Like a Miyazaki story come to life, with cuteness and soundtrack by Spielberg and a cast from a Japanese staging of The Cursed Child. But don’t let that put you off.

Wholesome is the word that came to mind when this hypercoloured Goonies escapade burst onto the screen. Director Takashi Yamazaki unapologetically hits us with a bombastic orchestral score in the first moments, making sure we know that the three expertly styled young boys cycling up a rural road are destined for great things.

Kazuki (Jyo Kairi) is the gangly Harry Potter wannabe star of the gang, from his expertly tousled hair to his round tortoiseshell glasses and bashful self-doubt. Taichi (Fuga Shibazaki) is the smart-mouthed cool kid, heckling the teachers at school and surely spending more time than is reasonable to get his bobby pins in perfect formation. Sunny (Sonny Mcclendon) is the cute joker, with a slogan on his jumper ready for the perfect one liner set up.

The three make a wish at a roadside shrine and the power of the wishes is transmitted to a wizard (Miyazaki favourite Ryûnosuke Kamiki) who uses it to set them on a quest to battle ghosts. There is a cute ghost helper, Book Boy (Rie Kugimiya), a trainee teacher Hayama Yoko (Yui Aragaki) who is inadvertently pulled into the challenge and the missing component in the boys’ lives, lost school friend, Minato (Tachibana Minato).

You’ll know pretty much where the story is going – the gang battle ghost after ghost until they must face their final challenge and it is revealed what their wishes were. Each ghost seems to be a cautionary tale for children – the body double ghost who appears in the mirror when you complain about doing a chore, the cotton ghost who will only suffocate people who have bad hygiene. And Book Boy is kawaii cute but not overplayed.

I started off feeling a bit cynical at the perfectly coordinated outfits of the three young leads, but the story thoroughly won me over. The world building is really well done, the ghosts equal parts ferocious and decent and although the ending is milked a little bit, you can’t help but feel happy for every moment.