorful adventure conjured by his creator, Amanda Shuffleup.

Their escapades are interrupted by Amanda's mother, Lizzie, who is exasperated by her daughter's aloof behavior and fixation on a friend who, as far as she can tell, does not exist.

Bunting does not accept the blame and attempts to capture Rudger, who narrowly escapes and takes refuge at Amanda's house.

There, he observes Lizzie discovering Amanda's momentos of her late father, which reminds him that the man's death was the reason for his creation.

Though the party is able to track down an exit leading to the library, just before they cross the threshold, Bunting shoots Emily with a pretend gun, ending her life.

Unable to see the snake, Lizzie is initially powerless to stop it, but with Rudger and Amanda's help, she remembers her old Imaginary: a sheepdog named Fridge.

The consensus on the website states, "A visually splendid and emotionally resonant anime film that appeals to the child in everyone, The Imaginary is a flight of fancy that audiences won't mind getting swept up in.

"[16] Based on 18 critics on Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 66 out of 100, indicating that it received generally positive reviews.