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The planet of Anwynn was once populated by eight different tribes, known as Garms.^[1] Previously, the planet was at peace, as all the different races of Anwynn were united by their collective servitude to their god, Diarne. Unfortunately, violence broke out when Diarne left, setting all the tribes against each other. The war proved devastating, destroying all the tribes on the planet except for three- the Briga, the Kumtak and the Columba. During this time, the Druids, who were previously conveyed the words of Anwynn's god, disappeared. The Briga tribe lives on the ground, and controls the weaker Kumtak tribe to help in their war against the Briga. Meanwhile, the Columba live in airships.

The film itself is divided into three different acts. In Act 1, The Exile of the Three Magi, a Kumtak man named Wydd (Lance Hendrickson) is captured by the Columba, along with his holy canine pet Gula, and a mysterious being who is identified as Nascien (Summer Howell), the last of the missing Druids. During his interrogation aboard the Columba airship, Wydd claims that he fled from the Briga people because the Kumtak are enslaved, and offers his services and the Druid's power to fight against his people's oppressors. When the airship is eventually destroyed during a Briga attack, Wydd reveals his true purpose- to travel to the lands of the Druids with Nascien and discover why and why Diarne would create the Garms, if she intended to leave. He then recruits Khara (Melanie St-Pierre), the Columba clone-soldier that interrogated him, and Skelling (Kevin Durand), the Briga officer who led the attack on the airship, sets off on this quest.

In Act 2, Passage to the Other World, Wydd and his companions continue their journey to the land of the Druids. As the journey draws on, Skellig and Khara both learn that they are quickly running out of mana, the life-energy that sustains their lives. Despite this pressing concern, the party travels in a Briga tank across war-torn wastelands and seas. Upon witnessing the devastation and brutality of the war, Khara begins to question the worth of the war, but Skellig does not appear to share these concerns.

In the final act, Sacred Grove, the party finally arrives at the land of the Druids. Unfortunately, the Briga tank breaks down, forcing Skellig to stay behind and repair it as Wydd, Khara and Nascien continue onwards. During their exploration of the sacred grove, Wydd accidentally activates the Druids' defence systems and awakens giant robotic defenders. Skellig manages to repair the tank and destroy the defenders, but loses his life in the process. When the group finally arrives at the source of the Druid's knowledge, Nascien kills Wydd and reveals her true purpose- to take control of the Druid`s guardians and destroy all the Garms. While the guardians are awoken and set against the Garms, Khara manages to destroy Nascien before she escapes and asks why the Garms were abandoned by the gods. Nascien replies that the goddess Diarne left because she feared the destructive potential of the Garms, which is why Nascien took it upon herself to destroy them for her. The film then ends on a cliffhanger, with the warring tribes uniting to fight against the guardians.

According to director Mamoru Oshii, production of Garm Wars began as early as the mid 1990s under the name G.R.M. The Record of Garm War, with planning for the film beginning shortly after the release of Ghost in the Shell.^[2] However, production of the film- which originally had a planned budget of 6 billion yen- was put on hold for fifteen years due to technical limitations.^[2][3] Oshii announced that he had resumed production of the film in 2012, thanks to an animation technique Oshii calls "Hybrid Animation," which combines elements of computer-generated imagery and live action filming.^[4][5] When asked why he decided to resume the film's creation fifteen years after its first conception, Oshii replied: "Unfortunately, at that time, the digital environment needed to realize the visuals was too undeveloped, and I was unable to create and release this film to the world. However, now in 2012, the environment for producing films has transformed, especially in digital technology which is currently operating at a shocking level compared to the time I first conceived this project. At long last, Garm Wars' time has come."^[6]

The film premiered at the Tokyo International Film Festival of October 2014, as part of the festival's Special Screening Section. Oshii also featured the film at Lucca Comics & Games of 2015, where he received the Movie Comic and Games award.^[7] Arc Productions earned the rights to the film in August 2015, releasing it in US theaters and on demand on October 2, 2015. Finally, on May 20, 2017,Toei Animation released the film with a Japanese dub.^[4][5]