Foxing: Kitsuné-tsuki

Drifting through the fog of modern isolation, a young woman starts unraveling — and that unraveling might be the most honest thing she's ever done. That's roughly what we know about Foxing: Kitsuné-tsuki, an original short film from Toei Animation arriving in 2026. Directed by Takeru Shinozuka in his commercial debut, the movie draws on the Japanese folklore concept of kitsune possession — being overtaken by a fox spirit — as a lens for something deeply personal: the messy, painful process of confronting who you really are when the walls you've built start cracking. Details are still thin since it hasn't released yet, but the premise centers on emotional transformation and the journey toward personal liberation, told through a poetic, visually driven approach. Think less action spectacle, more introspective atmosphere. If you liked the quiet intensity of a film like Wolf Children or the surreal emotional landscapes in Paprika, this feels like it could live in that same space — grounded human struggles filtered through fantasy imagery. What makes it worth keeping on your radar is the combination of an original story, a fresh director getting a proper platform, and Toei backing something that sounds genuinely personal rather than franchise-driven. For fans of films like The Night is Short, Walk on Girl, where animation style and emotional texture matter more than plot mechanics, this could be a real find. Keep an eye out.