The completion screening of Armored Trooper VOTOMS: The Grey Witch (Hexe) took place on November 8 at TOHOシネマズ Roppongi Hills in Tokyo. Following the screening, director Mamoru Oshii joined voice actors Miyuki Sawashiro (Ash Vamps), Mafuyu Ando (Maki Staufenberg), Shin’ichiro Miki (Arix Barrock), and Sumire Uesaka (the mechanic girl) for a talk event on stage.

A Fan First: Oshii on Respecting the Source World

Oshii, a long-time fan of the VOTOMS franchise, said he was determined not to damage the world built by original director Ryosuke Takahashi. “This is my work and Takahashi-san’s work at the same time. I was absolutely committed to not breaking the world he created.” He acknowledged that fans might have worried he would “pull something weird again,” adding with a laugh, “Given my track record, that’s understandable — but I’m a fan myself, so I wanted to make something respectful, and I believe I did.”

Oshii revealed the concept had been taking shape for roughly 20 years. “What I wanted to do was decided from the very beginning, so there was no real struggle — I just packed in everything I wanted.” He noted that the characters Ash and Maki had appeared in various forms across earlier projects before being refined into their current versions. He described Ash simply as “the type I love most — a troublesome woman. One step further, a bad woman. That, to me, is a universal image of femininity.”

Ash as a Symbol, Not Just a Character

Sawashiro said she spoke with Oshii before recording and came to understand Ash as “a character who is the embodiment of a certain concept.” With the character’s motivations and goals still undisclosed in the story, she used the hint that “Ash believes all soldiers are equal on the battlefield” as her anchor for the performance — giving that abstract concept a body and a voice.

Ando, who plays Maki — a female officer on a secret mission to uncover Ash’s mystery — said she viewed Maki’s role as delivering exposition, and worked to “convey it through the character’s emotions so the lines feel alive.” She described Maki as someone with an almost obsessive fascination with Ash: “She’s not just a good girl — she has a slightly cunning side that makes her compelling.” As for Maki’s true motivation, Ando mused that it might be something “that can’t be put into words — as if Ash is a person she feels destined to pursue.”

Miki and Uesaka: In Character and as Fans

Miki described Barrock as “earnest and straightforward,” hinting there were other qualities he couldn’t reveal without spoiling the story. He noted that Barrock “always appears in scenes where life and death are at stake,” so he paid close attention to the density of atmosphere in those moments.

Uesaka, who became a VOTOMS fan in high school after stumbling upon Pailsen Files, was visibly moved to be part of the cast. “I get to participate as a cast member — I’m glad to be alive!” she exclaimed. As a fan, she praised the film enthusiastically: “The ATs are depicted more like actual weapons of war, and the thrilling ‘cool aircraft shots’ that are so distinctly Oshii, plus the AT hand-to-hand combat, are absolutely incredible.” Of her own nameless, near-silent character, she said with curiosity: “Her movements are almost animal-like, otherworldly. I genuinely wonder how she survives in that brutal workplace.”

Why Two Female Leads?

Oshii explained that during development there had been a request to make the protagonists a man and a woman, but he declined. “That might be the ‘normal’ choice, but I didn’t want it to become a story about a man and a woman — it would get bogged down in that kind of drama. So this time I made them both women.” He also hinted at deeper layers: “Since it’s a story about witches, I wanted to imply that Maki might be a witch in her own way. And the other characters each have their own little mechanisms hidden within them.”

Closing the event, Oshii said: “I think the quality of this work exceeded even my own expectations. It had been a long time since I made animation, and working with a new studio and new staff made me feel like I was returning to my roots. I hope everyone will also enjoy the music by Kenji Kawai.” The event ended to a warm round of applause.

About the Film

Armored Trooper VOTOMS: The Grey Witch is the first all-new entry in the VOTOMS series in 15 years. The story centers on Ash, a soldier who always survives the battlefield and is feared as a “witch,” and Maki, a woman tasked with a secret mission to uncover her mystery — set against a drama of soldiers treated as expendable, riding humanoid weapons known as ATs. The film is produced in two parts; Part 1 opens nationwide in Japan on November 20, 2026, with Part 2’s release date to be announced later.

Staff

• Director: Mamoru Oshii
• Original Work: Hajime Yatate, Ryosuke Takahashi
• Screenplay: Mamoru Oshii, Kei Yamamura
• Original Character Design: Kazuya Kise
• Character Design: Tetsuya Nishio, Takafumi Kojima, Shingo Ogiso
• Original Mechanical Design: Kunio Okawara
• Mechanical Design: Nobunari Tsuneki, Yoshihiro Sono, Juu Ishiguchi, Ko Inada
• Music: Kenji Kawai
• Sound Director: Kazuhiro Wakabayashi
• Planning & Production: Sunrise
• Production Cooperation: Production I.G
• Distribution: Bandai Namco Filmworks

Cast

• Ash Vamps: Miyuki Sawashiro
• Maki Staufenberg: Mafuyu Ando
• Arix Barrock: Shin’ichiro Miki
• Ignis Schweinstiger: Yuki Kaji
• Fritz Gersdorff: Yuichi Nakamura
• Brunhard Müller: Satoshi Tsuruoka
• Adrian Deissler: Tomokazu Sugita
• Matt Hummels: Kenta Miyake
• Soltig Van Gunnar: Chafurin
• Vid Hildebrant: Yoshitada Otsuka
• Meteusz Julian Podolski: Daisuke Ono
• Weissweiler: Takayuki Sugou
• Oliver: Takahiro Sakurai
• Mechanic Girl: Sumire Uesaka