By Kotaku | Created at 2026-09-17 16:32:31 | Updated at 2026-09-18 11:26:11
19 hours ago
When Netmarble’s adventure-crafting game Bloomwalker was first shown off at Gamescom in 2025, it was pretty clear that the devs were taking a lot of inspiration from Studio Ghibli movies like Howl’s Moving Castle. As of today, that inspiration is now semi-official, as the latest trailer for Bloomwalker at Tokyo Game Show 2026 confirms that Netmarble’s game will be part of the same universe as Level-5’s Ni no Kuni RPG franchise.
If you missed the first trailer for Bloomwalker last year, when it was known as Project Bloomwalker, just be aware that the similarities between the game and Studio Ghibli’s animation style can’t be overstated.
Beyond just its look, the game also lifts plenty of elements from Ghibli’s films. A living, moving house and a tiny sentient fire that helps cook your food? Howl’s Moving Castle. A giant magic cat with a big creepy grin? My Neighbor Totoro. An anti-pollution story about cleansing a forest? Princess Mononoke.
While the art style is particularly evocative of Level-5’s Ni no Kuni games, the first two of which Ghibli collaborated on, there’s a good explanation for that. Netmarble developed and produced the controversial mobile spin-off Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds back in 2021.
Earlier today at TGS 2026, we got our first new look at Bloomwalker since it was first revealed, and a tiny piece of info hidden right at the end of the new trailer pointed to an unexpected crossover: the copyright info for both Ni no Kuni and Level-5.
To clarify, this is the first time we’ve heard of Bloomwalker being in any way officially related to Ni no Kuni, with the last mainline game in the franchise being 2018’s Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom. It’s also unclear exactly how Bloomwalker is related to the series, or how much involvement Level-5 has in its development.
Considering that Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds was developed entirely without Level-5’s help, it would come as no surprise if Level-5 simply licensed the Ni no Kuni IP to Netmarble for Bloomwalker.
This might be good news for fans of the Ni no Kuni series, since Level-5’s reputation has taken a massive hit recently following the backlash to a genAI-laden presentation that aired on September 10. Netmarble will have a lot to prove itself, however. Its previous Ni no Kuni game used blockchain junk that wasn’t stripped out until just this year.
