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Labyrinth (2026)


Labyrinth is an anime film about a girl's dreams of stardom turning into a mission to save the planet from brainrot. It is directed by Shôji Kawamori, who has been involved with the Macross franchise since the 1980s and also worked in the art department on the original Ghost in the Shell, so he is definitely a veteran of Japanese animation. Writer Taichi Hashimoto is not nearly as well known, but if Kawamori liked the script enough to turn it into a movie, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Unfortunately, the premise feels like it should be more universally entertaining than it actually is.

The only voice actor I immediately recognized was Tomokazu Sugita, who has been in an enormous number of anime and games. You might recognize him as Gyomei from Demon Slayer or Yusuke Kitagawa from Persona 5. He brings the kind of recognizable voice presence you'd expect from someone with such an extensive resume, although there was not really a performance that stood out enough to carry the movie.

The main actress, Suzuka, is also a singer from the pop group Atarashii Gakko!, although I have never listened to their music. She has not appeared in much outside of that, which makes sense considering how young she is. She does a decent job in the role, but this is not exactly a performance that made me want to seek out her other work.

Maaya Sakamoto also appears in the film and is probably the other voice most likely to be recognizable to Western audiences. She is better known for playing Aerith in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children and Tamayo in Demon Slayer. As expected from someone with her experience, she fits naturally into the anime's world, although even her presence cannot completely overcome some of the film's writing problems.

There is a lot of weirdness here that feels like it could only come from Japan. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but there are definitely moments that feel like something was lost in translation and perhaps only people from Japan will fully appreciate them. You would think a premise about brainrot and saving the planet would be pretty universal, but I found myself sitting through quite a bit of dialogue that felt more like fluff added to bloat the runtime than anything that actually moved the story forward. The one thing I can say without hesitation is that the artwork is beautiful. There are some genuinely impressive visuals throughout the movie.

Overall, Labyrinth has a bizarre and interesting premise, beautiful animation, and some experienced talent behind it, but it never completely comes together. The cultural quirks can be entertaining, but too much of the dialogue feels like filler, and I never found myself invested enough to want to revisit it. I don't think I'll watch Labyrinth again, and I wouldn't recommend it to most people. The art is probably the strongest reason to give it a look, but there just isn't enough underneath it to make the experience particularly memorable. Result: C+

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