A brand‑new collaboration visual has been unveiled for the upcoming Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie –Walpurgisnacht: Rising- and its sequel Witch on the Holy Night. The illustration pairs the series’ iconic heroine Madoka Kaname with newcomer Aoko Aozaki, signaling the two films’ intertwined narrative direction.
The artwork was shared via the official Madoka Magica X/Twitter account and a follow‑up post on the Witch on the Holy Night X/Twitter feed. Both posts were highlighted in a Crunchyroll News release, underscoring the collaboration between Aniplex, ufotable, and TYPE‑MOON.
Release schedule
Walpurgisnacht: Rising opened in Japanese theaters on August 28, 2026, with select IMAX screenings. The film will roll out across U.S. theaters from January 16 to January 19, 2027, offering both subtitled and dubbed versions. Details on the U.S. theatrical window were first reported by Anitrendz.
The sequel, Witch on the Holy Night, is set to premiere in Japan on November 20, 2026. North American audiences can expect the film in U.S. and Canadian cinemas beginning January 29, 2027, again in both subtitle and dub formats, as announced by Crunchyroll in a recent news piece.
For those eager to revisit the franchise’s origins, Crunchyroll continues to stream the 2011 television series Puella Magi Madoka Magica alongside the Magia Record spinoff. The service describes the original series as following “Madoka Kaname, an eighth‑grader whose fateful encounter with a magical creature changes her destiny.”
The upcoming Witch on the Holy Night film adapts a short story from TYPE‑MOON’s visual novel universe. The synopsis, supplied by Crunchyroll, follows Aoko Aozaki—an apprentice Magician navigating modern life—who meets a mysterious boy, sparking the beginning of “the tale of a Witch.”
The visual ties together two distinct creative teams: ufotable’s signature animation for the main series and TYPE‑MOON’s narrative roots for the new film. Both studios are credited in the illustration, which also features contributions from Aniplex Notes.
Earlier promotional material for Walpurgisnacht: Rising hinted at “unexpected sights” in its post‑release trailer, as covered by Anitrendz. The film’s visual evolution has been a topic of discussion since its first announcement in April 2021, when it was slated for a Winter 2024 debut before being pushed back to Winter 2025 and ultimately to its current 2026 schedule.
Fans looking for deeper background on the franchise’s theatrical trajectory may find the earlier coverage of the film’s shifting release windows helpful. For instance, the Winter 2024 timeline was detailed in a 2023 Anitrendz article, illustrating how production delays reshaped the project’s calendar.
In related news, Manga For Today previously reported on the U.S. theatrical plan for Walpurgisnacht: Rising, providing additional context on the film’s distribution strategy.
With the collaboration visual now public, anticipation builds for both releases. The pairing of Madoka and Aoko hints at thematic bridges between the established magical girl lore and the fresh magical‑theoretic concepts introduced by TYPE‑MOON, promising a compelling continuation of the Madoka universe for longtime followers and newcomers alike.
Featured image: © respective copyright holders
Source: AniTrendz