Novel 'Kusunoki no Bannin' Receives Anime Movie in 2026

Production company Aniplex opened an official website for an anime movie adaptation of Keigo Higashino's Kusunoki no Bannin (The Keeper of the Camphor Tree) on Tuesday, revealing a "super" teaser visual (pictured above). The movie is scheduled for a 2026 opening.

Tomohiko Itou, known for directing Sword Art Online and Boku dake ga Inai Machi (Erased), is helming the movie at animation studio A-1 Pictures. Aniplex will be in charge of distribution.

Jitsugyou no Nihonsha published the novel in hardcover and paperback in March 2020 and April 2023, respectively. The novel has a cumulative 1 million copies in print.

Synopsis
If you knew you didn't have long to live, who would you tell? What would you say? And how would you deliver the message?

The Keeper of the Camphor Tree starts with Reito Naoi, a man in his early 20s, being unjustly fired from his job. Enraged and fueled by feelings of revenge, he tries to steal a valuable device from his workplace, but things don't go to plan, and he ends up arrested.

In jail, Reito is paid an unexpected visit by a lawyer who offers to arrange for his release, if he complies with the wishes of the lawyer's client. Seeing no alternative, Reito accepts and soon discovers that the lawyer's client is his aunt. When Reito tells her that he has no plans for the future, she gives him an order: "What I want you to do is to guard a camphor tree." And thus begins Reito's custodianship of a camphor tree standing on the grounds of a shrine—a camphor tree with a mysterious legend associated with it. (Source: Little, Brown Book Group)

Official site: https://kusunoki-movie.com/
Official X: @movie_kusunoki
Novel special site: https://www.j-n.co.jp/higashinokeigo/

Source: Anime! Anime!

Kusunoki no Bannin on MAL