A boy suddenly gains powerful abilities he never asked for. At first, it feels exciting, until things start spiraling out of control. He can’t stop it, can’t hide it, and now, the world is watching.

‘SPOILER ALERT’

An anime director, Mr. Ogata, who believes his works are prophecies brought to life to warn humanity calls a meeting with his crew members to discuss the newest story in December 1969. Ogata narrates that in the beginning, the world was ruled by old gods, but after mankind rebelled against them, they managed to imprison these gods deep beneath the earth with magic.

He also went on to mention that at the end of the Millennium, this magic will weaken. And if these old gods are released, mankind will be doomed. However, Ogata mentions that only the unlikeliest heroes in the unlikeliest of places will be able to save mankind.

After Ogata was done delivering the story, a crew member asks if the story is for his latest movie. This angers Ogata, who warns that it is a prophecy. He also warns that the film has to be made for the world to see in order for the prophecy to come true. Another Crew member then points out the absurd title of the movie, which Ogata replies to by making the title even more ridiculous. He then yells at them to get to work on making the anime.

The anime took about 3 years before production and soon aired in Tokyo. Unfortunately, the show didn’t really have much engagement. With the poor performance, Ogata’s studio goes bankrupt, and he himself is said to have gone into exile. Following the bankruptcy, all of Ogata’s films were stored at a warehouse.

Unfortunately, the warehouse gets attacked by a cult group known as the children of the old gods, who believe that Ogata’s film was made to thwart their plans. Somehow, a copy of Ogata’s film was saved from the burning warehouse. A few years passed, and the copy of the film that was saved is adopted into a CD and put up for sale in the black market. Later, this CD is bought and shipped to a guy named Shawn Gunderson in Oklahoma, USA.

This takes us to December 1999 in Oklahoma, where Shawn lives with his father, Wayne. One morning, Wayne calls Shawn to tell him his friend Vik has arrived to pick him up for school. Shawn then rushes out of the house, stopping at the entrance when he notices his package has arrived. Shawn then takes the package and joins Vik in his car.

When Shawn opens the package, Vik is visibly irritated as it is not the anime he expected to see. Shawn then explains to him how it was a masterpiece of Ogata that was lost in a warehouse fire, yet he was lucky to get it. To make things worse for Vik, Shawn claims he wants to watch the show with their new exchange student, who happens to be a Japanese girl who will be staying with Vik’s family.

Vik tries to talk him down on the idea, but Shawn’s mind is made up. With no choice, Vik drives off to school. On arriving at school, the duo is shoved aside by Hunter. He then picks on Shawn, who quietly takes the insults from him. Fed up with his attitude, Vik steps in and fires back at Hunter. This upsets Hunter, so he tries to pick a fight with Vik.

Luckily for Vik, a teacher who’s passing by saves him from becoming a punching bag. Later, during class, while the teacher is delivering a lecture on religion, Vik is busy staring at Bethany, his long-time crush. Distracted by her beauty, he fails to provide the right answer to a question directed at him, thus embarrassing himself.

After school, Vik follows Shawn back home. While in Shawn’s room, the two of them get into a small argument about being a kaiju, which is Japanese for monster, or a mecha, which in most animes are the good guys who shoot lasers and take down the bad guys. Shawn is on team Mecha, while Vik is on team Kaiju. Later that evening, they head to the airport where Vik’s sisters are waiting for the Japanese exchange student Miki.

Miki, on the other hand, is an awkward girl with a fascination for the native Americans, and she came to Oklahoma solely to find them and herself. When she arrives, Vik’s sister, Sunita, waves her over. Miki then introduces herself in English to the best of her capabilities. Sunita and Shawn welcome her wholeheartedly, with Shawn showing off his Japanese speaking skills, while Preeti wonders why anyone would choose Oklahoma and specifically ask to live with an Indian family. After exchanging warm welcomes, Miki is taken back to the house.

At the house, Sunita directs her to her room, where she sees a small statue of an Indian god. But before she can process her thoughts, Shawn and Vik storm into the room to invite Miki to Vik’s room, which he claims has a lot of Japanese stuff in it.

In Vik’s room, Shawn tries to show off his karate skills but ends up freaking Miki out. Miki then notices the anime Shawn was talking about earlier this morning. As much as Vik hates the idea, they end up watching the anime after all. A few minutes into the show, Miki falls asleep as Vik expected. As the show continues, the boys suddenly get interested.

It features a kaiju and a mecha fighting, and then, some hours into the movie, a scene is displayed where the heroine is tied to a stick to be used as an offering to the old gods. Shawn picks up a particular statement that says, “a blood from a hero’s sacrifice,” and just then, Miki wakes up. And just as the show is about to hit climax, the tv scrambles.

Shawn tries to get it working again, but the trio are zapped by some kind of magic field and knocked out cold. The heroine’s voice then announces the beginning of the end. The following morning marks the countdown for the end of the world, which is revealed to be 8 days away.

Miki wakes up, then wakes the boys up just before Preeti walks in, accusing Vik of blowing up the TV. Sunita then walks in yelling, and tells Vik he has to clean up the mess after school.

At school, Miki is introduced to her classmates, after which Bethany asks Miki why she chose to come to Oklahoma. Miki then reveals that it is because Oklahoma is home to many Native American citizens, which is why she asked for an Indian home. That’s when Vik and their teacher realize that there has been a small mix-up. Apparently, Miki was referring to Native Americans the whole time, not Vik’s nativity.

After classes, Shawn tries to comfort Vik and explains that it’s easy to mix up the spelling of Indo and Indian in Japanese. Hunter then shows up again to bully the boys. Miki then stops him and calls him out for being rude. Vik also throws an insult, which is unfortunately heard by their teacher, and he earns himself a detention.

After leaving with the teacher, Shawn invites Miki to come with him to his karate class. During the karate practice, the karate instructor, Mr. Newt, tells the students he has a skill he would like to demonstrate with a volunteer. Despite everyone else raising their hands up, Newt picks Shawn to do the demonstration. However, when he executes the skill, Miki rushes out of the room and into Newt’s office.

While in the office, she meets a fellow Japanese woman, Reiko, who also happens to be Newt’s wife. The two exchange pleasantries, and then Reiko asks if she’s okay. Miki admits that violence upsets her and makes her have hiccups she can’t control. Rieko then offers her some sweets to help calm her down.

Miki wants to know more about Reiko, so she makes small talk by asking if Reiko is from Oklahoma. However, Reiko tells her that she met Newt when he was in the Navy, and the next thing she knew, she married him and moved to Oklahoma with him. Miki, on the other hand, tells Reiko that she wants to meet the Indians.

After she has calmed down, Miki returns to the training section with Reiko. Newt, on the other hand, is just finishing the class with his students. He meets Miki and offers to show her their bonsai collection, taking her back into the office. Shawn, who now has to wait for Miki, then walks up to the mirror, trying to replicate the new skill Newt had just taught them.

He takes the form and strikes, but suddenly, lasers shoot from his palm and at the mirror, startling him.

Meanwhile, at detention, Vik is listening to music and admiring Bethany as usual, but suddenly, the teacher gets a call and has to step out. On his departure, Hunter grabs a Frisbee and tosses it at Vik. Vik, however, dodges, causing the frisbee to hit Bethany instead.

Bethany then takes the frisbee and tosses it over a shelf by her left. Hunter then climbs to get it down, but his weight starts pulling the shelf over. Bethany notices and quickly rushes out of the way while Vik suddenly dives into the scene, catching Hunter with one arm and supporting the shelf with the other. Bethany then finally notices him. Meanwhile, far away in a cult gathering for the children of the old gods, the members circle around a symbol made on the ground, plotting the return of the old gods.

The next day, which marks 7 days till the end of the world, Shawn is pacing about in a field when Vik arrives, complaining that Shawn is taking up his holiday. Shawn freaks out, saying he is late and that he needs to see what’s happening. He then rolls up his sleeves and repeats the skill Newt had taught the previous day, but this time, nothing happens.

Vik is initially disappointed watching Shawn try until, accidentally, it happens again. But then, Vik also proceeds to show Shawn what he can now do. He takes a backflip and lands a couple of meters away from Shawn. Shawn then rushes up to him, suggesting that the film did something to them.

But while Shawn is freaking out, Vik seems to be taking things well and enjoying his newfound powers. Shawn then reminds Vik that whenever people gain powers in movies, it always comes with a world-ending situation. However, Vik isn’t convinced enough and points out to Shawn that nothing happens in Oklahoma.

Later that evening, while Shawn is helping his father make dinner, the news in the background talks about multiple arson attacks caused by a cult called the Children of the old god. Wayne complains, saying people should just put an end to the end-of-the-world drama. He then grabs the plates and asks Shawn to put the chicken in the oven while he sets the table.

Shawn does as he is told, but when he tries to switch on the oven, he accidentally zaps the control with his powers. He turns it on anyway without checking. Later, Miki and Vik arrive for the Christmas dinner. Wayne tells Miki to make herself comfortable, and then he grabs Vik to the kitchen to help out.

As they sit at the table, Shawn then asks Miki if she’s feeling weird after watching that anime, but before she can answer, Wayne joins them and tells the boys to go grab the chicken. While they’re at it, Miki asks Wayne where she can find the Indians. Wayne, oblivious to her naivety, tells her that she can find Indians in casinos. Back in the kitchen, the boys realize that the chicken has not been cooking this whole time.

Vik suggests that Shawn uses his laser to cook it immediately, but Shawn is worried he’ll blow the place up. When Wayne asks how it’s going, Shawn panics and actually does it. Thankfully, it works out just fine. However, Shawn’s hand immediately morphs into those of the Mecha from the anime. Just then, Wayne walks in, but Shawn is able to hide it immediately.

When Shawn returns to the dining with the casserole, Wayne notices his hands are in mittens and covered with towels. He asks Shawn if his hands are cold and yanks the mittens off. Miki immediately recognizes that it’s from the anime, but Wayne waves it off as a cosplay.

Two days later, which marks 5 days until the end of the world, Shawn is still stuck with the mecha hands. And even more, he realizes that his whole body is slowly changing into the Mecha. He goes back to his room to do his research on the Anike to understand what’s happening to him. Meanwhile, Vik wakes up and goes to the bathroom, where he notices his body has become toned despite not knowing what the interior of a gym looks like.

Later, Vik goes to Miki’s room to say hi when he notices her making art from the Native American culture while listening to music. He then offers to take her to see the Indians, which makes Miki very excited. The duo then heads to the museum where there are lots of things to represent the culture. Unfortunately, Miki also sees a war painting of the Indians, which instantly kills her mood.

Vik asks her what the matter is, and Miki tells him that Indian people are no more. Vik then admits that most of them are gone, which causes Miki to have hiccups. She excuses herself, and just as she leaves, Vik gets a call. Surprisingly, Bethany is on the phone asking if they could hang out.

Vik instantly drops all he’s doing for the rest of the day and heads to the meeting point with Bethany. While he is waiting, Shawn calls him, saying he’s freaking out and needs help. Sadly, Vik tells him he’s a smart kid and that he needs to figure it out himself. Before Shawn can say another word, Bethany shows up, and Vik hangs up on Shawn.

Bethany takes Vik to a wall where they both spray paint the walls with the sentence “The End Is Nigh.” Afterward, they take a seat to rest, and Bethany compliments Vik that he’s actually cool.

She wants to know why he always hangs out around Shawn, whom she regards as a loser, and Vik tells her that they study together. Bethany then tells Vik that Shawn really brings him down.

By evening, Shawn is still in the skies, trying to stir himself.

But just as he starts to get the hang of it, a bird bumps into him, knocking him into the ritual site of the same cult group from the anime and the news. The cult members try to attack him, but he quickly takes off again.

Days later, Shawn tries to explain to Vik that this is more than they thought. He tells Vik about the cult group, saying they were digging up something just like in the anime. He also points out that the prophecy could be true and tries to get Vik to understand, but Vik is becoming more and more nonchalant toward the whole situation.

Shawn realizes and points out that he’s turning into a mecha from a movie while Vik is slowly turning into a Kaiju. However, Vik still doesn’t see the problem there, prompting Shawn to remind him that Mecha fightsfights Kaiju and that the cult members would also need a sacrifice to awaken the old gods. Shawn then tries to piece it together so they can understand what’s happening, but Vik cuts him off.

Vik tells Shawn that he does not care if they’re turning into anything and that he just wants to date Bethany. He then reminds them that they’re both losers and excludes himself, saying he was but not anymore. Shawn admits to being a loser but still pleads with Vik for help, saying no one cares about stuff like this but them.

Vik, however, corrects him, saying that only Shawn cares about everything anime. He claims he only liked it because Shawn was. He tells Shawn he wants to be his own person, and when Shawn still insists on the anime case, Shawn yells at him to stop dragging him down. Shawn is taken aback by this statement, but they’re interrupted by Preeti.

Preeti tells them that Miki got upset that they were arguing, so she lent Miki her bike, and now Miki is out of the house. Meanwhile, Miki takes the bike to the casino where she expects to meet the Indians she’s been dying to meet but ends up with a regular casino and a huge disappointment. While feeling so lost, Reiko suddenly shows up.

Later, the two ladies are seated by the bar. Reiko tells Miki that Newt’s Indian relatives own the place while she takes care of the business affairs.

She then asks Miki why she wants to meet the Indians so badly. Miki tells her she felts like she didn’t know who she was, and didn’t know what to do since she always had to do what others tells her to.

She also explains that she wanted to fix her problem, and that’s when she discovered the Indians who came of age by hunting and had a vision for their future. Miki terms it a vision quest and thinks that if she could meet the Indians, she could find her path, thus fixing her problems. However, Miki thinks she has failed already.

Reiko, on the other hand, doesn’t agree. She reminds Miki that coming to Oklahoma was solely her choice and that no one told her to do it. Reiko also tells her that she doesn’t need anyone else since she’s special, which comforts Miki.

After that, Miki heads out of the casino. While walking down the road, she hears a loud thud and turns around to find Shawn. He runs up to her, saying he is worried about her, which surprises Miki that someone at least cares about her. Shawn then offers her a ride home, and the next thing, Wayne is helping Miki load her bike into the back of his truck.

Miki thanks Wayne, but Wayne tells her he’s happy to help, especially because Shawn doesn’t have many friends. He explains to Miki that it’s been hard for Shawn ever since his mom passed away, and even though he’s trying his best as a father, sometimes he doesn’t know his own son. But Miki assures him that Shawn is a good boy.

Back at the cult site, the members discuss how the heroes are discovering their powers and need to be destroyed. However, a member suggests that they make them destroy each other instead.

Meanwhile, at Vik’s house, Vik gets into an argument with his sister because of Bethany. Sunita wants him to go with them to Preeti’s recital, but Vik wants to hang out with Bethany. The quarrel ends with Sunita and Preeti leaving without Vik anyway.

On the other hand, Shawn goes to see Newt, saying he doesn’t have anyone else to whom he can turn. He enlightens Newt about the anime, and Newt explains that Ogata was talking about a prophecy that would lead to the end of the new Millennium; however, for the hero to be born, he would need to watch the anime.

Shawn then tells him that it doesn’t make sense since the anime didn’t have an ending. Newt then tells him that the monster will destroy the world unless the hero slays him.

At Vik’s home, Vik is throwing a really crazy party with loud music. Miki, on the other hand, is fast asleep when she starts hearing all the ruckus. She steps out to find out what’s happening and runs into Bethany, who tries to coerce her into letting herself loose. However, Miki tells her that she doesn’t understand her and that she likes Oklahoma. Bethany then tells Miki that she really is special.

Back in Newt’s place, he and Shawn are sparring together while Newt gives him words of advice. After the pep talk, it dawns on Shawn that the hero’s sacrifice in the anime was a girl. So, since he’s the Mecha and Vik’s the Kaiju, Miki is the heroine.

He then rushes out of the building and to a payphone to call Vik, but there’s no answer. After realizing that Miki might be in danger, he takes off.

In a full mecha mode, Shawn shows up looking for Vik and Miki at Vik’s place. He notices people staring at him weirdly and soon realizes that it’s because of how he looks. Meanwhile, Vik and Bethany are hanging out in Vik’s room when suddenly, Vik transforms into full kaiju mode. As Bethany runs out in fear, Vik hears Shawn calling him.

Enraged, Vik storms into the living room, scaring everyone at the party away. He blames Shawn for what’s happening to him and tries to attack him, but Shawn flies off. When Vik chases after him, Bethany gets a call from someone who informs her that things are happening as predicted.

The next day, marking 1 day until the end of the world, Miki goes to an open field, sets up a camp, and dresses herself as an Indian girl. She then sets fire to the wood and kneels before it. Later, she falls asleep.

That night, Shawn calls Vik and asks to meet up. Vik tells him not to chicken out like last time and heads out to meet him. At the meeting place, Shawn is a no-show, or at least he’s in hiding, until Vik tells him he can smell him. Shawn then emerges from behind a tree and apologizes for making them watch the anime. Vik, however, tells him that it’s not about the anime.

Shawn then tells Vik that he’s a monster and someone has to stop him. But Vik calls him out for being a coward, which Shawn responds to violently, and a fight breaks out. The two battle for a while. When Vik suddenly grows a pair of wings, they then take the battle to the skies. The fight ends with Shawn blasting a laser through Vik, sending him into the lake nearby. Shawn is devastated by the outcome but loses consciousness almost immediately.

The next day, on the D-day of world destruction, Miki wakes up with the realization that Shawn cared for her this whole time, but she didn’t see it. Unknown to her, she is about to be ambushed. Meanwhile, Shawn returns home through his window, alerting his father.

Wayne goes to check if Shawn is okay, but Shawn quickly grabs the door handle to keep it from opening. Wayne decides to leave him alone, but suddenly, he musters up the courage and advises Shawn about how he has to be his own person.

He tells Sahwn that his mum would be really proud of him if she were around.  After talking, Shawn tries to open the door to talk to Wayne, but he suddenly remembers that Miki could be in danger and flies out the window.

At the ritual site, Miki is tied to a log, just like in the anime. The cult members all light their scythe and start making their way towards Miki. One of the members then takes off their hood to reveal Mrs. Reiko. Miki feels betrayed, but Reiko tells her that everything will be fine. She repeats that she knew Miki was special the moment they met and that her coming to Oklahoma was no coincidence.

Reiko also asks her why the Indians came here for vision quests and goes ahead to answer, saying it is because they were guarding the magic on these grounds. And that magic is supposedly what is imprisoning the old gods. Reiko also explains what the world has turned into because of mankind. She believes that the absence of the old gods is what plunged mankind into genocide, war, and pollution, among other things.

When Miki asks what all this has to do with her, Reiko tells her that she came with a pure mind and body and that she’s ready to be a hero. Miki pleads with her not to do this, but Reiko goes ahead and chants to the gods to accept Miki as the hero’s sacrifice while lifting her scythe.

Thankfully, Shawn lands right in front of Miki, ready to engage them in battle, when another member calls to him and takes off his hood to reveal Mr. Newt. Shawn is shocked to see the familiar face, while Newt is happy he survived. It turns out they’ve been aware of everything this whole time and thought Shawn would lose the fight to Vik.

Newt tries to convince Shawn that helping them release the old gods will make him less of a loser. He also reveals that their people destroyed the warehouse back then and the ending of the movie to avoid showing people how to defeat the old gods. But he believes that with Shawn’s help, nothing can stop them now.

Shawn, however, points out that they made him waste his best friend. Therefore, he doesn’t wish to be part of their world. Left with no choice, the cult members then decide to engage Shawn in a fight. But just then, Vik shows up and crashes into the group, knocking them out. He reconciles with Shawn and admits he was being a jerk, so they team up and cut Miki loose.

The cult members soon awake and engage Sahwn and Vik in battle. Just then, another member reveals their face and turns out to be Bethany, who is disappointed in Vik for helping them. Vik tells her he’s doing it because they are his friends and, in the process, lets his guard down. Bethany then stabs Vik.

The last battle comes down to Newt and Shawn, with Shawn emerging as the victor after using Newt’s own skills against him. Newt then asks him to finish him off, but Shawn refuses and offers him a hand instead. Newt then tries to get Reiko to find another way. Reiko tells him there’s another way and tries to stab Shawn, but Newt gets in the way.

Reiko freaks out, but it is already too late. Newt falls to the ground with his blood slowly dripping into the dug hole, causing small reactions. Unaware of this, Reiko tries to attack them. But Miki stands in her way to try to talk her out of it. Sadly, Reiko’s mind is made up, and she strikes Miki with her sword. However, Miki finally transforms into her full power mode.

Bethany goes after her, regardless, and gets turned into bubbles, sending a warning to the others.

As the cult members run off in fear, Miki celebrates their victory, but that’s when they all realize that the hero’s blood doesn’t matter who it is but the self-sacrifice that is made. And with that, Newt’s blood activates the ritual.

With the old gods free, Reiko offers herself up as a humble servant to the gods, leaving the trio to their fate. Vik then tells Shawn that whether he’s a kaiju or not, he’s happy to die with his friends together. And just then, a thought hit Shawn. He realizes that they will need a combined effort to defeat the gods.

The three of them then put their hands in, and chants transform, turning them into one giant mecha warrior. As the battle goes on, people around the world are busy counting down to the new year. And when the time is up, a massive explosion happens, defeating the gods.

On January 1st, 2000, Miki, Shawn, and Vik wake up in their original bodies, all unharmed. Vik and Miki return to meet Sunita and Preeti, who are worried about their whereabouts. Shawn goes home to see some detectives with his father, who is also looking for him.

Days later, Shawn and Vik accompany Miki to the airport, where they bid her goodbye. After returning to Japan, Miki writes a letter and addresses it to Mr. Ogata to appreciate the good his film did for her in her life and the friends she met because of it.

She also acknowledges that his film helped her to find her path in life, and at the foot of the letter, she writes her name and that of Shawn and Vik with little drawings of the three heroes from the anime.

Mr. Ogata may have gone into exile, but somehow, Miki’s letter found its way to his mailbox after that. When Ogata reads it, he is proud and decides to make the sequel.

For Shawn and Vik, what started out as a crazy fantasy to live out their favorite anime characters became one heck of an adventure. But for Miki, it was about finding herself and what she really wanted in life. But with Ogata talking about a sequel, who’s to say their story is over?

Ike Boys 2021.