Witch on the Holy Night Gets International Release Dates

Witch on the Holy Night now has a full rollout plan spanning nearly a dozen countries. Crunchyroll and Sony Pictures Entertainment confirmed the film’s international theatrical dates, with North American audiences able to see it starting January 29, 2027, roughly two months after its November 20, 2026, premiere in Japan. The announcement included a new English-subtitled trailer.

Ufotable’s adaptation of TYPE-MOON’s 2012 visual novel has been in the works since its original December 2021 announcement, meaning fans have waited nearly five years to see a firm release plan come together. Ufotable is the same studio behind Demon Slayer, the Fate series, and The Garden of Sinners.

Witch on the Holy Night – What We Know

The film is set in the late 1980s, near the end of Japan’s Showa era, in the snowy city of Misaki. The story follows Soujuurou Shizuki, an ordinary young man who moves to town and accidentally witnesses real witchcraft, ending up living under the same roof as two witches: the arrogant Aoko Aozaki and the mysterious Alice Kuonji.

Japan’s November 20 release date was revealed on July 7, fittingly Aoko’s birthday, during a special event held in Naka-Ikebukuro Park in Tokyo. That reveal came alongside a new key visual and trailer, and advance tickets went on sale through Animate stores in several Japanese cities ahead of the announcement, a sign the studio was already building anticipation before the date itself went public. Earlier in the year, ufotable had only confirmed a general 2026 window, so narrowing that down to a specific November date marked the most concrete milestone the project had reached since its original reveal.

International audiences get a staggered rollout starting January 21, 2027, in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, followed by January 26 in German-speaking Austria, Germany, and Switzerland, and January 27 in French-speaking France, Belgium, and Switzerland. A large batch of territories, including Mexico, Brazil, Italy, the Netherlands, Australia, and New Zealand, gets the film January 28, with the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and several other countries following January 29. The film will be available both in Japanese with English subtitles and in a full English-language dub, giving both longtime fans and newcomers a way to experience it comfortably.

This film sits within the same loose shared universe as other Kinoko Nasu-created TYPE-MOON works. Its lead character, Aoko Aozaki, later appears in the 2000 visual novel Tsukihime, which is set after the events of this story, and in the Melty Blood fighting game series. Aoko’s sister, Touko Aozaki, is a major character in The Garden of Sinners, a separate TYPE-MOON series ufotable has already adapted. The original visual novel itself first released on PC in Japan in 2012, later getting a fully voiced HD version for Nintendo Switch and PS4 in December 2022, followed by a Steam release in December 2023.

What This Means for Fans

A nearly five-year gap between initial announcement and a real release plan is a long wait, even accounting for how carefully ufotable has historically handled TYPE-MOON adaptations. Locking in dates across a dozen countries within the same general window, rather than a slow country-by-country rollout stretched over many months, suggests confidence that international demand is high enough to justify a coordinated push. Ufotable’s track record with The Garden of Sinners and the Fate series has generally paid off with strong reception, giving Crunchyroll and Sony good reason to bet on a wide simultaneous release rather than testing the waters more cautiously.

Positioning this film as a prequel to Tsukihime, while keeping its own story self-contained, also gives newcomers a genuinely approachable entry point into TYPE-MOON’s wider catalog without requiring familiarity with the sprawling Fate franchise first. That accessibility could matter a lot for how far the film’s audience extends beyond existing TYPE-MOON fans.

What’s Next

The Japanese theatrical run begins November 20, 2026, with international dates following in phases from January 21 through January 29, 2027. No streaming release date has been announced yet, though Crunchyroll’s involvement as international distributor makes the platform the most likely eventual home for the film once its theatrical window concludes.

FAQ