The Last Breath of a Yakuza, the French title of Housenka, hits theaters in France on May 27, 2026. Directed by Baku Kinoshita, this Japanese animated film was selected for the official feature-length competition at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival 2025.
The Last Breath of a Yakuza
Film | 2025
Release in theaters: May 27, 2026
Animation | Running time: 1h30
Directed by: Baku Kinoshita | Screenplay: Kazuya Konomoto, Baku Kinoshita
Starring: Kaoru Kobayashi, Hikari Mitsushima, Yoshiko Miyazaki
Original title: Housenka
Nationality: Japan
The story opens in autumn 2023. Akutsu, an elderly inmate serving a life sentence, is nearing death in his cell when a talking flower speaks to him about his existence. Their conversation carries him back to the summer of 1986, a time when he was living with Nana and her son Kensuke in a dilapidated apartment.
Against a backdrop of family memories, precarity and a criminal past, Le Dernier Souffle d’un Yakuza crafts an animated drama about the reckoning of a life. The film hinges on a singular device: a dialogue with a flower that dredges up the choices, regrets and frailties of a man nearing death.
Debuting at Annecy 2025, the feature marks Baku Kinoshita’s transition to cinema, following his acclaimed work on Odd Taxi. He reunites here with Kazuya Konomoto, who writes the screenplay, in a版 more intimate and melancholic vein.
French-subtitled trailer for The Last Breath of a Yakuza
The Last Breath of a Yakuza targets fans of mature Japanese animation, intimate dramas, and crime stories that center on memory, family, and end-of-life themes.
To keep the cinema experience going, check out May’s movie releases, the must-see films currently in theaters, and our picks for Japanese animated features to see on the big screen.
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