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Mononoke Anime Film Trilogy Gets Prequel Stage Play in May 2026
posted on by Crystalyn Hodgkins
Office Endless announced on Friday that the Mononoke franchise's film trilogy is getting a prequel stage play titled Gekijōban Mononoke Zenjitsutan: Futakubi Onna (Mononoke The Movie Prequel: Two-Headed Woman) that will run at the Shinagawa Prince Hotel in Tokyo from May 14-17, 2026. Jun Yoriko is directing the play, which will star Hirofumi Araki as the Medicine Seller. The play will have an original story.
The franchise inspired two previous stage plays in 2023 and 2024. Yoriko directed both of those stage plays, which also starred Araki.
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. Hiroshi 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 performed the first film's theme song "Love Sick."
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."
Gekijōban Mononoke Dai-San-Shō: Hebigami (Mononoke the Movie: Chapter 3: Snake God), the third installment, will open on May 29, 2026 in Japan.
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.
Sources: Mononoke stage play's website, Comic Natalie
