# Genocidal Organ (虐殺器官) (2017 film)
**Genocidal Organ** ([虐殺器官](https://www.edgepedia.org/genocidal-organ), *Gyakusatsu Kikan*) is a 2017 Japanese animated science fiction film directed by Shuko Murase, adapting the 2007 debut novel of the same name by the writer Project Itoh (伊藤計劃). It was released in Japan on February 3, 2017, runs 115 minutes, and was distributed by Toho Visual Entertainment.[1](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/6532) • [2](https://eiga.com/movie/80164/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | February 3, 2017 (Japan); 115 minutes; distributed by Toho Visual Entertainment[1](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/6532) |
| Source | Animated adaptation of Project Itoh's 2007 debut novel, a Japan SF Award nominee[1](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/6532) |
| Director / screenplay | Shuko Murase, known for *Ergo Proxy*[1](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/6532) |
| Production | Geno Studio, founded after Manglobe's September 2015 bankruptcy halted the film[3](https://genostudio.co.jp/works/kokkoku/) |
| Project Itoh | Third and final film of the trilogy adapting Itoh's three novels, after *Empire of Corpses* and *Harmony*[4](https://animeanime.jp/article/2017/02/02/32396.html) |
| Main cast | [Yuichi Nakamura](https://www.edgepedia.org/yuichi-nakamura-voice-actor) (Clavis Shepherd), Takahiro Sakurai (John Paul), Satoshi Mikami (Williams), Yuki Kaji (Alex)[1](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/6532) |
| Ratings | R15+ in Japan; MA15+ in Australia for strong animated violence[2](https://eiga.com/movie/80164/) • [5](https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/genocidal-organ) |
| Music / theme song | Yoshihiro Ike; theme song by EGOIST[2](https://eiga.com/movie/80164/) |
## Spoilers
### Story
The film is set in a near future in which the developed democracies, after years of war on terror, have traded personal freedom for total surveillance and eliminated terrorism at home, while civil wars and large-scale genocides surge across the developing world.[6](https://project-itoh.com/genocidal_organ/introduction/index.html) After [Sarajevo](https://www.edgepedia.org/sarajevo) is destroyed by a homemade nuclear device, an American intelligence officer, Captain Clavis Shepherd of the special forces unit that carries out assassinations, is ordered to track down John Paul, a mysterious former linguist who appears in conflict zones shortly before genocides break out and then vanishes.[1](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/6532) • [7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/genocidal_organ)
Following a lead that John Paul is hiding in the Czech Republic, Clavis approaches Lucia Skroupova, a former student with whom John Paul had a relationship. The trail leads to the film's central idea: that human beings carry an innate capacity for genocide, an "organ" that can be switched on through particular patterns of language, and that John Paul has learned to trigger it.[6](https://project-itoh.com/genocidal_organ/introduction/index.html) • [8](https://dmovies.org/2017/07/09/genocidal-organ/) The special forces team itself is kept combat-ready through medical measures such as emotion adjustment and pain masking, a detail reviewers read as commentary on the developed world's desensitization to distant suffering.[6](https://project-itoh.com/genocidal_organ/introduction/index.html) • [9](https://www.timeout.com/movies/genocidal-organ)
## Production history
The film was planned as the first release of Project Itoh, a project to animate all three of the novels left by Project Itoh, a science fiction writer who died of illness in 2009 at the age of 34, two years after his debut.[4](https://animeanime.jp/article/2017/02/02/32396.html) • [1](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/6532) The three films were originally scheduled for release in consecutive months in 2015, with *Genocidal Organ* first.[4](https://animeanime.jp/article/2017/02/02/32396.html) • [10](https://mantan-web.jp/article/20170128dog00m200031000c.html)
**Manglobe's bankruptcy.** In late September 2015, one month before the film's planned theatrical release, the production studio Manglobe collapsed, and production stopped.[3](https://genostudio.co.jp/works/kokkoku/) • [4](https://animeanime.jp/article/2017/02/02/32396.html) The film had already suffered repeated delays because of its troubled production state.[3](https://genostudio.co.jp/works/kokkoku/) About three weeks after the postponement, chief producer Koji Yamamoto, formerly a [Fuji Television](https://www.edgepedia.org/fuji-television) producer behind the Noitamina block who had left in 2014 to found the planning company Twin Engine, decided to establish a new studio to continue the work.[4](https://animeanime.jp/article/2017/02/02/32396.html) Geno Studio was incorporated on November 19, 2015, taking on a small number of former Manglobe staff to finish the film.[3](https://genostudio.co.jp/works/kokkoku/) • [11](https://www.suginamigaku.org/2020/09/geno-studio.html)
The voice recording had been completed in January 2015, while Manglobe was still producing, and the cast learned only later whether the film would ever be released.[12](https://originalnews.nico/10812) The finished film was completed the morning before its January 28, 2017 preview screening, and the release date of February 3, 2017 was announced at an event within the 29th Tokyo International Film Festival in October 2016.[12](https://originalnews.nico/10812) • [13](https://www.cinematoday.jp/news/N0087216) The film screened in the festival's TIFF Anime section and later at the 2017 Fantasia International Film Festival.[1](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/6532)
## Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an 83% Tomatometer score from six critics, with an audience Popcornmeter score of 68%.[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/genocidal_organ) Reviews were divided. Tara Brady of The Irish Times gave it 4 out of 5, praising how Murase "patiently teases out Itoh's unwieldy and dark themes of political skulduggery, military outsourcing and public apathy"; Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave it 2 out of 5, finding it unconvincing despite its style; Time Out's Trevor Johnston gave 3 of 5, calling it an ideas-heavy, character-light film with impressive design.[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/genocidal_organ) • [9](https://www.timeout.com/movies/genocidal-organ) Some critics noted that the production turmoil left visible marks on the animation quality.[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/genocidal_organ)
## Related adaptations
A live-action English-language remake was reported in February 2016, with [Park Chan-wook](https://www.edgepedia.org/park-chan-wook), the South Korean director of *Oldboy*, attached to direct and Sean Daniel producing.[14](https://cinema.eiga.com/news/20160202/12/) The project then went quiet, but in a 2026 interview Park confirmed it was still in development: he had written a long treatment but not a screenplay, and said he was exploring how to reflect contemporary technology such as AI in the story, since the world has changed considerably since the novel was published.[15](https://www.cinematoday.jp/news/N0153635)
## References
1. [Genocidal Organ, Japanese Film Database (JFDB)](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/6532)
2. [虐殺器官 : 作品情報・声優・キャスト・あらすじ, 映画.com](https://eiga.com/movie/80164/)
3. [株式会社ジェノスタジオ ABOUT, Geno Studio](https://genostudio.co.jp/works/kokkoku/)
4. [映画「虐殺器官」山本幸治Pインタビュー, アニメ！アニメ！](https://animeanime.jp/article/2017/02/02/32396.html)
5. [GENOCIDAL ORGAN, Australian Classification](https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/genocidal-organ)
6. [GENOCIDAL ORGAN INTRODUCTION, Project Itoh official site](https://project-itoh.com/genocidal_organ/introduction/index.html)
7. [Genocidal Organ, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/genocidal_organ)
8. [Genocidal Organ – film review, DMovies](https://dmovies.org/2017/07/09/genocidal-organ/)
9. [Genocidal Organ review, Time Out](https://www.timeout.com/movies/genocidal-organ)
10. [虐殺器官：スタジオ倒産を経て公開へ, MANTANWEB](https://mantan-web.jp/article/20170128dog00m200031000c.html)
11. [株式会社ジェノスタジオ, すぎなみ学倶楽部](https://www.suginamigaku.org/2020/09/geno-studio.html)
12. [「虐殺器官」がスタジオ倒産を乗り越えついに公開！, ニコニコニュース オリジナル](https://originalnews.nico/10812)
13. [制作会社破綻から復活！アニメ『虐殺器官』2017年2月3日公開決定！, シネマトゥデイ](https://www.cinematoday.jp/news/N0087216)
14. [伊藤計劃「虐殺器官」をパク・チャヌク監督が実写映画化, 映画.com](https://cinema.eiga.com/news/20160202/12/)
15. [伊藤計劃「虐殺器官」実写映画化、今も企画中, シネマトゥデイ](https://www.cinematoday.jp/news/N0153635)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Films by genre, form, and subject › Animated and short films › Japanese anime features › Released 2014 to 2026*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license