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Annecy Screens 2nd Mononoke Film, All You Need Is Kill Anime
posted on by Alex Mateo
The 2025 Annecy International Animation Film Festival will be held in Annecy, France from June 8-14.
The Annecy screening of Mononoke the Movie Trilogy: Chapter 2: The Ashes of Rage marks its Western premiere.
The film premiered in Japan on March 14.
Mononoke The Movie: Phantom in the Rain (Gekijōban Mononoke: Karakasa), the Mononoke project's first film, premiered in Japan in July 2024. Netflix is streaming the film. The film was previously slated to open in 2023, but was delayed.
The third film, Gekijōban Mononoke Dai-San-Shō: Hebigami, will open in spring 2026.
The original novel by Sakurazaka is set in a future Earth under attack by alien invaders known as Mimics. Humanity's infantry goes into battle in powered armor suits that enhance their deadliness, but they are still losing the war. Keiji Kiriya is a newly enlisted soldier, but dies in his first battle. After he dies, he finds himself awakening to a time prior to the battle, having inexplicably entered a time loop. Through a repeating process of dying and learning from his mistakes, he slowly finds a way to live longer and longer, and finds himself drawn to an elite soldier named Rita Vrataski.
Shueisha published the novel in December 2004. Viz Media published Sakurazaka's novel in English to launch its Haikasoru imprint for Japanese science fiction and fantasy in 2009.
The novel spawned a manga by artist Takeshi Obata (Hikaru no Go, Death Note, Bakuman.) and writer Ryōsuke Takeuchi (ST&RS) in Shueisha's Young Jump magazine in January to May 2014. Viz Media published the manga in English.
The novel inspired the live-action Hollywood movie adaptation Edge of Tomorrow in 2014, starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt. Edge of Tomorrow made over US$100 million in the U.S., US$15 million in Japan, and US$370,541,256 worldwide.
The Feast of Amrita (Amrita no Kyōen) anime film opened in Japan in May 2023. The film screened alongside a "refined version" of Aragne: Sign of Vermilion (with at least 60 revised shots).
The Fantasia Festival in Montreal, Canada screened the Aragne: Sign of Vermilion film's world premiere in July 2018. HIDIVE is streaming both films.
Update: Edited screening background for Nightmare Bugs.
Sources: Annecy, Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web
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