©東野圭吾／アニメ「クスノキの番人」製作委員会
A new anime feature film was previously set up for 2026 with the announcement that the Kusunoki no Bannin novel has gotten the nod. Translating as The Camphorwood Custodian, it comes from Keigo Higashino, which was released in 2020 and has over a million copies in circulation in print and digital.
It has Tomohiko Ito directing it from the screenplay by Taku Kishimoto. Akiko Itagaki and Tsubasa Yamaguchi are handling the character designs, with A-1 Pictures handling the animation production.
The film saw a January 30th, 2026, release date, and the project now has its home video release plans set in Japan. The film is scheduled for an August 12th, 2026,, release on DVD and Blu-ray. The standard edition DVD and Blu-ray releases are priced at 4,180 yen, and 5,280 yen, respectively. The limited editions are at 8,580 yen, and 9,680 yen, while the Blu-ray also gets a special edition priced at 12,430 yen.
All discs feature the film while there is a separate disc included for the special and limited edition with:
[Special Edition]
- ◆Character design by Tsubasa Yamaguchi, illustrated in the style of a shikishi (decorative paper board)
- ◆Special booklet (includes a novel written by Keigo Higashino, given as a bonus to first-week attendees)
- ◆Original illustration of an owl sticker
- ◆Kusuta (a stand made of camphor wood)
- ◆Bonus Disc: Premiere screening / Opening day stage greeting / Release commemorative stage greeting / Making-of footage / Trailers & commercials
[Bonus features for the limited edition]
- ◆Character design by Tsubasa Yamaguchi, illustrated in the style of a shikishi (decorative paper board)
- ◆Special booklet (includes a novel written by Keigo Higashino, given as a bonus to first-week attendees)
- ◆Original illustration of an owl sticker
- ◆Bonus Disc: Premiere screening / Opening day stage greeting / Release commemorative stage greeting / Making-of footage / Trailers & commercials
The Japanese cast includes:
- Fumiya Takahashi as Reito Naoi
- Yūki Amami as Chifune Yanagisawa
- Asuka Saitō as Yumi Saji
- Ryūbi Miyase as Sōki Ōba
- Takao Ōsawa as Toshiaki Saji
- Takehito Koyasu as Masakazu Yanagisawa
- Miō Tanaka as Katsushige Yanagisawa
- Akira Kamiya as Tōichirō Ōba
- Kenjirō Tsuda
- Tomokazu Sugita
- Taku Yashiro
- Reina Ueda
- Nobuo Tobita
Check out the official site and Twitter.
Plot Concept: In Tokyo, left on his own after the loss of his mother and jobless, a series of bad decisions and misfortune lands young Reito in prison. Left with nothing, he has lost all hope for the future. But everything changes when a lawyer representing a powerful family empire offers him a way out – on one condition: he must take on a mysterious role as the Keeper of the Camphor Tree.
Previous promos and visuals:
©東野圭吾／アニメ「クスノキの番人」製作委員会
©東野圭吾／アニメ「クスノキの番人」製作委員会
Chris Beveridge
http://www.fandompost.com
Chris has been writing about anime, manga, movies and comics for well on twenty years now. He began AnimeOnDVD.com back in 1998 and has covered nearly every anime release that’s come out in the US ever since.
He likes to write a lot, as you can see.
