SHAFT's Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Walpurgisnacht Rising drops a third trailer introducing two new magical girls voiced by Shion Wakayama and Tomoyo Kurosawa, with the film opening in Japan on August 28.
SHAFT has unveiled the third trailer for Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Walpurgisnacht Rising, the long-delayed sequel film to Rebellion. The new promo, released on April 30, introduces two previously unannounced magical girls and confirms a Japanese theatrical opening of August 28, 2026, alongside an expanded staff list and additional cast.
The trailer formally introduces Shichoka, voiced by Shion Wakayama, and Selma Therese, voiced by Tomoyo Kurosawa. Both characters appear briefly in the new footage in full magical-girl regalia, joining returning leads Aoi Yuki as Madoka Kaname, Chiwa Saito as Homura Akemi, Kaori Mizuhashi as Mami Tomoe, Eri Kitamura as Sayaka Miki and Ai Nonaka as Kyoko Sakura.
Wakayama is best known for roles including Anya Forger in Spy x Family and Kanao Tsuyuri in Demon Slayer. Kurosawa carries her own Madoka-adjacent pedigree as the lead of Sound! Euphonium and as Asseylum in Aldnoah.Zero. Their additions push the on-screen magical-girl roster to one of the largest the franchise has ever assembled in a single film.
Gekidan Inu Curry, the creative duo responsible for the franchise's signature witch-labyrinth visuals, return alongside character designer Junichiro Taniguchi. The third trailer also confirms several additional staff names attached to art direction and 3DCG, indicating the long production cycle since the project was first teased in 2021 has settled into a finished pipeline.
The original Madoka Magica television series and the Rebellion film, both directed by Akiyuki Shinbo at SHAFT and written by Gen Urobuchi, remain touchstones of the magical-girl genre. Walpurgisnacht: Rising picks up directly from the cliffhanger ending of Rebellion, in which Homura reshapes the universe in defiance of Madoka's wish, and the new footage continues to lean into that fractured, surreal aesthetic.
Walpurgisnacht: Rising opens in Japanese theatres on August 28, 2026. No international distributor has been announced yet, though Aniplex's involvement and the franchise's track record with Aniplex of America make a Western theatrical or streaming window likely later in 2026 or early 2027. The film has been in active production since 2021, with two earlier trailers in 2024 and 2025 establishing its tone and confirming the surviving magical-girl cast.
The original twelve-episode television series and the three recap and sequel films have historically streamed on Netflix in select regions, but Walpurgisnacht: Rising does not currently have an Indian theatrical or streaming partner attached. Indian fans who want to revisit the franchise ahead of release can find Madoka Magica's earlier entries on import Blu-ray, while a streaming announcement for the new film is expected closer to the August Japan opening.
The third trailer marks the clearest signal yet that SHAFT's most anticipated project of the decade is finally on the runway. With the magical-girl roster expanded, the staff list filled out and a firm release date now locked in, Madoka fans have roughly four months until Walpurgisnacht: Rising arrives in Japanese cinemas.
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