Four years after the labyrinthine mystery of ODD TAXI captivated audiences worldwide, its core creative partnership returns with a film that trades talking animals for a talking flower — and a story that is no less human. Housenka (internationally titled The Last Blossom), directed by Baku Kinoshita and written by Kazuya Konomoto, premiered at the Annecy International Film Festival in June 2025 and opens in Japanese theaters on October 10, 2025. It is the first feature-length anime from studio CLAP, produced by Pony Canyon, and offers a grounded, emotionally charged drama that uses a single fantastical element — a balsam flower that speaks — to explore the weight of mortality, confinement, and the small mercies of everyday life.
In a wide-ranging interview conducted through an interpreter, Kinoshita, animation producer Ryoichiro Matsuo of CLAP, and producer Hirofumi Ito of HI Production discussed the film’s origins, its creative philosophy, and the challenges of bringing an original story to global audiences. Their remarks reveal a work that is deliberately constructed to balance darkness and light, suffering and solace — a film that aims not merely to tell a story, but to leave its viewers feeling, as Kinoshita put it, “good today.”
The Return of the ODD TAXI Creative Duo
For fans of ODD TAXI, the reunion of director Kinoshita and writer Konomoto is the most compelling reason to pay attention to Housenka. The two men had remained in close contact after the anime series concluded in 2021. “Even after our previous work ODD TAXI ended, I remained on friendly terms both personally and professionally with the scriptwriter, Kazuya Konomoto,” Kinoshita said. “So I thought that I wanted to work with him again, and I asked, ‘Would you like to make an anime together?’”
The project, however, did not begin with a specific story idea. Producer Matsuo, who had worked with Kinoshita previously, initiated the collaboration by reaching out to the director. “Rather than ‘let’s make Housenka,’ the project started from the idea ‘let’s make a work by Director Kinoshita,’” Matsuo explained. Producer Ito, who had been a producer on ODD TAXI and chief producer on CLAP’s earlier film The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes, joined the trio with the hope that the three of them could create something together.
This organic, people-first approach to project development is increasingly rare in an industry driven by franchise extensions and pre-sold properties. It allowed the filmmakers to build a story around their shared sensibilities — a commitment to sincerity, a preference for character-driven narratives, and a willingness to engage with heavy themes without resorting to cynicism.
From Character Concepts to Screenplay: A Proven Method
One of the most distinctive aspects of both ODD TAXI and Housenka is the order in which the creative work unfolded. The characters and their designs were created before the story was written — a reversal of the conventional anime production pipeline. Kinoshita explained that this method was not a deliberate innovation but a natural fit for Konomoto’s working style. “The first time I worked with Konomoto-san was on ODD TAXI, and we used a process where the characters were created first and then the script was written afterwards. This approach was also an easier process for Konomoto-san to work with, so we adopted it for Housenka, too. Konomoto-san is the type of person who builds a story by using existing frames in a creative way, so I think this process was the best method.”
This approach likely explains the dense, organic feel of the dialogue in ODD TAXI, where each character’s voice seemed to emerge from their design rather than being imposed by plot requirements. For Housenka, the same process allowed the filmmakers to let the characters’ visual identities — their postures, expressions, and environments — guide the narrative. The result is a film that feels lived-in, where every detail of the setting and costume reinforces the emotional stakes.
A Talking Balsam Flower and the Balance of Light and Darkness
At the heart of Housenka is a talking balsam flower — the housenka of the Japanese title. Kinoshita confirmed that the flower was part of the concept from the very beginning: “From the beginning, it was decided that there would be a balsam (housenka) flower in the story, and that it would talk.” The flower exists in a world that is otherwise entirely realistic, serving as a bridge between the mundane and the symbolic. It is not a magical creature in the fantasy sense; rather, it is a device that allows the film to externalize the internal struggles of its characters.
The decision to use an international title — The Last Blossom — rather than a direct transliteration of the flower’s name came after the film’s submission to Annecy. Producer Matsuo noted, “After listening to everyone overseas and hearing opinions from various people, we decided that The Last Blossom was a more fitting title.” The English title emphasizes the themes of transience and finality, while the Japanese title retains the specific cultural resonance of the balsam flower, which is associated with summer and the cycle of life in Japanese poetry.
The film’s visual design reflects this duality. Two teaser key visuals were released: one depicting a dark, confined space with a character looking downcast, and another showing a bright, open scene with a character gazing upward. Kinoshita described them as a necessary pair. “I think both visuals together as a set express the essential aspects of the movie. It’s a work that depicts the positives and negatives of life, so I think it’s important to have the two as a set.” He elaborated that the film was constructed so that “confined spaces and free spaces alternate with a balanced appearance of about 50% each.”
This structural alternation is not merely aesthetic. It reflects the film’s core argument: that life cannot be understood through light alone, nor through darkness, but through the rhythm of moving between them. The prison cell scenes, for example, were deliberately designed to feel “peaceful and gentle, rather than cold and uninviting.” Kinoshita explained that a realistically grim prison would make the screen feel “gray and dull.” Instead, he wanted the moonlight to feel beautiful even inside the cell. “If a scene with a gray impression continues for a long time, the movie screen will end up being dull and dreary. But this time, I didn’t want the film to be gloomy, so I decided to make the beauty of the moonlight be felt even inside the prison.”
What Is the Message of Housenka? A Featured Snippet Answer
Housenka (The Last Blossom) is a film about finding meaning and beauty in the face of mortality. It tells the story of a dying man confined to a prison cell, whose encounter with a talking balsam flower forces him to confront his past, his regrets, and the limited time he has left. The film does not offer easy answers or sentimental resolutions; instead, it uses the alternating rhythms of confinement and freedom, darkness and light, to argue that even within the most oppressive circumstances, there is room for grace, connection, and a kind of fragile peace. The talking flower is not a magical solution but a catalyst for reflection — a reminder that the last blossom of a life can still be vivid.
Pre-Scoring: A Rare Technique That Brings Authenticity to Animation
Both ODD TAXI and Housenka used a production method that is uncommon in the Japanese anime industry: pre-scoring. In this process, voice actors record their lines first, without any predetermined timing or animation to follow. The animators then create the character performances to match the audio. Kinoshita described the advantages: “With pre-scoring, first we ask the actors to perform their lines freely without any time constraints, and then the animators add illustrative performances to the characters after. I think this way you can create animation that feels more like it’s clinging or attached to the characters.”
The technique is more common in Western animation — particularly in live-action-style productions — but it is rare in Japan, where the standard practice is to animate first and dub later. Pre-scoring allows the vocal performance to dictate the visual timing, resulting in a naturalistic flow that is difficult to achieve through post-dubbing. For a film as rooted in dialogue and character nuance as Housenka, this method was essential. The actors were able to explore the emotional arc of their scenes without the constraint of matching pre-existing animation, and the animators could then build on those performances frame by frame.
The recording sessions left a strong impression on the director. Kaoru Kobayashi, who plays the dying protagonist, recorded alone with Pierre Taki (who plays another character). Kinoshita noted that both actors used up “a lot of calories” during the session. “Kaoru Kobayashi-san in particular kept saying, ‘I’m tired. I’m tired.’ For two days straight, he played the role of a dying old man, so that’s probably why he felt extremely emotional and tired.” The intensity of the recordings reflects the material: the film deals with death, memory, and the weight of a life lived imperfectly. For the actors, inhabiting those emotions without the buffer of a finished animation was a demanding, but ultimately rewarding, experience.
Music as a Defining Feature: The End Credits Song
Producer Ito singled out the film’s music as a source of personal pride. “From a producer’s perspective, it’s the music. While I can’t say the names yet, everyone got together to discuss and select the songs, and I think the music that plays during the end credits is one of the distinctive features of this work.” The song has since been announced as “Stand By Me” by cero featuring Manami Kakudo. The choice of a band known for its eclectic blend of funk, soul, and pop suggests a score that aims to be both emotionally resonant and tonally surprising — a fitting complement to a film that refuses to be categorized as purely tragic or purely uplifting.
A Global Promotion Strategy: From Annecy to the World
Producing an original anime film is risky enough in Japan; marketing it internationally requires a deliberate, creative strategy. Producer Matsuo emphasized that the team’s goal was to have a wide variety of people see the film early, and then let word of mouth build momentum. “Since it’s an original work, when promoting it, first of all I thought it was important to have a wide variety of people watch it. This time as well, we were hoping to spread awareness by submitting it to overseas film festivals. Our goal was to hold the world premiere screening at the Annecy Film Festival, so that as many people as possible could see it.”
The rollout was carefully sequenced: a world premiere at Annecy in June, a teaser event at Anime Expo in July, and then a Japanese theatrical release in the fall. Matsuo noted that this approach is the reverse of the typical pattern. “Many works are promoted first in Japan and then released overseas, but promotion for this film began spreading quickly from overseas. By having a variety of people see it and spread the word before the premiere, we can generate a current that makes people think, ‘I want to see it right away.’”
The strategy paid off in part because of the reputation of the creative team. ODD TAXI is consistently ranked among the top 100 anime of all time on MyAnimeList, and its international fanbase is both passionate and discerning. Kinoshita acknowledged this expectation directly: “Just like with ODD TAXI, this film was made by Kazuya Konomoto and I. So everyone can have high expectations that Kazuya Konomoto’s script will have plenty of gimmicks and interesting dialogue, and I hope everyone will watch it.”
What Housenka Represents for Contemporary Anime Cinema
In an industry increasingly dominated by sequels, adaptations, and franchise extensions, an original film like Housenka is a statement of creative intent. It is not a commercial juggernaut in the making — Kinoshita himself described it as “more about artistry than commerciality.” But that is precisely its value. It represents a willingness to trust a small team, a proven method, and a deeply human story to find its audience.
The film’s themes — mortality, confinement, the search for meaning in limited time — resonate with a global audience that has lived through years of pandemic, isolation, and uncertainty. Yet the filmmakers resisted the temptation to make the film a political or social allegory. Instead, they focused on the intimate, the personal, the specific: a dying man, a prison cell, a flower. The universality emerges not from message but from detail.
Kinoshita’s closing sentiment in the interview captures the spirit of the project. “I think Housenka is more about artistry than commerciality, so I’m really happy to be able to make such a beautifully, sincere film at this time. I can’t wait for everyone to see it.” For audiences who have been waiting for the next chapter from the ODD TAXI team, the wait is nearly over. The film will be screened in U.S. and Canadian theaters on August 30 and 31, 2025, offering a rare chance to see an original anime feature on the big screen before its Japanese release. Whether it will match the cultural impact of its predecessor remains to be seen, but the creative team’s commitment to sincerity, craft, and emotional honesty makes Housenka one of the most anticipated anime films of 2025.
For more information, visit the official site at anime-housenka.com and follow the film on X (Twitter) at @anime_housenka or on Instagram at anime_housenka. Add the film to your watchlist on MyAnimeList at https://myanimelist.net/anime/58915.
