# Inu-Oh (犬王)
**Inu-Oh** (犬王, stylized INU-OH) is a 2021 Japanese animated musical film directed by [Masaaki Yuasa](https://www.edgepedia.org/masaaki-yuasa), based on [Hideo Furukawa](https://www.edgepedia.org/hideo-furukawa)'s novel *Heike Monogatari: Inu-Oh no Maki* (平家物語 犬王の巻), which reimagines the life of a real, historically obscure Noh performer of the [Muromachi period](https://www.edgepedia.org/muromachi-period) as a rock-musical pop star.[1](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/9226) • [2](https://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/2021/lineup/orizzonti/inu-oh) It premiered at the 2021 Venice International Film Festival in the Orizzonti section and was released in Japanese theaters on May 28, 2022.[2](https://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/2021/lineup/orizzonti/inu-oh) • [3](https://jfdb.jp/title/9226)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / studio | Masaaki Yuasa; animation by Science SARU[1](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/9226) |
| Source | *Heike Monogatari: Inu-Oh no Maki* by Hideo Furukawa (Kawade Bunko)[1](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/9226) |
| Release | May 28, 2022 (Japan); 98 minutes; Japan–China co-production[3](https://jfdb.jp/title/9226) • [2](https://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/2021/lineup/orizzonti/inu-oh) |
| Voice cast | Avu-chan (of Queen Bee) as Inu-Oh; Mirai Moriyama as Tomona[1](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/9226) |
| Key crew | Screenplay Akiko Nogi; character design Taiyo Matsumoto; music Yoshihide Otomo[1](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/9226) |
| Festivals and awards | Venice 2021 Orizzonti; 2023 Golden Globe nominee (Best Animated Feature); 2023 Annie Award nominee (Best Indie Feature, Best Writing); 46th Japan Academy Prize, Excellent Animation Work Award[2](https://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/2021/lineup/orizzonti/inu-oh) • [4](https://eiga.com/movie/91393/) |
| Distributors | Aniplex and Asmik Ace (Japan)[1](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/9226) |
## Spoilers
### Story
The film is set in Kyoto during the Muromachi period, when the Nanboku-cho conflict divided the country. Inu-Oh is born into a sarugaku (early Noh) troupe with a unique, monstrous appearance; adults cover his body and face with garments and a gourd-shaped mask, and he is shunned like a stray dog.[5](https://www.asmik-ace.co.jp/works/lineup/5229/) • [6](https://www.cinematoday.jp/movie/T0024266/review) He meets Tomona, a blind biwa (Japanese plucked lute; central to Tomona's character and Heike storytelling) player blinded by a curse of the fallen Heike clan, and the two exchange song and dance before they exchange names.[5](https://www.asmik-ace.co.jp/works/lineup/5229/)
As partners, the two hear the voices of the Heike ghosts and compose new chant pieces that fold the lost story of the Heike into their own performances.[7](https://eiga.com/movie/91393/critic/) Their unconventional music and dance electrify popular audiences, and with each performance Inu-Oh sheds a part of his transformed body and gains a singular beauty.[4](https://eiga.com/movie/91393/) • [7](https://eiga.com/movie/91393/critic/) The pair rise to stardom as entertainers, performing on ever larger stages, until they face the shogun [Ashikaga Yoshimitsu](https://www.edgepedia.org/ashikaga-yoshimitsu), who prepares a stage to decide Inu-Oh's fate.[4](https://eiga.com/movie/91393/) • [7](https://eiga.com/movie/91393/critic/) Reviewers describe the story as one of the marginalized singing the tales of the unrewarded, winning popular support and then being crushed by authority and violence.[6](https://www.cinematoday.jp/movie/T0024266/review)
## The historical Inu-Oh and the source novel
Inu-Oh was a real sarugaku performer active between the Nanboku-cho and Muromachi periods. In his own time he is said to have been more popular than Zeami, who later completed Noh as an art form, yet not a single one of Inu-Oh's chanted pieces survives and his existence is wrapped in mystery.[7](https://eiga.com/movie/91393/critic/) Furukawa's novel gives him a partner in Tomona and retells his story as that of two young men who defy fate to forge their own destinies.[2](https://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/2021/lineup/orizzonti/inu-oh)
The novel's chaptered, short-sentence style is close to oral literature, and the film's producers found it readily adaptable to the screen.[8](https://www.creators-station.jp/interview/seehim/161196) The film supplies what history does not record: since the original text gives song titles and narration but no melodies, the invention of Inu-Oh's new songs forms the core of the movie.[7](https://eiga.com/movie/91393/critic/)
## Production
The project originated when producer Takeuchi Fumie found Furukawa's novel in a bookstore, was struck by Taiyo Matsumoto's cover illustration of Inu-Oh, read it in a day, and wrote a proposal that she brought to Yuasa, with whom she had previously worked on *Mind Game* and *The Tatami Galaxy*.[8](https://www.creators-station.jp/interview/seehim/161196) The film was announced early, at the 2019 Annecy International Animation Film Festival, and showed work-in-progress material there the following year.[9](https://www.bunka.go.jp/tokei_hakusho_shuppan/tokeichosa/chosakuken/pdf/93689101_02.pdf)
It was built as an international co-production from the start, recruiting overseas investment partners and securing a co-production subsidy centered on Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs; early announcement allowed international pre-sales, reducing dependence on Japanese box-office returns.[8](https://www.creators-station.jp/interview/seehim/161196) The Venice page lists the production as Asmik Ace and Science SARU, with the country given as Japan and China.[2](https://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/2021/lineup/orizzonti/inu-oh)
**Music.** Composer Yoshihide Otomo, known for the drama *Amachan*, asked for choreography to come first: Yuasa produced rough lyric-and-action movies, Otomo composed to them, and Avu-chan arranged the lyrics and singing to complete each song, a three-way session.[7](https://eiga.com/movie/91393/critic/) • [10](https://www.wowow.co.jp/detail/186895) The soundtrack deliberately introduces electric guitar and other sounds that could not have existed in Muromachi Japan; Yuasa described these anachronisms as the film's fictions, included because they serve the storytelling.[11](https://www.jff.jpf.go.jp/article/masaakiyuasa/) Specialist supervision covered history (Yoshihiko Sata), Noh (Keizo Miyamoto), Noh performance (Hironori Kamei), and biwa (Yukihiro Goto).[4](https://eiga.com/movie/91393/)
**Design and animation.** [Matsumoto](https://www.edgepedia.org/matsumoto), who had worked with Yuasa on *Ping Pong The Animation*, created the characters with a skeletal quality evoking Japanese physiques.[1](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/9226) • [7](https://eiga.com/movie/91393/critic/) Critics noted the film's many special-effects sequences, including cuts that race backward through time, blurred shadows and light appearing in sightless daylight and pitch black, and the visualization of sound.[7](https://eiga.com/movie/91393/critic/)
## Reception
At its Venice premiere in the Orizzonti competition the film was described as a "rock opera."[12](https://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=92589) After Venice it screened at Toronto, Busan, Warsaw, Bucharest, Singapore, Rotterdam, Gothenburg, and Berlin Critics' Week, and won the Special Distinction Prize at the Bucheon International Animation Festival.[9](https://www.bunka.go.jp/tokei_hakusho_shuppan/tokeichosa/chosakuken/pdf/93689101_02.pdf)
In North America it received a 91 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes as of January 9, 2023, and became the first Japanese animated film nominated for the Golden Globe Best Animated Feature since *Mirai* in 2019, four years earlier.[13](https://www.cinematoday.jp/news/N0134502) It was nominated for Annie Awards for Best Indie Feature and Best Writing, and won the Excellent Animation Work Award at the 46th Japan Academy Prizes in 2023.[1](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/9226) • [4](https://eiga.com/movie/91393/) Yuasa said he saw little difference between Japanese and overseas audience reactions, with warm responses in both.[13](https://www.cinematoday.jp/news/N0134502)
## References
1. [INU-OH, Japanese Film Database (JFDB)](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/9226)
2. [Inu-oh, Biennale Cinema 2021, La Biennale di Venezia](https://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/2021/lineup/orizzonti/inu-oh)
3. [犬王, JFDB (Japanese page)](https://jfdb.jp/title/9226)
4. [犬王：作品情報・声優・キャスト・あらすじ・動画, 映画.com](https://eiga.com/movie/91393/)
5. [犬王, Asmik Ace](https://www.asmik-ace.co.jp/works/lineup/5229/)
6. [犬王 (2022)：映画短評, シネマトゥデイ](https://www.cinematoday.jp/movie/T0024266/review)
7. [「犬王」評論：ポップな歌声響く「夢幻能」の如き怪作, 映画.com](https://eiga.com/movie/91393/critic/)
8. [もっと多くの人に作品を届けたい！クリエイターの才能を掛け合わせて映画『犬王』をプロデュース, クリエイターズステーション](https://www.creators-station.jp/interview/seehim/161196)
9. [アニメ アスミック・エース, 文化庁資料 (PDF)](https://www.bunka.go.jp/tokei_hakusho_shuppan/tokeichosa/chosakuken/pdf/93689101_02.pdf)
10. [犬王, WOWOWオンライン](https://www.wowow.co.jp/detail/186895)
11. [アニメ監督・湯浅政明が『犬王』で考えた想像力の大切さとは, JFF Theater](https://www.jff.jpf.go.jp/article/masaakiyuasa/)
12. [犬王：作品情報・映画レビュー, KINENOTE](https://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=92589)
13. [『犬王』ゴールデン・グローブ受賞なるか 湯浅監督、現地会見で意気込み, シネマトゥデイ](https://www.cinematoday.jp/news/N0134502)
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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 3, 2026; 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