Third
time's the charm, or so we hope. The official website of Puella Magi
Madoka Magica The Movie: Walpurgisnacht: Rising (Gekijouban Mahou
Shoujo Madoka Magica: Walpurgis no Kaiten), the direct sequel to Rebellion,
announced that the film will be released in Japan on August 28.
The
production has a history of delays that is already beginning to be legendary
within the fandom: it was first scheduled for winter 2024, then moved to winter
2025, then to February 2026, and last month it suffered another postponement
due to "production circumstances". The project itself was first
hinted at in 2015 through a concept video, though the official announcement
didn't come until April 2021.
Walpurgisnacht:
Rising movie details
The
direction is in charge of Yukihiro Miyamoto, who previously
directed the original Puella Magi Madoka Magica series, Magia
Record and Arakawa Under the Bridge. The rest of the
franchise's founding team returns in full: original creator Magica
Quartet, lead director Akiyuki Simbo, screenwriter Gen
Urobuchi of Nitroplus, original character designer Ume Aoki,
animation character designer Junichiro Taniguchi, composer Yuki
Kajiura, alternate space designer Gekidan Inu Curry, and
animation studio SHAFT.
About
the work
Puella Magi Madoka Magica is one of the most influential franchises in the mahou shoujo genre. The original television series premiered in 2011 and was followed by two compilation films and Rebellion in 2013, the latter considered by many to be one of the best anime films of the decade. Walpurgisnacht: Rising is the direct continuation of that story. As an additional fact, the television versions of the compilation films Beginnings and Eternal began airing in October 2025.
