A sequel to the 2020 anime film Poupelle of Chimney Town has been announced to begin screening in Japanese theaters in Spring 2026. The sequel will be titled Entotsu-cho no Poupelle ~Yakusoku no Tokeidai~.
The sequel was confirmed in a 54-second announcement video and an illustration drawn by the original author Akihiro Nishino. Nishino is also credited as executive producer, screenwriter, and scriptwriter for the anime sequel film.
Yusuke Hirota returns to direct the new film after directing the first Poupelle of Chimney Town film, with STUDIO4℃ handling the animation production once again.
Other staff involved with the first film included Atsuko Fukushima (Genius Party, Robot Carnival) as character designer and Youki Kojima and Yuta Bando (Kaiju No. 8) as music composers.
Yakusoku no Tokeidai is based on Nishino’s Tick-Tock ~Yakusoku no Tokeidai~ picture book, which was published by Gentosha in 2019. The 2020 Poupelle of Chimney Town adapted Nishino’s 2016 children’s picture book of the same name.
Eleven Arts screened Poupelle of Chimney Town in North America in January 2022, describing the film’s main synopsis as:
Poupelle of Chimney Town is the story of young Lubicchi living among the thick smoke from the chimneys of his isolated town, yearning to see the “stars” —to know the truth —his father always told him about. One Halloween night he meets Poupelle, a man made of garbage, and together they look to the sky as their adventure begins. Spectacularly beautiful, filled with inspiring performances and splendid music and sound effects, and produced at Tokyo’s famed Studio 4ºC, Poupelle of Chimney Town brings laughter, tears and joy.
Source: Poupelle of Chimney Town Official Twitter, Official Anime Website, Comic Natalie
