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 on October 10. It was also announced that Hiroki Yasumoto, Soma Saito, Nakayama Kota, and Murata Hideaki of the comedy duo "Toro Salmon" will appear as additional cast members.
Yasumoto will play Tsutsumi, the older brother of the main character, the yakuza Akutsu Minoru, Saito will play Wakamatsu, Akutsu's junior colleague, Murata will play Hayashida, Akutsu's underling, and Nakayama will play Konishi, another underling.
The main visual shows Akutsu and his partner Nagata Nana sitting side by side on a veranda, looking up at the fireworks that light up the summer night sky, and the official trailer features the opening theme "Moving Still Life" by the band "cero". The trailer begins with a scene in which a single The Last Blossom speaks to Akutsu, a yakuza who is about to die alone in prison. After The Last Blossom says, "I remember very well the day you guys came," the opening theme plays and Akutsu's past is looked back on. While the trailer recalls the peaceful days he once lived with Nana and her son Kensuke, it also shows tense scenes featuring Tsutsumi and Wakamatsu, who were members of the same gang.
Yasumoto commented, "It cannot be summed up in one word: 'mysterious.' Facing something seriously, having love. These things should be simple in themselves, but the essence of 'mystery' is deeply intertwined within them. Please come and see it at the theater. Rather than focusing on any particular character, I hope you will feel the passion of the story as a whole."
Saito said, "I am incredibly happy to be able to be involved in Director Kinoshita and Konomoto's world once again as a cast member. It is a tranquil, delicate story that leaves a deep, lingering impression. I hope it will gently seep into everyone's hearts."
Murata said, "Akutsu's clumsiness and melancholy slowly seep into your heart.... Before you know it, you have the illusion that Akutsu's life has been transferred to yourself, and you find yourself overcome with tears and a strange emotion. No matter what kind of life you live, it all comes down to how it could have ended. I am truly happy that this has become one of my favorite works."
Nakayama commented, "I don't usually watch anime, but when I watched 'Odd Taxi', I was blown away by how funny it was. I was truly jealous of the comedians who voiced the characters. That's why I'm really happy to be involved in ' The Last Blossom' this time. Please forgive me for my poor ramblings."
The original soundtrack for the film, "The Last Blossom Original Soundtrack," by Cero's Shohei Takagi, Yu Arai, and Tsubasa Hashimoto, will be released on October 8. Movie tickets using the visuals will go on sale on July 11.
The story is about an elderly man serving a life sentence who is about to die alone in his cell, when a mysterious The Last Blossom 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.
Director Kinoshita will be in charge of character design, while Konomoto will be writing the original story and script. The film will be produced by CLAP, which has also produced "Movie-loving Pompo-san" and "Tunnel into Summer, Exit of Goodbye." Actors Kobayashi Kaoru and Junki Tozuka will co-star, playing the past and present of protagonist Akutsu Minoru, respectively. Hikari Mitsushima and Miyazaki Yoshiko will play Akutsu's partner Nagata Nana, while Pierre Taki will play The Last Blossom, a bird that Akutsu meets and can speak human language.
