ufotable's Witch on the Holy Night movie opens in Japanese theaters on November 20, and Crunchyroll and Sony Pictures Entertainment are bringing it to theaters around the world in January 2027. The film adapts the 2012 visual novel written by Kinoko Nasu and developed by TYPE-MOON, the studio behind Tsukihime and Fate/stay night. ufotable marked 8 days to go on X today. Check out the official post down below:
The film runs 129 minutes, according to the official Japanese site's listing for its midnight opening screenings, and Toho and Aniplex are distributing it in Japan.
What Witch On The Holy Night Is
Witch on the Holy Night, known in Japan as Mahoutsukai no Yoru, was first released for Windows PCs in Japan in 2012. Nasu wrote the scenario and directed the game, Hirokazu Koyama handled the character designs and key animation, and supercell provided the ending theme "Hoshi ga Matataku Konna Yoru ni." Aniplex's English website also lists artist Takashi Takeuchi among the graphics team.
It is a visual novel that follows a single story from start to finish. The Steam store page for the remaster calls it "a coming of age story" set in the 1980s that "follows an innocent young man and two young 'witches.'" Its story summary opens with the line "In the mansion on the hill, there lived two witches..." and says the boy "leads a completely ordinary life," while Aoko "carries herself with gallant pride" and Alice "lives a sleepy, hidden life," the same pairing Kodansha's synopsis for the new manga uses in Japanese.
The remaster added full voice acting and visuals redone in full HD. Aniplex released it digitally on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 on December 8, 2022, followed by a physical limited edition on January 27, 2023, with English, Japanese, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese text. The Windows version on Steam arrived on December 14, 2023, and sells for $39.99. TYPE-MOON's official trailer for the Steam release is below:
Aoko, Alice And Soujyuro
The story centers on 3 teenagers. Aniplex's English character profiles describe them as follows:
- Aoko Aozaki: "A Magician who lives in the modern world... though she is still an apprentice." She lived a life uninvolved in magecraft until middle school and was named her grandfather's successor when she entered high school.
- Alice Kuonji: "A Witch hiding amidst the modern world. The last of her kind." She left her homeland of England, settled in a provincial Japanese city and attends the elite Reien Girls' Academy.
- Soujyuro Shizuki: "A young boy from the countryside, introduced into the modern world." He transfers to Aoko's high school and adapts to city life.
Aoko's school also includes Tobimaru Tsukiji, the student council vice president and son of the school chairman, who looks after Soujyuro when he transfers in.
In the film, Haruka Tomatsu voices Aoko, Kana Hanazawa voices Alice and Yusuke Kobayashi voices Soujyuro. Crunchyroll describes the movie this way: "Aoko Aozaki, an ordinary high school girl, is actually a Magician who lives in the modern world...though she is still only an apprentice. As she spends her days living alongside her housemate, Alice Kuonji, striving to become a full-fledged Magician... The girl meets a boy."
How It Connects To Tsukihime And The Garden Of Sinners
Aoko is the clearest link between Witch on the Holy Night and TYPE-MOON's other stories. She is a supporting character in Tsukihime, and TYPE-MOON's official page for the 2021 remake Tsukihime: A Piece of Blue Glass Moon lists Tomatsu as Aoko, the same actress who voices her in the new film. Aoko's older sister, Touko Aozaki, also appears in Witch on the Holy Night and is a main character in The Garden of Sinners, known in Japan as Kara no Kyoukai.
ufotable has adapted TYPE-MOON's work before, and the movie's official account has been promoting the release with Fuji TV reruns of ufotable's Fate/Zero and full screenings of the Fate/stay night [Heaven's Feel] film trilogy. The account also posted collaboration visuals with Fate/Zero and with Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie: Walpurgisnacht: Rising.
The Movie Adaptation
Sho Takeuchi directs the film, with Hikaru Kondo as chief director and the screenplay credited to ufotable. Moe Tsuzuki designed the characters for animation, Hideyuki Fukasawa composed the music, and Yuichi Terao is the director of photography. Koyama is credited with the original character designs and Takashi Takeuchi with the original character concepts.
supercell returns for the theme song "Yoru to Ao," written, composed and arranged by ryo and sung by Nagi Yanagi. The official site notes that supercell released "Hoshi ga Matataku Konna Yoru ni" for the PC game in 2010, and that the anime edition of the "Yoru to Ao" single comes out in Japan on November 25. Crunchyroll's second trailer features the song:
Crunchyroll's worldwide release starts on January 21, 2027, in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Finland, Poland, Sweden and India get the film on January 29, and Crunchyroll will release it in Japanese with English subtitles and with an English dub.
Opening Week In Japan
The Japanese release starts with midnight screenings at 11 theaters at 12:00 a.m. on November 20, with tickets going on sale on November 14. Tomatsu and Kobayashi appear at stage greetings at TOHO Cinemas Hibiya on November 21 and TOHO Cinemas Umeda on November 22, and the November 21 4:00 p.m. event is being broadcast live to theaters across Japan. Tomatsu also appears at an event in Ikebukuro's Naka-Ikebukuro Park on the evening of November 19. Animemojo covered the first-week gifts in Witch On The Holy Night Movie Reveals Its Theater Attendance Bonuses And Midnight Screenings As Release Nears.
ufotable is also running a collaboration cafe at its ufotable Cafe locations across Japan starting on opening day, with menus and goods based on the characters and scenes from the film. ufotable says more details arrive on release day:
A TSUTAYA pop-up shop with new ufotable art of Aoko, Alice and Soujyuro runs from December 1 to January 5, with a large illustration display at SHIBUYA TSUTAYA. A manga adaptation drawn by Keigo Maki, the artist of Shikimori's Not Just a Cutie, also began in Kodansha's Weekly Shonen Magazine issue 50 on November 11.
Are you seeing Witch on the Holy Night in theaters in January, or are you reading the visual novel on Switch, PlayStation 4 or Steam first?
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