The Last Blossom opens with elderly man Akutsu (Junki Tozuka) in jail, reminiscing about his life, a former Yakuza who thinks he can still turn things around, even though he’s stuck in his cell with no visitors and his only company being a Housenka pot plant that talks to him, because only the very young and the dying can hear one speak.
He reminisces back to August 1987 (which it states onscreen, even though the description states 1986), when he met a woman called Nana (Hikari Mitsushima) – who had a young son by a previous relationship, all living together in a home surrounded by Housenka flowers – having been introduced to her by colleague Tsutsumi (Hiroki Yasumoto), quite a bossy bloke, who thinks nothing about lighting up a cigarette in their home, although this is set almost four decades ago.
The reason for him being in the clink, I’ll leave you to discover, but an urgent situation leads to a return to old ways which run the risk of taking him away from his one, true love.
So, The Last Blossom might seem like it has a partly-generic plot – although a talking plant is a rarity – but this is a stunning Anime with the atmosphere and heart to be engaging and carry you along for its brief running time.
NOTE: There are no mid- not post-credits scenes.
The Last Blossom is in cinemas now, but isn’t yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD. However, once announced, it will appear on the New DVD Blu-ray 3D and 4K releases UK list.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 90 minutes
Release date: March 27th 2026
Studio: Anime Ltd
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Rating: 7/10
Director: Baku Kinoshita
Producers: Timothy Killian, Ryôichirô Matsuo
Screenplay: Baku Kinoshita, Kazuya Konomoto
Voice cast:
Akutsu (1987): Kaoru Kobayashi
Nana Nagata (younger): Hikari Mitsushima
Nana Nagata (Older): Yoshiko Miyazaki
Kensuke Nagata: Natsuki Hanae
Hayashida: Hideaki Murata
Konishi: Kouta Nakayama
Wakamatsu: Sôma Saitô
Housenka Flower: Pierre Taki
Akutsu (2023): Junki Tozuka
Tsutsumi: Hiroki Yasumoto
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.