Mamoru Hosoda's 'Scarlet' Gets A New Trailer.

 

Mamoru Hosoda is one of Japan's most successful non-Studio Ghibli animation directors. With a string of box-office hits behind him, plus an Oscar nomination and numerous Animation Of The Year awards from the Japan Academy Prizes, he's kind of a big deal. A new film from him is always a cause for excitement- and that's as true as ever with his new film, Scarlet.

After festival screenings at Toronto International Film Festival, Venice, New York Film Festival and Animation Is Film Festival, the film has recently opened in Japan. The film's western release is set for 2026, with the North American and UK release in February from Sony. A new trailer has debuted for the film, which you can see below.

The trailer runs through Hosoda's greatest hits, with clips from past films like Mirai, Wolf Children and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, before introducing us to the world of the new film.  Scarlet is a sword-swinging princess from a war-torn medieval kingdom. She sets out to avenge her father's death, but fails, waking up in a mysterious afterlife. There she meets an idealistic young man from our present day, who challenges her thirst for vengeance. But when she is confronted again by her father's killer, she must decide whether to cling to hatred, or discover a life beyond revenge. The story is apparently inspired by Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet.

The film is something of a radical departure for the director, at least on a visual level. It's his first foray into full CGI, but it adopts a style that is designed to be halfway between 3D and 2D, and has a hand-drawn look to it. There's no doubt that this will put off some of his hardcore fans, but for those prepared to give it a chance then this is a visually unique film.

Scarlet is written and directed by Mamoru Hosoda and is produced by Yuichiro Saito,Toshimi Tanio and Nozomu Takahashi. Nobuyuki Iinuma is Executive Producer. The voice cast features Mana Ashida, Masaki Okada and Kôji Yakusho. Animation production is by Studio Chizu.

Scarlet will be released in the United States, Canada. United Kingdom and Ireland on February 6.