It has been announced that the new original animated film "The Last Blossom", a collaboration between director Kinoshita Mugi and manga artist and screenwriter Konomoto Kazuya, who worked on the popular TV anime "Odd Taxi" broadcast in 2021, will be released in the fall of 2025. It was also announced that actors Kobayashi Kaoru and Junki Tozuka will appear as voice actors and co-star in the film. This will be Tozuka's first foray into voice acting. The film depicts "a man's love story", with Kobayashi and Tozuka playing the past and present of the protagonist, Akutsu Minoru, respectively.
The story is about an elderly man serving a life sentence who is about to die alone in his cell, when a mysterious balsam who can speak human language approaches him and tells him, "You've had a terrible life," and in the "conversation," he begins to reflect on his past... The story depicts the dramatic reversal that a dying yakuza brings about.
Hikari Mitsushima and Yoshiko Miyazaki will play Akutsu's partner Nana Nagata, and Pierre Taki will play the role of Impatiens, a man who can speak human language and who Akutsu meets. The band "cero" will be in charge of the music.
Two teaser visuals were released, one depicting a balsam quietly standing in the moonlight, and the other blooming freely in the sun. A teaser trailer was also released, depicting a scene in which an old man in a cell and a determined young man both utter the words "great reversal." At the end, a mysterious, talking balsam appears.
"The Last Blossom" will be produced by CLAP, which has produced "Movie-loving Pompo-san" and "Summer Tunnel, Goodbye Exit". It has also been selected for the feature film competition category at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival 2025.
Comments from the cast and staff are as follows.
◇Comment from Kaoru Kobayashi
The role of Akutsu was recorded by just Pierre and I. I remember that when I finished and went home, I couldn't switch gears, my mind was blank, and I was very tired. When I told Pierre about it the next day at the recording, he said that he had actually walked from the recording location in Akasaka to Shibuya. I think it was his way of cooling down. It was a recording that left me with a mixture of fulfillment, fatigue, and emotion.
◇Comment from Junki Tozuka
"Iris" makes you want your life to be one that you can truly say was happy. The human-like Akutsu Minoru is so endearing, and his world, colored by the animation, moved me deeply until the final scene. Without thinking too deeply, I entrusted myself to the clumsy, straightforward, and compassionate Akutsu in front of me. I imagined a younger Akutsu from Kobayashi Kaoru's tone of voice and subtle emotions, and recorded with Hikari Mitsushima, who conveyed her words so carefully, feeling like I had truly connected with her. As someone who is not used to voice acting, I was a little worried about seeing the finished product, but the moving experience made me forget all about it. It's a movie that I hope everyone can see soon and want them to see.
◇Comment from Hikari Mitsushima
It was a heartwarming work. The story was a little stern and charming, and it reminded me of the wonderful words of a senior who said, "I'm not lonely because I have memories of love." The story's protagonist, Akutsu-san, speaks quietly and awkwardly, and is not flashy, but it was very wonderful. I was happy to play Nana, who is also clumsy and charming.
◇Comment from Yoshiko Miyazaki
Unless we are reincarnated into another world, all we can do is to dedicate our lives to what we can do here and now, so being loved like this makes us want to live to the fullest. Believe, entrust, and look forward. Even if there is little we can do, that's how humans have managed to survive.
◇Comment from Pierre Taki
Is it there? Or is it not really there? I was in charge of the voice of a mysterious character called a talking balsam. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to experience the luxury of recording alone with Kaoru Kobayashi.
◇Comment from Director Mugi Kinoshita
The beauty of the blue sky, the beauty of the color of leaves bathed in sunlight, the meaning of caring for others. I have reexamined the values of beauty, transience and happiness and the impact they have on people, and expressed the strength of living things that live in a fluctuating life with a feeling of returning to my roots. I hope many people will see it.
◇Comment from Kazuya Konomoto
Even in an unrewarded life, there is freedom to pray. I don't know if it will reach you, but I still want to believe. "Iris" is a story about a flower that quietly fills the void between a man who has lost his place to return to and his lover, and makes the words that have stopped growing sprout. There were many silences and only one prayer before this flower bloomed. I hope that the small conviction that lights up after the long silence and prayer will gently drop a seed in your heart as well.
