Keigo Higashino’s Kusunoki no Bannin Novel Receives Anime Film in 2026

An anime film adaptation of Keigo Higashino’s 2020 novel Kusunoki no Bannin has been announced to premiere in 2026. A super teaser visual for the film was released. 

Tomohiko Ito (Sword Art Online seasons 1-2, Hello World) will be directing the anime film adaptation at A-1 Pictures. Aniplex will distribute the film in Japanese theaters. 

Japanese publisher Jitsugyo no Nihon Sha released Higashino’s novel in 2020 in hardcover format, before releasing it in paperback in 2023. An English translated version of the novel will be released by Little, Brown Book Group under the title The Keeper of the Camphor Tree sometime in November 2025. 

Higashino is well-known for his work in the mystery genre such as his Detective Galileo novel series that include The Devotion of Suspect X and Salvation of a Saint. He has also written the novels Naoko, Journey Under the Midnight Sun, and The Miracles of the Namiya General Store. All the books have been released and translated into English. 

Higashino’s works have also been adapted into several Japanese live-action films and TV dramas, as well as live-action film adaptations in South Korea, China, France, and India. 

Kusunoki no Bannin centers on a young man named Reito, who was unjustly let go from his job and is arrested after committing a crime in vengeance. He’s sent to the prosecutor’s office to appeal his case, when a lawyer appears and tells him that he can be released if he obeys the orders of his client. 

Reito decides to take the offer, as he learns that the client is his late mother’s half-sister, Senshu Yanagisawa. Senshu tells Reito that he must become the camphorwood tree custodian at Tsukigo shrine, where he meets different people visiting the temple grounds for various reasons.

Source: Kusunoki no Bannin Official Twitter, Anime News Network