The Last Blossom

Screening as part of the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2026. This title of this year's programme is Knowing Me, Knowing You: The True Self in Japanese Cinema. 

If you book three or more films in the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2026, each ticket will be discounted to the special price of £8. Simply add the tickets to your basket and the offer will be applied at check-out.

A man with a criminal past seeks a new beginning in life — but can he really become someone beyond himself?

An elderly man named Akutsu Minoru, serving a life sentence, awaits a lonely death in his prison cell. The only real sign of life in the cell is a potted balsam flower —hosenka in Japanese. One night, Minoru begins sharing his life story with the flower and, improbably, it starts talking back. Through their conversations, Minoru recalls his past and reflects on the meaning of his life.

The summer of 1987. Minoru, a low-ranking yakuza member, moves into a modest seaside apartment with single mother Nana and her son. This living arrangement comes through Tsutsumi, a senior gangster Minoru respects.

Despite his criminal lifestyle and his shyness in expressing his feelings for Nana, Minoru loves them with all his heart. The balsam plants in his garden witness their peaceful and seemingly ordinary life.

But, caught in a web of misplaced loyalty and friendship, Minoru finds himself manipulated — by others or by fate — still clinging to the hope of one last secret comeback from his troubled life.

Director Kinoshita Baku’s thoughtful and tender anime explores love and life’s changes in a way that everybody can resonate with.