Summary
TheNetflix Animeaccount finally revealed the release date forMononoke The Movie: The Phantom in the Rain. The movie is asequel to the originalMononokeanime(2007). It will soon stream on the service.
The movie was produced by anime company EOTA, and debuted in Japanese cinemas in July 2024. Following accusations of an extramarital affair, actor Takahiro Sakurai did not return to voice the main character “Medicine Seller”.Hiroshi Kamiya(Trafalgar Law inOne Piece) replaced him.
Mononoke: The Phantom in the Rainwillhit Netflix on Jul 31, 2025. All PVs so far were only subbed, and the service did not confirm a dub (which does not necessarily mean there won’t be any). Check out the latest trailer:
What Exactly is Mononoke?
A horror anthology spin-off story
Mononokeis actually a spin-off ofAyakashi: Samurai Horror Tales(2006), an anthology produced byToei Animationcomposed of three different stories:Yotsuya Ghost Story(directed by Tetsuo Imazawa and adaptation of a famous Japanese theater play), Goddess of the Dark Tower (directed by Kouzou Nagayama, also based on a theater play) andGoblin Cat(original story by Kenji Nakamura and Michiko Yokote, directed by Nakamura himself).
TheMononokeanime aired in Japan in 2007, directed by Kenji Nakamura, and produced by Toei (the movie is the first animation not produced by Toei in the franchise, if we may call it this way). Co-creator Yokote was one of the head writers, alongside Chiaki J. Konaka, Ikuko Takahashi and Manabu Ishikawa. She is not credited as a writer for the movie.
The story is a collection of chapters with different adventures in each one. It follows the main character, who is simply known as “Medicine Seller” (thus, nameless) and featuressupernatural beings and phenomenons, taking place around the 19th century. ThePhantom in the Rainmovie is the first of a trilogy: the second movie (Mononoke Second Chapter: Hinezumi)is slated for Jul 21, 2025, in Japan, and the third one’s title and date are still to be announced.
Mononoke: The Phanton in the Rainwill be available to stream on Netflix from May 24, 2025. The originalMononokeanime is also available on Netflix.
