During a live stream made to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Mononoke anime, an announcement was made that the series would be inspiring an anime film that is set to release in 2023. The announcement stated the movie will be a completely new job.
Kenji Nakamura will be directing the film, with production at Twin Engine, and Takahiro Sakurai will return for the role of Medicine Seller.
A new illustration project was also activated featuring 12 artists and each creating a visual for the franchise. The first visual, as seen below, is from Yaeko Ninagawa, who originally drew the manga adaptation of the anime. The series is also getting a stage play adaptation with details yet to be revealed.
▍New Mononoke Anime Film Trailer
▍Crowdfunding Campaigns
Crowdfunding campaigns were also announced in both Kickstarter (for overseas fans) and on Japanese crowdfunding site Ubugoe. While the Kickstarter hasn’t started yet, the Ubugoe website does list out a 10,000,000 Japanese yen funding goal.
There are nine support tiers, with the price of up to 150,000 yen, which will offer the backer with an original recording script signed by the cast and staff. The website also states that there are 55 days (from the time of writing) to meet the goal, which happens to be on August 13, 2022.
▍About Mononoke
Mononoke is a 19 chapter manga adaption of the original Bakeneko arc by Yaeko Ninagawa. It was later made into an anime in 2007 as the spinoff of the Ayakashi – Samurai Horror Tales anime.
The story takes place during the Edo Period Japan with the four class system, Samurai being the highest class and merchants (such as the medicine seller himself) being in the lowest class. Only Samurai were permitted to carry swords, which is why it comes as a shock to many of the characters that the medicine seller would be carrying a sword.
