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3rd Mononoke Film's 1st Trailer Announces More Cast, May 29 Debut

Twin Engine started streaming the first trailer for Gekijōban Mononoke Dai-San-Shō: Hebigami (Mononoke the Movie: Chapter 3: Snake God), the third installment of the Mononoke frachise's film trilogy, on Wednesday. The video reveals the film's May 29, 2026 premiere and a new cast member. 

Twin Engine also revealed the film's teaser visual:

Miyuki Sawashiro joins the cast of the third film as the Third Empress, the wife of the Third Emperor:

Other cast listed to voice characters that have not appeared in the two previous films include:

Fumi Hirano as Tokiwai, Sachiko's wet nurse and aide

Mariko Honda as Kawa, Tokiwai's subordinate and Sachiko's maid

Twin Engine describes the third film's story:

After two major incidents involving Mononoke—a deadly battle between a medicine seller (Hiroshi Kamiya) wielding a demon-slaying sword and a Karakasa umbrella, and the subsequent showdown with the Fire Rat—it seemed as though peace had finally arrived in the inner palace. However, the medicine seller still sensed a lingering presence of "something" and remained vigilant. Meanwhile, Empress Sachiko (Tanezaki Atsumi), the wife of the ruling emperor (Irino Miyu), is blessed with a long-awaited baby boy, but her joy is short-lived as she passes away despite the hopes and prayers of those around her.

Hoping to change her formal marital relationship with the emperor by giving birth to an heir, Sachiko finds herself at rock bottom and becomes embroiled in a terrifying plot that threatens to overturn the very existence of the Ooku. Her regret at not being rewarded for her irreparable sacrifice and her anger with nowhere to go soon begin to turn into resentment. Mizorogi Hokuto (Tsuda Kenjiro), a priest of the Ooku's faith, "Omizu-sama," watches events unfold with a solemn expression. At the same time, unnatural earth tremors (earthquakes) occur frequently within the Ooku. A mysterious incident begins with the creepy movement of a gigantic, crawling creature and the falling of triangular scales. This is followed by a mysterious incident in which a maid is twisted, crushed, and strangled to death. A medicine seller rushes to the scene, only to be confronted by a giant snake-shaped Mononoke called the Snake God. After a standoff, the seller manages to repel the monster with a talisman, but he must discover its three characteristics—form, truth, and reason—before he can remove the demon-slaying sword and slay the Snake God. Where does the Snake God come from? Why has it become so angered that it threatens to consume the Ooku? And why has it now reared its head and begun to move? The roots of these questions lie hidden 150 years ago, in the true story of the birth of the Ooku.

What is the shocking truth that will shake the nation, never before revealed? The medicine seller risks everything to confront the Mononoke, which is the very essence of the Ooku's dark history. However, he finds himself cornered in an unprecedented situation, confronted by a snake god who harnesses years of resentment and unimaginable strength... As his life is threatened, even more unpredictable and extraordinary events unfold! What will become of the medicine seller as he faces his greatest crisis?

Kenji Nakamura returns from the second film as the general director, and Tomoaki Koshida is directing the third film at Studio Kafka and EOTA. 

• Other returning and new staff includes:
• Screenplay: Yasumi Atarashi
• Character Design: Kitsuneko Nagata
• Animation Character Design/Chief Animation Director: Yūichi Takahashi
• Art Setting: Yōichi Katōno
• Art Directors: Akira Kuramoto, Yōko Saitō
• Art Supervision: Takashi Kurahashi
• Color Design: Kunio Tsujita
• Visual Director: Yoichi Senzui
• 3D Director: Kenichi Shirai
• Editing: Shigeru Nishiyama
• Sound Director: Yukio Nagasaki
• Producers: Kimiaki Sato, Kōichi Naruse, Haruka Kato, Minami Agematsu
• Planning Production: Kōji YAMAMOTO

Hiroshi Kamiya reprises his role as the Medicine Seller.

Other returning cast from previous films include:

• Atsumi Tanezaki as Sachiko
• Miyu Irino as Tenshi
• Kenjirō Tsuda as Hokuto Mizorogi
• Yoshiko Sakakibara as Suikōin
• Tomoyo Kurosawa as Asa
•  Yōko Hikasa as Fuki Tokita
• Haruka Tomatsu as Botan Ōtomo

Mononoke the Movie Trilogy: Chapter 2: The Ashes of Rage (Gekijōban Mononoke Dai-Ni-Shō: Hinezumi), the second film, opened in Japan on March 14. Aina The End performs the film's theme song "Hana Musō."

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. Alongside the announcement of the delay in February 2023, the film's staff also announced that Takahiro Sakurai would no longer reprise the role of the Medicine Seller as originally planned. Kamiya instead voices the protagonist the Medicine Seller in the film.

The first film won the Axis: Satoshi Kon Award for Excellence in Animation for best animated feature film at last year's annual Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal.

Kenji Nakamura returned to direct the first Mononoke film, with production at Twin Engine. Kitsuneko Nagata was the character designer, and Yūichi Takahashi adapted those designs for animation and served as chief animation director. Taku Iwasaki composed the music. EOTA animated the film.

Aina The End also performed the first film's theme song "Love Sick."

The Mononoke anime premiered in 2007 and aired for 12 episodes. The series is a spinoff of the Ayakashi - Samurai Horror Tales anime. Specifically, it follows the medicine seller from the "Bakeneko" (Goblin Cat) arc. The Mononoke anime has five arcs, the last of which is titled "Bakeneko."

Kenji Nakamura directed the television anime at Toei Animation, and Takashi Hashimoto designed the characters and served as chief animation director. Yasuharu Takanashi composed the music.

The anime previously streamed on Crunchyroll, but is currently available on other streaming services such as The Roku Channel and Netflix. New Video Group released the series on DVD in North America in 2014.

Source: Press release