The Medicine Seller has one more mystery inside the Ōoku. Mononoke the Movie: Chapter III – The Curse of the Serpent comes to Netflix on September 29, closing the colorful film trilogy. The first two chapters are already streaming there, so there is time to follow the whole story before the finale arrives.
Mononoke began as a television anime about a mysterious exorcist known as the Medicine Seller. The films move his work into the Ōoku, the richly decorated inner palace. A mononoke is not just an enemy to cut down. The spirits arise from human feelings and grudges, so learning what happened to people in the palace is part of confronting one.
What order should you watch the films?
Start with The Phantom in the Rain, released in 2024. Continue with Chapter II – The Ashes of Rage from 2025. Then watch Chapter III – The Curse of the Serpent when it reaches Netflix on September 29. Netflix lists the first two films as available now; the third is the final part of this Ōoku story.
The order matters because the films share one setting but follow different women within it. The first centers on a newly arrived maid. The second turns to the Ochurou, the palace’s elite concubines. The final film moves its focus to the Midaidokoro, the highest-ranking woman in the Ōoku. That climb through the palace gives each chapter a new point of view on its secrets.
What changes in the final chapter?
Netflix says clues planted in the earlier chapters come together here. The new trailer brings back the Medicine Seller amid the series’ dense colors, ornate rooms and frightening supernatural shapes. It is a preview of the mood, not a full explanation of the serpent’s curse. The film’s central answers are best left to the story.
Hiroshi Kamiya voices the Medicine Seller. The Japanese cast announced by Netflix also includes Atsumi Tanezaki, Miyu Irino, Kenjiro Tsuda and Miyuki Sawashiro, who voices the third Midaidokoro. Kenji Nakamura is chief director and Tomoaki Koshida directs, with Studio KAFKA and EOTA handling the animation.
Has Chapter III already played in Japan?
Yes. The official Japanese film site dates its theatrical opening to May 29, 2026. September 29 is its Netflix debut, not the first time the film has existed anywhere. That distinction is worth keeping clear when a movie moves from theaters in one market to worldwide streaming later.
Newcomers can use the Netflix order above to meet the palace and its people. Longtime viewers have a different pleasure ahead: seeing how three stories about women with very different positions in the same place finally connect.
Find the confirmed release, cast and trilogy details on our Mononoke Chapter III title page.
