Gekijoban Harukanaru Toki no Naka de Maihitoyo

Gekijoban Harukanaru Toki no Naka de Maihitoyo (劇場版　遙かなる時空の中で　舞一夜, roughly translated as "Within a Distant Time Overnight Dance: The Movie") is the first animated movie production of one of Koei's IPs. It is a part of a multimedia project of the same name. Yumeta Company (TYO Animations) produced it and it was first shown in Japanese cinema on August 19, 2006.

Aki Tsunaki did the animated character designs and Yuka Yamada wrote the screenplay. Tohko Mizuno originally designed the new character of the Maihitoyo project, Suefumi Oono, but had no involvement with his development. She watched the movie with audiences and was in tears by its ending.

According to flyers and interviews, the movie takes place after the animated TV series. The Demon Clan are absent in favor of establishing Suefumi and Kotengu is in its narrative.

Cast
Every major character is voiced by the same voice actor within the game series/TV series except for Fujihime.
 * Tomoko Kawakami - Akane Motomiya
 * Shin-ichiro Miki - Yorihisa Minamoto
 * Tomokazu Seki - Tenma Morimura
 * Naozumi Takahashi - Inori
 * Kouki Miyata - Shimon Nagareyama
 * Shigeru Nakahara - Takamichi Fujiwara
 * Kazuhiko Inoue - Tomomasa Tachibana
 * Souichiro Hoshi - Eisen
 * Akira Ishida - Yasuaki Abe
 * Takahiro Sakurai - Suefumi Oono
 * Satomi Kourogi - Fujihime
 * Junko Shimakata - Kotengu
 * Norihiro Inoue - Emperor
 * Komina Matsushita - Woman in town
 * Shotaro Ookubo - Spirit boy (vengeful spirit)
 * Dai Matsumoto - Oono disciple
 * Takehiro Murozono - Older noble
 * Takashi Kondo - Young noble
 * Eiji Hanawa - Noble
 * Asami Yaguchi - Townperson
 * sona - Fujihime's attendant

Image Songs

 * Harari, Hirari
 * Performed by sona (Yoon Son-ha)


 * Tamayura no Shizuku
 * Performed by Kazuhiko Inoue (Tomomasa), Souichiro Hoshi (Eisen), Takuhiro Sakurai (Suefumi)

Summary
The movie begins with a flashback seven years before the main setting. A dancer is performing the Saiyrou-oh dance before the imperial family. The dancer suddenly collapses in the midst of his performance. A younger Tomomasa checks on him, surprised to see the performer dead.

Flash-fowarding to the present, Akane wakes up to greet her guardians. She wishes to help them in the search for vengeful spirits, yet they leave her behind. Akane runs out by herself to find something she can do to help. It rains while she is out. As she runs to find shelter, she crosses paths with a young man. He gives her his coat before disappearing.

Yorihisa escorts Akane back to Fujihime's manor. The priestess gets her chance when the guardians discover a vengeful spirit. Fujihime informs yet warns the priestess that she has the power to seal spirits at the cost of potentially harming herself. Wishing to helpful, Akane agrees to try it. Her willpower wavers when the vengeful spirit takes the form of a young boy, causing her to be weakened by the specter's malice. Yorihisa is injured trying to tame it and Yasuaki performs an imperfect exorcism over it. Her first sealing ends in failure.

No one blames her for the missed chance, each trying to raise Akane's spirits the next morning. She tries to not dwell on it —by doing household chores and feigning jocularity— but Akane is worried that she is merely burdening everyone with her imperfection. She sneaks out of the manor in her angst to return the stranger's coat and is drenched in rain. The same man shields her with his long sleeves and listens to her uncertainties at an abandoned shack. Akane ventures to learn more about him, but he is amnesic. He gives her a strange mask in his possession at her request. While he escorts her back to Fujihime's manor, Akane suffers spiritual defilement and collapses.

Takamichi explains for Akane that the mask is used for the Saiyrou-oh dance. Saiyrou-oh ("Prince of Qi") is the nickname for a dance dedicated to a western warrior named Kyougi; he had a beautiful visage and wore a terrifying mask into battle to prevent belittlement of his character. It is said that any dancer who performs it will die. He postulates that the ill rumor was born from Kyougi's sudden death, yet he still requests her to return it at once. His proclamation for dutiful loyalty to her unintentionally deepens her uncertainties of being priestess.

While Akane returns to the manor, she writes a letter of gratitude for the young man and asks Kotengu to deliver it for her. Meanwhile, the guardians are busy preparing for the annual purification dance within the imperial palace. After setting up a spiritual barrier, Yasuaki urges for the priestess's attendance for the dance due to a particularly strong vengeful spirit he senses lurking nearby.

Tomomasa and company plan to erect a fake stage to mislead the spirit and give the priestess a chance to purify it. Yet they are aware that it exposes the priestess to danger and decide to discuss the manner the other guardians and Fujihime before telling Akane. Tenma protests throughout the discussion, declaring that Akane should stop being a priestess if it harms her. He further believes they are forcing her when Kotengu is caught and it appears that Akane is in love with Suefumi Oono. He stomps away towards Akane's room, asking her to give up for her happiness. Akane, after many hours of contemplation, decides to give it another shot for the people living in the capital.

The day before the purification dance, Eisen and Tomomasa confirm from the mask and personal observation that the person Akane admires is Oono Suefumi, the same dancer who died seven years ago. His spirit is the one threatening the dance's security. The monk tells her their discovery, and Akane laments the news. Even so, she and the others carry out their plan. Suefumi is lured to the stage and loses his remnant humanity to his undead malice. He wounds Akane and fights the guardians. Yasuaki is prepared for another exorcism, yet Akane recovers enough to perform the seal to save Suefumi's soul. She pleads for him to accept his afterlife and his passion for dancing. He accepts, and she peacefully cleanses his soul during his last dance.

After the credits, Akane and company overlook the capital they have protected. She fondly remembers Suefumi as a kind person.