With another week ending, the Bam Smack Pow team is here once again to share the biggest anime news of the past week. The week that was brings some noteworthy theatrical debuts, along with confirmation of new entries coming for long-running series.
Unfortunately, we have some sad news for anime and video fans to begin with.
Voice actor Dave Mallow dies, aged 76
As reported by Anime News Network, veteran voice actor Dorothy Elias-Fahn has shared that prolific fellow voice actor Dave Mallow has died. He was 76. Mallow will be well-known to fans of anime and video games of the 1990s and early 2000s. Over the course of a decades-long career, Mallow voiced roles in many well-known series across English dubbed anime, video games and, in particular, was a recurring voice in various iterations of Power Rangers over the years.
Before his retirement in 2019, Mallow's voice roles included such iconic characters as Angemon in Digimon, the second voice of Kaien Shiba in Bleach, various villainous characters and narration throughout the Power Rangers franchise, roles in the first season of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure and the later Stardust Crusaders season, and Akuma in the Street Fighter and Marvel vs. Capcom series.
The Bam Smack Pow team extends its condolences to Dave Mallow's family, friends and fans.
Record of Ragnarok confirms season 3
World mythology-meets-Mortal Kombat tournament series Record of Ragnarok has shared the first look at season 3, as shared by Crunchyroll. It has been confirmed that Record of Ragnarok will return to Netflix to stream around the world. Following the release of a trailer for the Japanese audience from Warner Bros. Japan, Netflix released their own version of the trailer for international audiences.
Additional details on the new season's production have also been shared. Koichi Hatsumi takes over as director from Masao Ōkubo. Yasuyuki Mutō provides the script for season 3. Yumeta Company continues as the animation studio and will be joined by Maru Animation for the new season. A release date was not announced when the trailer was revealed.
Princess Mononoke 4K restoration coming to IMAX theaters
As reported by Crunchyroll and elsewhere, license-holders GKIDS have announced a 4K restoration of Studio Ghibli's classic Princess Mononoke and plans for a theatrical run in IMAX across North America. The 4K version of Princess Mononoke will debut in theaters across the United States and Canada on March 2026.
The press release from GKIDS reads as follow:
"For the first time ever, Princess Mononoke debuts exclusively in IMAX theatres in North America on March 26, 2025. In celebration of the 40th anniversary of Studio Ghibli, GKIDS presents Oscar-winning director Hayao Miyazaki’s epic fantasy masterpiece in a brand new 4K
restoration. The hand-drawn, animated feature is an original story written and directed by Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki, produced by co-founder Toshio Suzuki, and features a musical score from Miyazaki’s long-time collaborator, the renowned composer Joe Hisaishi. The IMAX version of the film was created from a new 4K restoration directly overseen by Studio Ghibli’s own Atsushi Okui, who has been involved in nearly every major Studio Ghibli project since he first started at the studio in 1993."
Second Mononoke movie debuts in Japan and third movie announces release date
Despite the similar names, Studio Ghibli's Princess Mononoke and the Mononoke film trilogy have no direct connection with each other. Funnily enough, both unrelated properties did have major news to report this week.
The second movie in the mind-bending trilogy based on the Mononoke series is now in Japanese theaters as of March. Released in Japan under the name Hinezumi (meaning "fire rat", a kind of folkloric creature), it was previously confirmed that the anime movie will be released internationally as Ashes of Rage. An international release date has not been confirmed yet. However, it can be expected to begin streaming for audiences around the world on Netflix either in late 2025 or early 2026.
The theatrical debut of Hinezumi came with the official confirmation of the third and final movie in the trilogy. The official website has confirmed, via a news post available in Japanese, that the third film will debut theatrically in 2026. Anime News Network provides additional information for English-language audiences, specifying that the current release date is the spring of 2026 and revealing that the movie will be title Hebigami — what the English title will be is not yet known, though the Japanese word Hebigami translates to something like "snake god".
The first movie in the Mononoke film trilogy, Phantom in the Rain is streaming on Netflix. We've previously recommended it to anime fans and part of our review reads:
"Still, Phantom in the Rain is a fascinating, compelling mystery story with unique historical and supernatural aspects that set it apart from other mystery stories. Similarly, the beautiful art style is not unlike anything else out there that it makes Phantom in the Rain worth a watch just to experience how bizarrely gorgeous and gorgeously bizarre it is."
As always, come back next week for all the latest and most important anime news from the Bam Smack Pow team.