The Mononoke movie trilogy ended its run in theaters with a surprise that not everyone liked. The return of Takahiro Sakurai as the Medicine Seller in Chapter III: The Serpent God was not announced before the premiere, and when audiences discovered it in theaters, debate erupted. Now, producer Koji Yamamoto has announced his retirement from production, taking responsibility for that decision.

What happened, why it happened, and what went wrong

In 2022, Sakurai was removed from the role of the Medicine Seller due to a controversy related to his private life. Hiroshi Kamiya took over the character, and with that voice, the first two chapters of the cinematic trilogy were released starting in 2024. The production committee at the time explained the change, arguing that the controversy could affect the audience’s ability to enjoy a story centered on the suffering and salvation of women in the Edo period palaces.

When Chapter III hit theaters last month, viewers found something no one had told them: Sakurai was back. In his statement, Yamamoto explained that during the development of the third film, the team faced the narrative challenge of closing the arc of the character Hyakume, and the options they evaluated included presenting a completely different Medicine Seller or showing the original character only through visual appearances without voice. They ultimately chose to bring back the version known as Ri, the nickname for Sakurai’s Medicine Seller in the original TV series.

The stated intention was to give fans who were waiting for that reunion a meaningful conclusion to the trilogy and also offer comfort to those who had missed the disappearance of that version of the character. The decision to keep it secret responded to the team’s desire for the audience to experience the surprise without spoilers, and for that they also implemented a three-day spoiler-free campaign after the premiere.

Yamamoto admits the central error was not properly considering the impact of that decision on viewers who did not want Sakurai’s return: by not informing them in advance, they took away their ability to decide whether they wanted to buy a ticket or not. “I deeply regret the lack of consideration,” he stated, apologizing to those who felt uncomfortable discovering the casting already inside the theater.

In his retirement announcement, Yamamoto noted that throughout his career, problems arose from advancing projects too aggressively, and in this specific case, he felt it necessary to take personal responsibility. He will continue to be involved in the industry through management, mentoring young talent, and innovation, without abandoning the credits of projects already in production. Reflecting on over twenty years as a producer and approximately one hundred productions since his time at Fuji TV, he described the works of director Kenji Nakamura as particularly significant to him, and considered it an honor that the Mononoke trilogy is his last production.

About Mononoke: The Movie

Mononoke: The Movie is a cinematic trilogy based on the 2007 anime series Mononoke, directed by Kenji Nakamura and known for its radically distinct visual style compared to other Japanese animation, with influences from ukiyo-e and a supernatural horror narrative set in feudal Japan. The trilogy began premiering in 2024. The Medicine Seller, the central character of the franchise, was originally portrayed by Takahiro Sakurai in the TV series and by Hiroshi Kamiya in the first two chapters of the cinematic trilogy after the 2022 replacement. Chapter III: The Serpent God is the conclusion of that trilogy and the last project in which Yamamoto is credited as producer.

Do you think the team made the right decision to bring Sakurai back to close the story, or was the problem not the casting but the lack of transparency with the public?