ChaO Anime Movie 2025: GKIDS Secures North America Rights & Annecy Premiere Details
- India Today Gaming
- June 05, 2025 (UPDATED: June 05, 2025 23:17 IST)
Studio 4°C’s new anime film ChaO premieres at Annecy 2025, with GKIDS distributing in North America—a heartfelt romantic comedy set in a future with mermaids
GKIDS just got rights to distribute ChaO in North America. This new animated movie is coming from Studio 4°C. It will have it’s world premiere next week at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. In Japan, the movie release is set for August 15.
A Romantic Comedy in Strange Future
ChaO tells a different kind of story mixing romance and fantasy. It takes place in a future where humans and mermaids are living together. The main character, Stephan, works quiet in an office at a shipbuilding company. His calm life suddenly change when Chao, a mermaid princess, unexpectedly propose marriage to him. With little time to think, Stephan ends up living with Chao, who is lively and honest. As she show her true feelings, Stephan slowly opens up and a sweet romance start.
GKIDS describes the film as a “wild romantic comedy” and calls it a real “fish out of water” story with both funny and emotional moments.
Skilled Team Behind the Film
- Director: Yasuhiro Aoki (Known for Batman: Gotham Knight and Kimagure Robot)
- Character Designer & Chief Animation Director: Hirokazu Kojima
- Art Director: Hiroshi Takiguchi (Known for Weathering With You and Children of the Sea)
- Japanese Distributor: TOEI
The voice cast includes Anna Yamada as Chao and Oji Suzuka as Stephan. Other actors are Anna Tsuchiya as Editor-in-Chief, Cookie! as Ambassador Omede, and Kenta Miyake as King Neptune.
Studio 4°C was founded back in 1986 by producer Eiko Tanaka and director Koji Morimoto. The name come from the temperature where water is densest, showing the studio’s aim to make deep and meaningful works. They have created many famous anime, such as Mind Game (2004), Tekkon Kinkreet (2006), The Animatrix (2003), Memories (1995), Children of the Sea (2019), and Phoenix: Eden 17 (2023).
ChaO looks like a fresh and heartfelt story with beautiful animation and strong creative team behind it. Fans of romantic comedies or fantasy stories probably enjoy it lot. The world premiere at Annecy will be important for animation lovers everywhere and will get people excited before it comes out in August. With GKIDS handling the North American release, the movie should reach many viewers who appreciate unique and emotional animated films.
Source : Official X(Formerly Twitter)
Written By “Sujoy Bhowmik - India Today Gaming”