Guardians

A sequel to The Great Yokai War, the film is the latest installation of the Yokai Monsters franchise, and was released in Japan on August 13, 2021, by Toho and Kadokawa. Among the film's cast of creatures is the title character from the 1966 Daiei film series Daimajin. Gamera, the iconic kaiju by Daiei also made a cameo appearance in the spinoff prequel, The Great Yokai War: Guardians Side Story Heian Hundred Demon Tale (Japanese: 妖怪大戦争ガーディアンズ外伝 平安百鬼譚, Hepburn: Yōkai Daisensō Gādianzu Gaiden Heian Hyakkitan).

The Great Yokai War: Guardians
Theatrical release poster
Japanese name
Kanji	妖怪大戦争 ガーディアンズ
Transcriptions Revised Hepburn Yōkai Daisensō Gādianzu
Directed by	Takashi Miike
Screenplay by	Yūsuke Watanabe
Produced by	Misako Saka Norikazu Tsubaki
Starring	Kokoro Terada Hana Sugisaki Sakura Ando Takahiro Miura Yuko Oshima Eiji Akaso Renji Ishibashi Kenichi Endō Akira Emoto Nanako Matsushima Kazuki Kitamura Nao Ōmori Takao Osawa
Cinematography	Hideo Yamamoto
Edited by	Naoichiro Sagara
Music by	Kōji Endō
Production company	OLM, Inc.
Distributed by	Toho and Kadokawa
Release date	August 13, 2021 (2021-08-13) (Japan)
Running time	118 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese
Box office	¥32,972,990

The film premiered in Japan on August 13 and internationally at the online event Fantasia International Film Festival on August 25, 2021.

Ancient fossils sleeping in Fossa Magna have gathered together and transformed into a giant yōkai. The destination is Tokyo. Only the yōkai were aware of the truth about this invasion, which seems to modern humans to be a natural disaster. If nothing is done, the world will be destroyed. This can be stopped by Watanabe, an elementary school student in Tokorozawa, Saitama, who inherits the blood of the legendary monster hunter. Suddenly, the great adventure of the boy who was selected as the "hero who saves the world" and the yōkai who involved him begins now.

— Kadokawa

• Kokoro Terada as Kei Watanabe
• Hana Sugisaki as Fox-Faced Woman
• Rei Inomata as Dai Watanabe
• Takao Osawa as Inugami Gyōbu
• Nao Ōmori as Nao Omori
• Sakura Ando as Ubume
• Yuko Oshima as Yukionna
• Eiji Akaso as Amanojaku
• Takahiro Miura as Tengu
• Renji Ishibashi as Ōkubi
• Kenichi Endō as Yadokai
• Hiroshi Aramata as Amefurikozō
• SUMIRE as Ibarakidoji
• Takashi Okamura as Azukiarai
• Koji Okura as Shojo
• Hikakin as "Yōtuber" Hikakin
• Ryūnosuke Kamiki as Professor Katō
  • Kei's Homeroom teacher, he is actually Yasunori Kato, the villain from the previous film. Kamiki, who plays him, had played the main character Inao Tadashi in the previous film, The Great Yokai War 2005.
• Akira Emoto as Old Man
• Kazuki Kitamura as Tsuna Watanabe
• Nanako Matsushima as Reika Watanabe
• Myra Arai as Rokurokubi

Appearance of Daimajin in the film was presumably influenced by the scrapped project to revive the character by Takashi Miike in the late 2000s, along with Gamera the Brave in 2006.

Production credits

The film's U.S. premiere took place on August 28, 2021, as part of the Japan Cuts film festival held by the Japan Society in New York City.

On December 26, 2020 a manga adaptation of the film began being serialized by Kadokawa in Monthly Shōnen Ace.

A collaboration with the mobile game Ao Oni Online of the Ao Oni series was made, and Daimajin and Yōkaiju and Hikakin appeared as playable characters and an ornament where the game also collaborated with related figures and productions including Hikakin and Dekakin between 2021 and 2023, and the Netflix series Gamera Rebirth in 2023.

• List of Japanese films of 2021
• List of fantasy films of the 2020s
• List of monster movies