Introduction
Hello, fellow adventurers! Blaziker has returned for technically one last adventure before we can wrap up the first half of 2026 with four more animated movies, two of which I saw before the Annecy Film Festival and two after!
The first movie, The Legendaries, is a movie adaptation of a well-loved French comic series, focusing on a group of heroes who reunite years after accidentally unleashing a curse that turns the world’s population into eternal youth to face on a familiar threat that vows to control the whole world. Considering I talked about this movie in my 12 into 2026 article, this movie would be no stranger to those that had read it, and honestly, considering my past experience with the director involved in this movie, I knew this would be something on my radar. Now that I covered it on my birthday week, will this epic fantasy adventure deliver?
The second movie, Labyrinth, is a new anime movie on a high school student finding herself trapped in her smartphone, and must stop her digital doppelganger from reclaiming her life in the real world. It is not every day that the well-loved American animation distribution specialist GKIDS takes an L, especially given their past movies have been mostly top-quality. With that said, the low ratings and box office returns of this movie took heads for all the wrong reasons. The real question I am wondering is: Is Labyrinth really that bad?
The third movie, Jim Queen (aka Jim Queen and the Quest for Chloroqueer), focused on a popular gay gym rat who contracted a mysterious disease that turns gay men straight, and as he begins losing popularity as a result, a twink fan could be the help to discover a cure that could save the entire LGBTQ+ community. As I mentioned in my 12 into 2026 article, I donated to Jim Queen’s fundraising campaign, and while it was shown at the Annecy Film Festival, due to its sheer popularity I was unable to see it there. However, I was able to see this movie after I returned to Paris, so with that, how will this movie fare for me?
The fourth and final movie, The Last Blossom, focuses on a prisoner with life imprisonment on his last legs, as he strikes a conversation with a balsam flower next to his bed about the life he led leading up to his imprisonment. Coincidentally, The Last Blossom is an Annecy Film Festival movie that competed in the Competition section of last year’s edition, which was actually full of amazing animated movies in that category. Given this movie was all but forgotten and only got a US theatrical release in July this year, how will this movie fare?
Well, let’s get the final Rundown for the first half of 2026, shall we?
The Legendaries
Key Information
- Director: Guillaume Ivernel
- Animation Studios: Pan Europeenne, 2 Minutes, Belvision, Maybe Movies and Ellipsanime Productions
- Country of Origin: France
- Rating: PG
- Release Date: 28 January 2026 (in France)
Trailer
The Review
Considering I covered this movie on my birthday week and that I covered the director’s previous movie Spycies, I knew it would be difficult to review this movie on an objective basis, but as a newcomer to the world of The Legendaries as one who never read the original French comic series, I thoroughly enjoyed this ride!
In terms of my issues, I have some issues with the story development, as this movie stuffs a lot of elements into a space of about 82 minutes, resulting in a story that sometimes lacks enough depth and development. This can be an issue, especially for those who are fans of this series and would want a bit more to remind them why they love the series so much. However, as an introductory film for those unfamiliar with the series, this movie is a perfect springboard, as what we got was immersive world-building tackling epic and fantasy elements that made this series iconic. There were also quite a lot of clichés, but I do not mind them as the movie does not lean too heavily on those clichés for long, especially when the action and sometimes action-comedy sequences in this movie are very strong.
Another key strength of the original comic series is the iconic characters within the world of The Legendaries, and based on what I saw in the movie, the writers kept them as faithful to the series as much as they could. I would want a bit more character development, but that could come in a future sequel. For now, I feel the character progression and development is solid, not to mention each of the main cast having their moments when needed. For what I got, the characters are strong in this movie.
The animation in The Legendaries is also stunning and high-quality, especially as a family-friendly foreign CG animated movie. While it is true most of such movies still do not have good quality animation, there are some family-friendly foreign CG animated movies with better quality animation than in the past, and coming from someone that covered Spycies, the animation is superb. Sure, it is far different from the hyper-realistic industrial style of CG animation Spycies has, but the animation in The Legendaries swaps out style for better quality animation sequences, especially the epic fight sequences happening throughout the whole movie.
Speaking of Spycies, I would not be surprised if director Guillaume Ivernel took some influence from his time co-producing Spycies and adapt one of those elements into The Legendaries, because the score took inspiration from Chinese orchestra music to create an epic and well-rounded music score that hypes up and creates the right atmosphere for each scene. It also helped that the marketing for this movie is quite solid, mostly from fans of the original comic series. Sure, the Letterboxd score is not so encouraging, but the fact that this has already been watched by more than 4,000 Letterboxd members, despite being released in only France and a couple of countries so far proves the movie’s popularity. As for my level of enjoyment, in spite of the issues I have with this movie, The Legendaries is my type of fun and epic fantasy ride. Sure, fantasy is not a genre I am used to, but for someone who has never read the original comics, The Legendaries is a fun introduction to the series.
Overall, I am happy with what I got for The Legendaries, and sometimes I need movies like it to remind myself why I specialised in covering family-friendly foreign CG animated movies in the first place. Honestly, I am OK with more movies starring this ragtag gang of heroes, because after this great introduction, I am hoping to see more from them!
Blaziker’s Hot Sauce Rating
Labyrinth
Key Information
- Director: Shoji Kawamori
- Animation Studio: Slow Curve Co and Fuji Animation Studio
- Country of Origin: Japan
- Rating: PG
- Release date: 1 January 2026 (in Japan)
Trailer
The Review
It is not every day I was left with such a high level of confusion over an anime movie. Sure, we got Japanese anime movies with complex storylines, but they work so well and enhance the overall experience thanks to how strong the writing is. Unfortunately, that was the opposite I witnessed with Labyrinth.
While I was interested in an animated movie tackling social media with its mirror dimension inside a smartphone, it escalated into a story so confusing and disjointed, I was at a loss of the story by the time the second act rolled around. It also did not help that the movie ends with one of the most confusing final acts that left me asking myself more questions about the movie than answers. As a result, Labyrinth lost its emotional core thanks to incoherent writing and confusing character development. Honestly, I am just amazed this is coming from Japan, a country whose stronghold in animation needs no introduction, because the writing is a laughable mess.
The animation is not that strong either. Sure, I had covered animated movies with worse animation than this, but even by Japanese 3D CG animated movie standards, the animation is not good. The 2D and 3D elements clashed consistently, and the backgrounds can get way too dark for my liking. At the very least, the rendering is still alright, especially for a debutant, but considering its similar style to Belle, Belle’s animation smokes Labyrinth’s animation by a million miles (pun intended).
If there was one redeeming element within Labyrinth, it is that the soundtrack is pretty good. It has a couple of decent songs sprinkled throughout the movie, especially its main theme song, which was what saved this movie from being outright unwatchable. As for my level of enjoyment, while there are a handful of animated movies this year that are way more unwatchable and less enjoyable than Labyrinth, it still does not excuse that this is perhaps one of my least favourite animated movies that came out from Japan. It is basically the Zak & Wowo of Japan: an animated movie so bad it is not representative of the country’s otherwise excellent animation output.
Overall, I am not sure which element of Labyrinth I hate more: the confusing story, the insanely nonsensical final act, the lack of connection with the characters, or the shoddy and disjointed animation. Either way, I highly recommend you steer clear of this maze of mess if you value your sanity. It is definitely not worth risking your health for this one.
Blaziker’s Hot Sauce Rating
Jim Queen
Key Information
- Directors: Marco Nguyen and Nicolas Athane
- Animation Studio: Bobbypills
- Country of Origin: France
- Rating: M18
- Release Date: 18 June 2026 (in France)
Trailer
The Review
Man, I was disappointed not being able to see this at Annecy, but after seeing it when I returned to Paris after the Annecy Festival, even without the help of English subtitles, I was able to see the movie in a Paris theatre, and to say I had a fantastic time there would be an understatement.
Let’s start with the only bad thing about Jim Queen, and it is the fact that the ending felt a bit rushed for my liking. It left me with a somewhat unsatisfactory finish, but let me be clear, this is the only thing I could criticise about Jim Queen, because everything else is fantastic!
The writing throughout this movie is quite smart and hilarious, and despite not having the English subtitles to help, the visual comedy and gags that celebrate the rich LGBTQ+ scene which Paris is well known for are both fantastic and well-crafted. While hilarious, the emotional core between the gay gym rat Jim (Alex Ramires) and his twink fan Lucien (Jeremy Gillet) pulls my heartstrings, not to mention the other supporting characters being as fun with bucket loads of personality to boot.
The animation is also sheer Bobbypills absurdist fun. This is the same studio who was involved in a few animated series and shorts prior to producing their first ever animated movie, so to see them pulling off on their first attempt is not small feat. The visual gags within this movie were beyond hilarious and the animation, while chaotic, is colourful and well-animated. It is an animated movie filled with both style and substance, something one Annecy 2026 movie that I covered previously, The Sunrise File, lacked in.
The soundtrack is full of memorable and well-crafted songs, but it is the marketing within Jim Queen that impressed me. This is the first ever animated movie I donated to its fundraising campaign , and Bobbypills went very far with marketing their movie non-stop, doubling down on it even more once positive word-of-mouth spread across France. I can understand why I was unable to see it at Annecy, because this movie’s sheer marketing justifies the sell-out crowds. As for my level of enjoyment… Do I need to explain it further, Jim Queen is a fantastic piece of cinema that is full of pride (both literally and figuratively) and is worth seeing in theatres.
Overall, there was no denying I regretted not being able to see it at Annecy, because Jim Queen was definitely worth the hype! While not perfect, it is a celebration of what makes the LGBTQ+ community so unique in their own way, and with this and Julian this year, we need more animated movies that explore this community in a more positive light. A movie full of pride in the best way possible!
Blaziker’s Hot Sauce Rating
The Last Blossom
Key Information
- Director: Baku Kinoshita
- Animation Studios: Pony Canyon and CLAP
- Country of Origin: Japan
- Rating: PG
- Release date: 10 October 2025 (in Japan)
Trailer
The Review
Given how obscure The Last Blossom is compared to some of the Annecy 2025 movies, I can understand why that was the case after seeing it on my flight back to Singapore, because I just feel indifferent about The Last Blossom.
I will say that it is not for me, given The Last Blossom is a flashback/monologue type of animated movie that is not that exciting for me. Still, for what I saw, it is pretty good. While boring, some parts of the writing felt interesting, and I connected to a good number of characters in the movie. Still, I just feel that something was missing to make The Last Blossom even more intriguing to cover.
The animation, while spot on, is nothing special. There were quite a lot of good animation sequences and the quality and rendering of the animation is still decent. Again, not the flashiest animated movie I saw this year, but the animation did the job.
Honestly, the minor elements are not worth going in depth and as for my level of enjoyment, I honestly felt indifferent in this one. The Last Blossom is a technically good animated movie with all the elements in the right place, but I just could not connect enough of this story for me to care about the entire movie. It is a personal preference, but it is not for me.
Overall, The Last Blossom is an animated movie I could not connect with, but it is nevertheless a nice hidden find that I still feel it is worth trying out. Just do not expect anything out of the ordinary though.
Blaziker’s Hot Sauce Rating
Conclusion
Overall, I am happy with this Rundown, even though there was only one animated movie in this Rundown that I highly recommend for. Still, given I published this after my Annecy Film Festival adventures, I think that is a supposed given.
Well, given these are technically the last four animated movies I saw at the end of the first half of 2026, perhaps now it is a time to reflect on the 54 animated movies I saw in that period, and let’s just say I have a few opinions about the first half of 2026. Until next time, see you on the next adventure!
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