Updated 1 November 2026 with the announcements the official site made on 29 October: the IMAX release, the opening weekend stage greetings, and the release dates for the theme song and the soundtrack.
Witch on the Holy Night opens in Japanese cinemas on Friday 20 November 2026. The official site leads with the date and nothing else, which tells you how long people have been waiting for it: the film was announced in 2022 and then went quiet for years.
This is ufotable adapting Kinoko Nasu, so the comparison everyone reaches for is Fate. It is worth saying early that this is not that. Below is the confirmed date, the full staff and cast off the official site, the theme song announced last month, and an honest answer on whether it will be subtitled outside Japan.
Witch on the Holy Night release date
| Japanese release | Friday 20 November 2026 |
| Japanese title | 魔法使いの夜 (Mahoutsukai no Yoru) |
| Format | Theatrical film, screening in IMAX from opening day |
| Studio | ufotable |
| Distributor | Toho and Aniplex |
| Source | The 2012 TYPE-MOON visual novel by Kinoko Nasu |
| International release | Not announced |
Advance tickets went on sale on 2 October and the final trailer landed on 10 October, which is the usual shape of a release that is actually happening rather than one being quietly pushed.
IMAX, and the opening weekend
The film opens in IMAX on the same day as the standard release, Friday 20 November. The official site announced it on 29 October and put out a separate IMAX visual with it. This is the detail the listing sites have not picked up: AniList and MyAnimeList both carry the date and the studio, and neither carries the format. If you were planning to see it, this is the part that changes where you book.
Four stage greetings follow on the opening weekend, with two of the leads attending.
| Saturday 21 November, Tokyo | TOHO Cinemas Hibiya. The 16:00 screening, greeting afterwards, with live viewing at other cinemas. The 19:45 screening, greeting beforehand. |
| Sunday 22 November, Osaka | TOHO Cinemas Umeda. The 13:40 screening, greeting afterwards. The 17:30 screening, greeting beforehand. |
| Appearing | Haruka Tomatsu (Aoko Aozaki) and Yuusuke Kobayashi (Soujuurou Shizuki), hosted by Yoshito Ishida |
| Tickets | By lottery through Ticket Pia, applications opened 29 October at 20:30 JST |
The promotion around it is unusually heavy for a single film. Ikebukuro is being taken over in stages: the entrance staircase at TOHO Cinemas Ikebukuro changed over on 30 October, and the outdoor advertising at the Animate Ikebukuro flagship changes today, 1 November. An event in Ikebukuro is set for Thursday 19 November, the eve of release, with details still to come.
Is this a Fate film?
No, and the distinction matters if you are deciding whether you can walk in cold.
Witch on the Holy Night is its own story in the wider TYPE-MOON setting. It follows Aoko Aozaki, a high school student who is also an apprentice magician, living with Alice Kuonji in an old mansion, and what happens when a boy from the countryside walks into their lives. There is no Holy Grail War, no servants, and no required reading.
The connection fans will care about is Tsukihime rather than Fate. Aoko is part of the Aozaki family, which ties this to that corner of the setting. You do not need to have played anything to follow the film.
Staff and cast
Everything here is taken from the official site rather than a wiki, because the chief director and the director are two different people and most summaries collapse them.
| Original work | Kinoko Nasu and TYPE-MOON |
| Chief director | Hikaru Kondo |
| Director | Masaru Takeuchi |
| Original character design | Hirokazu Koyama, with original concepts by Takashi Takeuchi |
| Character design | Moe Tsuzuki |
| Chief animation director | Masato Nagamori |
| Script | Written in house at ufotable |
| Art direction | Kouji Etou |
| Music | Hideyuki Fukasawa |
| Animation production | ufotable |
The three leads:
- Aoko Aozaki, voiced by Haruka Tomatsu
- Alice Kuonji, voiced by Kana Hanazawa
- Soujuurou Shizuki, voiced by Yuusuke Kobayashi
Hikaru Kondo is ufotable’s founder and has been chief director across their TYPE-MOON work, so the continuity at the top is deliberate. Hideyuki Fukasawa on music is the departure, since Yuki Kajiura scored the Fate films.
The theme song
supercell perform the theme, titled “Yoru to Ao”, announced on 30 September alongside the final trailer. For a Nasu adaptation that is a pointed choice, since supercell’s association with this kind of material goes back a long way, and it signals a film leaning on mood rather than spectacle.
The release schedule for it was confirmed on 29 October, and the song arrives before the film does on disc.
| Digital single | Saturday 21 November 2026 |
| Anime edition CD | Wednesday 25 November 2026, SRCL-13919, 2,200 yen, limited production run, with a jacket illustration drawn for it by ufotable |
| supercell edition CD | Wednesday 9 December 2026, SRCL-13918, 2,200 yen, fully limited edition |
| On both discs | “Yoru to Ao” and its instrumental |
The score is separate and comes later. The Original Soundtrack is set for Wednesday 23 December 2026, two discs, 3,850 yen, catalogue number SVWC-70809 to 70810, with the first pressing in a slipcase box drawn by ufotable. Hideyuki Fukasawa wrote the music, which is worth noting on a ufotable film because Yuki Kajiura scored the Fate work most people will be comparing this to.
Will it get an international release?
Nothing has been announced. No distributor has named a date, a country or a platform outside Japan.
The precedent is mixed and worth knowing before you plan anything. ufotable’s Fate films reached cinemas in other countries through Aniplex, but the gap between the Japanese opening and a wider release has run from a few months to more than a year. Treat the 20 November date as a Japanese cinema date only, and expect news about everywhere else separately.
What to know going in
- It is a self contained story. No prior TYPE-MOON material is required.
- It is not an action film. The visual novel is largely a quiet story set in and around one house, and the trailers have matched that.
- It is one film, not a trilogy. Nothing suggests the split treatment the Heaven’s Feel route received.
- The source is short. The visual novel is a single volume story, which is why a film is a reasonable fit rather than a compression.
Quick answers
When does Witch on the Holy Night come out? Friday 20 November 2026, in Japanese cinemas.
Do I need to have seen Fate? No. It is a separate story.
Who is animating it? ufotable.
Is it in IMAX? Yes, from the first day, Friday 20 November.
Is there an international date? Not announced.
Who sings the theme? supercell, with “Yoru to Ao”.
Is it based on a game? Yes, the 2012 TYPE-MOON visual novel.
Our take
The interesting question is not whether it looks good. ufotable films look good. It is whether a studio known for spectacle can hold a story whose best moments are two people talking in a cold house. The source has very little action in it, and the trailers have resisted inventing some.
We will update this guide when an international release is announced. Meanwhile our weekly schedule tracks what is airing now, and the October 2026 premieres guide covers what started in October. Another dated film worth knowing about is in our Made in Abyss: Awakening Mystery guide.
Dates and listings can change. Checked against the official Mahoyo film site and AniList on 22 October 2026.
Also dated for Winter 2027: Shangri-La Frontier Season 3 starts on 10 January 2027, two consecutive cours, and moves the story into a different VR game.
