©2025「ChaO」製作委員会GKIDS has secured the North American rights for ChaO, the forthcoming STUDIO4℃-produced anime film centered on a human who receives a proposal from a mermaid princess.
The announcement arrives ahead of ChaO’s premiere at this year’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival, where it will be featured in the official selection of feature films.
GKIDS is proud to announce the acquisition of North American rights to ChaO from Studio 4°C. 🐠
A genre-defying fish-out-of-water romance from veteran animator Yasuhiro Aoki, ChaO will premiere at @annecyfestival next week!
Coming soon to theatres.https://t.co/y5rFHlMEvh pic.twitter.com/mjxepDWpNI— GKIDS Films (@GKIDSfilms) June 3, 2025
GKIDS characterizes ChaO as: From acclaimed Japanese animation production house Studio 4°C comes a wild romantic comedy and true “fish out of water” story. In a futuristic world where humans and mermaids coexist, ChaO follows Stephan, a mild-mannered office worker at a shipbuilding company, whose life is upended when he is suddenly proposed to by Chao — a princess from the mermaid kingdom. With no time to make sense of what’s happening, Stephan soon finds himself living with the unpredictable, wholehearted Chao. As her sincere love begins to break down his emotional barriers, an unexpected and touching romance begins to unfold.
The film is set to premiere in Japan on August 15 JST. It was announced in January.
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Staff
• Director: Yasuhiro Aoki (Psycho-Pass: The Movie co-character designer, SAMURAI NOODLES “THE ORIGINATOR” unit director et al.)
• Character designer and animation director: Hirokazu Kojima (Shoka, More Than a Married Couple, But Not Lovers ending design and animation)
• Background art director: Hiroshi Takiguchi (Weathering With You)
• Animation production: STUDIO4℃
Cast
• Oji Suzuka as Stephen
• Anna Yamada as Chao
• Yuichiro Umehara as Roberta
• Kavka Shishido as Mai Bei
Source: @GKIDSfilms (via The Hollywood Reporter)
