Official trailer for the Japanese anime “The Guardian of the Camphor Tree”

Official trailer for the Japanese anime “The Guardian of the Camphor Tree”

by Alex Billington
November 21, 2025
Source: YouTube

“This tree holds a secret.” 🌳 Aniplex has debuted a new official trailer for an upcoming Japanese animated film titled The guardian of the camphor treeset to hit theaters in Japan starting January 2026 in a few months. Adapted from the famous novel of the same name in Japan. Although many of Higashino’s works have been adapted, this is the first time one of his stories has been made into an anime. The heartfelt story of a mysterious camphor tree, believed to grant wishes when prayed to, and the young man who becomes its guardian, will come vividly to life on the big screen. This anime depicts the human drama unfolding around a single camphor tree that has absorbed countless prayers and the young man who becomes its guardian. “What miracle will be woven by the prayers of those who gather in solidarity in Kusunoki?” The main voices of the film Fumiya Takahashi like Reito Naoi, with Yuki Amami, Asuka Saito, Ryuya MiyaseAnd Takao Osawa. The music is composed by Yugo Kanno. It seems like it’s more than just a story about a tree: there are many different characters involved in this story.

Tomohiko Itô’s Full Japanese Trailer The guardian of the camphor treefrom YouTube (via Catsuka):

Reito, a young man who was unreasonably fired and, in revenge, committed a crime and is arrested. He tried in vain to appeal to the investigator and was sent to the prosecutor’s office, where he awaited his indictment. Suddenly, a lawyer appears and tells Reito that he can be released if he follows his client’s order. Reito takes the bet and agrees to the condition, and the client turns out to be his late mother’s half-sister, Senshu Yanagisawa. Senshu has only one command for Reito: to become the guardian of the camphor tree at the Tsukigô shrine. Reito becomes the guardian of the camphor tree and meets different people who visit the temple grounds for different reasons. The guardian of the camphor treealso known as camphor tree guardian or Kusunoki no Banninis directed by Japanese animation filmmaker Tomohiko Itodirector of Sword Art Online the Movie: Ordinal Scale, Hello world, Final stepnumerous animated series and a second unit director on The girl who stood through time. The screenplay is by Taku Kishimoto; via the novel of the same name by Keigo Higashino. Produced by Atsuhiro Iwakami and Mikihiro Iwata. The film premieres in Japan from January 30, 2026 early next year. No US release date is ready yet – stay tuned.

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