Renowned anime creator Shoji Kawamori is ready to release his latest original feature film, Labyrinth in North America, marking a highly anticipated return to long-form storytelling from one of the industry’s most influential visionaries.
Best known for his work on the Macross franchise and his contributions to mechanical design and worldbuilding across decades of anime, Kawamori’s new project is already drawing attention for its ambitious concept and creative pedigree.
A New Original Vision
Labyrinth is described as an original anime film that explores complex themes through a visually immersive narrative. The film’s plot is described as follows; Shiori is a typical high school student who dreams of online stardom, but struggles to capture attention. After an embarrassing video of her goes viral, she gets trapped in her smartphone and replaced by a charismatic alter ego. As the doppelganger charms the internet and devises a nefarious plot to replace mankind with brainrot, Shiori must partner with other online outcasts to stop her digital counterpart and reclaim her life in the real world.
Additionally, Labyrinth stars globally popular Japanese girl group ATARASHII GAKKO!’s Suzuka as “Shiori Maezawa” in her voice acting debut, joined by Taizo Harada as “Komori” and Takuto Teranishi, from the boy group timelesz, in his debut acting role as “Suguru Kagami”. Fans of ATARASHII GAKKO! can also look forward to their performance of the film’s theme song “Sailor, Sail On,” with additional music by yonkey.
Kawamori has long been recognized for crafting narratives that balance spectacle with introspection, and Labyrinth appears poised to continue that legacy. The project is expected to feature intricate worldbuilding and symbolic storytelling elements, hallmarks of his past works.
INTERVIEW WITH SHOJI KAWAMORI
To learn more about the creative vision behind Labyrinth, our VTuber talent Krystal Vee, spoke directly with Shoji Kawamori about the film’s origins, themes, and what audiences can expect from this ambitious new project,
Kawamori’s Legacy in Anime
Over the course of his career, Kawamori has played a pivotal role in shaping modern anime, not only as a director but also as a designer and conceptual creator. In addition to Macross, his credits include work on titles such as Aquarion and AKB0048, where he explored themes of identity, music, and society.
His influence extends beyond storytelling—Kawamori is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of transforming mecha design, helping define the look and functionality of variable fighter systems that remain iconic today.
Watch Labyrinth Now
Tickets are now on sale for Labyrinth, and will be released in theatres for two nights only in Japanese with English subtitles and English-dubbed from May 10–11.
GKIDS, the acclaimed animation distributor and producer, also revealed a new English dub trailer for the film. The English dub voice cast stars Shay Rudolph as “Shiori”, Jesse Inocalla as “Komori”, Nicholas Leung as “Suguru”, Patrick Mealey as “Yamada”, and Brianna Gentilella as “Kirara”.
English Trailer
Japanese Trailer
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