The Last Blossom Hits U.S. Theaters for Two Nights
Kinoshita's preference for television over film, stated in the interview, suggests his next project may be a series, a shift for a director known for the acclaimed Odd Taxi anime.
Key Facts
- The Last Blossom opens in select U.S. theaters on August 30 and 31, 2026, via GKIDS.
- The film is Baku Kinoshita's first original feature-length anime, with Kazuya Konomoto writing the original story and screenplay.
- The Last Blossom premiered in competition at the 2025 Annecy International Animation Film Festival and opened in Japan in October as Housenka.
- Animation was handled by Studio CLAP, whose credits include Pompo the Cinephile.
- Screenings are presented in Japanese with English subtitles.
Reporting from 2 sources: Cartoon Brew, Anime Herald.
The Last Blossom, the first original feature-length anime from Odd Taxi director Baku Kinoshita, opens in select U.S. theaters this weekend. GKIDS, the film's North American distributor, is releasing it for two nights only, August 30 and 31, in Japanese with English subtitles. The film premiered in competition at the 2025 Annecy International Animation Film Festival before opening in Japan last October under the title Housenka. The story follows Akutsu, a former yakuza serving a life sentence, who recounts his life to a sarcastic talking flower growing from a tin can. Kinoshita directed and designed the characters, reuniting with Odd Taxi writer Kazuya Konomoto, who wrote the original story and screenplay. Animation was handled by Studio CLAP, known for Pompo the Cinephile. In an interview with Anime Herald, Kinoshita discussed his interest in criminals as people who live in the moment, the Balsam flower as a wiser-than-human philosopher, and why the song Stand By Me appears in the film. He also noted that he currently leans toward television work because it offers more room to develop stories.
GKIDS will release The Last Blossom in select North American theaters for two nights only, August 30 and 31, with screenings in Japanese and English subtitles. The film premiered at the 2025 Annecy International Animation Film Festival and opened in Japan last October as Housenka.
In the Anime Herald interview, Kinoshita explained that the Balsam flower in the film has lived over one hundred years and carries the memories of its ancestors, making it wiser than humans despite being physically weaker. He chose the game Othello as a motif because its black and white pieces flip over, mirroring the turnarounds in the story. The cat that appears twenty-two minutes into the film was not based on a real cat; Kinoshita said it was added because the atmosphere felt easy. Actress Hikari Mitsushima was offered the role of Nana without an audition, as Kinoshita felt her voice had a positive yet sensitive quality that matched the character. He described his collaboration with writer Kazuya Konomoto as one where Konomoto writes the script alone after brainstorming, and Kinoshita does not touch it until it is complete.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 2 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.