Odd Taxi Creators Reveal First Trailer For Heartbreaking New Movie: Watch

Baku Kinoshita and Kadzuya Komoto, the director and screenwriter duo behind the insanely underrated Odd Taxi are back with their next anime project, and it looks to be even more emotionally charged than their last collaboration. Much like Odd Taxi, the new film, titled The Last Blossom, is another original concept anime, albeit without the talking anthropomorphic animals. The first teaser trailer, poster, and cast for The Last Blossom have been revealed as reported by Anime News Network, and we don’t think we’re ready for the emotional journey Kinoshita and Komoto are about to take us on.

It has already been announced that Studio CLAP (The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes) will animate the movie, with Michinoku Toge in charge of the film’s concept art and design. The Last Blossom is already slated to release this Fall, following its worldwide debut at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France this June.

The Last Goodbye‘s Teaser Is Already Emotional

The Last Goodbye follows an elderly convict, named Akutsu, who reflects on his past life through a conversation with a talking flower. As bizarre as the concept sounds, the teaser promises that The Last Goodbye will be an incredibly solemn and introspective film. In the clip, the elderly Akutsu lies alone in his small cell next to his flower. “I’ll turn it around…” Akutsu says to himself while lying on his futon. “Don’t make me laugh,” replies the red flower. The short 30-second trailer also gives us glimpses at Akutsu’s idyllic life back in 1986 as he explores a beautiful garden with his partner, Nana.

Kaoru Kobayashi and Junki Tozuka will both voice Akutsu at the two different stages of his life, while Hikari Mitsushima and Yoshiko Miyazaki will voice Akutsu’s partner Nana Nagata in the past and present. Meanwhile, Pierre Taki is voicing the talking Housenka flower.

The first poster for The Last Blossom has also been revealed. Just like the trailer, the poster is very minimalistic. The red flower sits in an old tomato can, sitting in the shadows, with the only light coming through the barred window of Akutsu’s cell. Check it out below…

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The Last Blossom Releases This Fall

The Last Blossom will make its international debut at this year’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival, which takes place between June 8th and 14th. It’s debut will mark the one year anniversary from when it was first announced at last year’s Annecy festival. This year, The Last Goodbye will compete as part of the Feature Film Competition category. We know the film is slated to release in the fall, although an exact release date has not yet been unveiled.

The official synopsis reads, “Autumn 2023. Akutsu, an elderly inmate serving life in prison, is on the verge of a lonely death in his single cell. A talking Housenka flower says to him, ‘What a rotten life you had.’ Akutsu starts reflecting on his past. Summer 1986. Akutsu is living with Nana and her son Kensuke in a shabby apartment with a garden full of Housenkas. It is the tale of a one-night victorious comeback by a dying yakuza, and his family’s story told by a flower that blooms in prison.”

H/T: Anime News Network