Watch the First Seven Minutes of Mamoru Hosoda’s Scarlet

Thanks to films like Belle, Mirai, and Summer Wars, Mamoru Hosoda has established himself as one of anime’s most celebrated filmmakers working today. His latest film, Scarlet, looks to be his most ambitious yet, if the four-and-a-half-year-long production is any indication. Unlike his previous films, though, Scarlet looks like fairly straightforward fantasy epic about a young princess seeking to avenge her father’s murder à la Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Here’s the full synopsis:

Scarlet, a medieval-era, sword-fighting princess on a dangerous quest to avenge the death of her father is the protagonist of this powerful, timebending animated adventure. After failing in her mission and finding herself fatally injured in a surreal world, she encounters an idealistic young man from our present day who not only helps her to heal but shows her the possibility of a future free from bitterness and rage. When confronted once more by her father’s killer, Scarlet faces her most daunting battle: can she break the cycle of hatred and find meaning in life beyond revenge?

Scarlet was released in Japan on November 21, where it hit #3 in the box office on opening weekend. The film was originally scheduled for release in North American theaters on December 12, but Sony Pictures Classics opted to push back its release to February 6, 2026. In the meantime, Toho has uploaded the film’s first seven minutes to its YouTube channel.

Although the clip is in Japanese with no English subtitles, these opening minutes do give us a glimpse at what could be the film’s most divisive aspect: its animation style. Hosoda is obviously going for a mix of 2D and 3D animation, and to be honest, I’m not sure how well it works. I’m pretty skeptical of 3D being used in anime — more often than not, it feels flat and lifeless — and what little I see here doesn’t do much to dissuade me from that opinion.

When Scarlet had its North American premier at the Toronto International Film Festival, it received some decidedly mixed responses. Kieran Davey called the film’s 3D animation “incredibly retrograde and clunky, reminiscent of early computer-assisted anime in the early 2000s” while Timothy Lee went so far as to call it “absolutely atrocious.” Kevin L. Lee, on the other hand, called the film’s imagery “stunning and breathtaking” and Karlo Siriban loved the 3D animation, claiming it lets Hosoda “[push] beyond traditional anime limitations.”

We’ll all be able to decide for ourselves, though, when the film opens in North America this coming February.