The Last Blossom Movie Review

Date: 2026 March 16 20:41

Posted by Joe

The Last Blossom hits cinemas across the UK and Ireland from Friday 27th March 2026. It won both the Jury Award and Audience Award at Scotland Loves Anime. Keen to get a big scoop of melancholy, with a sprinkle of crime thriller, topped off with a bit of slice of life bliss, we take a (spoiler free) look at the movie.

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The Last Blossom is a new film from director Baku Kinoshita and writer Kazuya Konomoto. The duo were also responsible for the truly fabulous ODDTaxi, which is an all time favourite here at Otaku News HQ.


©Kazuya Konomoto /The Last Blossom Production Committee

The movie tells the story of Akutsu Minoru, an old man in a solitary prison cell. Nearing death he hears the voice of a potted balsam flower in his cell. He starts conversing with the plant and he reminisces about his life as a yakuza. The concept of a talking plant is quirky, but it works surprisingly well. Rather than just have Akutsu monologue with his own thoughts he gets a conversation going with someone who actually can question and challenge the convicted criminal's life choices.


©Kazuya Konomoto /The Last Blossom Production Committee

We get glimpses into Akutsu's life. At times it feels very slice of life we're treated to regular domestic scenes including a few heart warming moments as family. Alongside this there is an undercurrent of crime in the background, as his mobster life runs alongside his domestic one.

If you're familiar with ODDTaxi you'll know not to go in with preconceptions about the story. Part of the fun with a story like this is it keeps you guessing where it will go next. You know that Akutsu will eventually end up old and in prison, but while watching you're not certain exactly how he'll get there or what will happen to the other characters we're introduced to.


©Kazuya Konomoto /The Last Blossom Production Committee

The style of the character design feels very similar to ODDtaxi; sure they're not animals, but the style is very simple and minimalist. The male characters mostly have a square stocky shape to their designs and there's something surprisingly endearing about that. The characters are well thought through. They're all interesting likable and different, and give the sense having stories that go beyond what we see in the film itself. They feel grounded in our real world; this could have easily have been a live action movie.


©Kazuya Konomoto /The Last Blossom Production Committee

The animation is smooth and detailed too. There are frequent camera angle changes to set the scene or add emphasis. We're treated to detailed backgrounds of locations too and flowing fabric on the characters clothes. It's all adds depth to the production in an understated way.

Music wise, we've got some music from Cero with their song Still Moving Life for a key scene that adds to the sense of melancholy.


©Kazuya Konomoto /The Last Blossom Production Committee

Like Kinoshita and Konomoto's other work it's best going into it knowing as little as possible so you can enjoy the twists and turns without any spoilers. You'll be pleasantly surprised with a crime drama with a lot of sweet slice of life moments. With a story like this it would have equally worked well expanded to a 12 episode series, where we're dripped fed more and more about Akutsu's world and past.

After watching The Last Blossom, we kept thinking about it. It's one of those movies that makes you consider the characters and the events. It's tricky not going into detail, as we're keen to keep things spoiler free. It's a very clever multilayered movie and there's value in rewatching it too.


©Kazuya Konomoto /The Last Blossom Production Committee

Our only real issue with the movie, is it feels like it needs a bit more comic relief. The talking plant can come across as a bit annoying at times. It needs something like Yano a rapping porcupine, but less extreme, or something just a bit more fun, to tackle the gloomy concept of a dying prisoner thinking of his life in retrospect.

The Last Blossom was really enjoyable and we strongly encourage you to out and see it. It's quirky, clever and rewards its viewers.

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The Last Blossom in Japanese with English subtitles hits cinemas across the UK and Ireland from Friday 27th March 2026. It's distributed by Anime Limited

Source: Otaku News