Circle December 12, 2025 — it’s not just another Friday. It’s when Mamoru Hosoda, the visionary behind Mirai, returns with Scarlet, a time- and space-bending tale of a brave princess. According to Deadline, Sony is co-producing this ambitious project with Studio Chizu and Nippon TV, handling its worldwide release (except for Japan, where Toho takes the reins).
Sound familiar? That’s because just two years earlier, Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron made its quiet December debut — and soared. With a poetic stillness and $46.8M at the US box office, it proved there’s room for bold, introspective anime in awards season.
But can Scarlet rise to the same heights? Hosoda’s style is more kinetic, grounded in emotional realism yet laced with fantasy. Where Miyazaki paints dreams with silence, Hosoda injects them with urgency. The question isn't whether Scarlet can be Miyazaki-level — it’s whether it can carve its own path into our collective memory.
The poster teases grandeur. Now we wait for the magic.
