The official website for the anime film of Keigo Higashino‘s The Camphorwood Custodian (Kusunoki no Bannin) novel unveiled a new teaser trailer for the film on Friday. The teaser reveals the film’s cast, more staff, and January 30 opening date.
©東野圭吾／アニメ「クスノキの番人」製作委員会
©東野圭吾／アニメ「クスノキの番人」製作委員会
The cast members include Fumiya Takahashi as Reito Naoi (left in image above), and Yūki Amami as Chifune Yanagisawa (right).
Taku Kishimoto (Haikyu!!, 91 Days, Sakamoto Days) is penning the film’s script. Blue Period manga creator Tsubasa Yamaguchi is designing the characters alongside Akiko Itagaki (Lonely Castle in the Mirror assistant character design). Hiroshi Takiguchi is the art director.
©東野圭吾／アニメ「クスノキの番人」製作委員会
Sword Art Online and ERASED director Tomohiko Ito is directing the film at A-1 Pictures and Psyde Kick Studios. Aniplex will distribute the film.
The novel’s story centers on Reito, a young man who was unreasonably fired from his job, and in revenge has committed a crime and gets arrested. He tries to appeal to the investigator to no avail, and he is sent to the prosecutor’s office, where he waits for his indictment. Suddenly, a lawyer appears and tells Reito that he can be released if he follows his client’s order.
Reito takes the gamble and accepts the condition, and the client turns out to be his late mother’s half-sister, Chifune Yanagisawa. Chifune has only one order for Reito: to become the camphorwood tree custodian at Tsukigō shrine. Reito becomes the camphorwood tree custodian and meets different people who visit the temple grounds for different reasons.
Jitsugyo no Nihon Sha published Higashino’s novel in 2020 in hardcover, and released the novel in paperback in 2023. The novel has over 1 million copies in circulation.
Higashino’s The Miracles of the Namiya General Store (Namiya Zakkaten no Kiseki) novel was serialized in Kadokawa‘s Shosetsu Yasei Jidai literary and novel magazine in 2011. Kadokawa published the novel in one volume in 2012. Yen Press published the novel in English in 2019. The novel inspired stage play adaptations in 2013 and 2016, musical stage plays in 2017 and recently in March, and a live-action film also in 2017.
Higashino’s 1998 Himitsu (Secret) novel inspired a live-action film in 1999 and a live-action drama in 2010. Vertical published the novel under the English title Naoko: A Novel in 2004.
Sources: Kusunoki no Bannin film’s website, Comic Natalie