ChaO Will Be Screened At London Film Festival in October

There will be two English-subtitled screenings ( link ) At the London Film Festival, ChaO, directed by Yasuhiro Aoki and produced by Studio 4°C, will be screened on Saturday October 11 at 6.10 p.m. at the Prince Charles Cinema and on Monday October 13 at 4.05 p.m. at the BFI Southbank (NFT2).

BFI members can purchase tickets starting from September 9th at 10 a.m., while the general public can buy them from September 16th at the same time.

GKIDS , which licensed ChaO the film in America, describes ( link ) the story:

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 Cha o — 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 Cha o. As her sincere love begins to break down his emotional barriers, an unexpected and touching romance begins to unfold.

Ōji Suzuka ( Kimi ni Todoke , The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes ) plays Stefan, a salaryman at a ship-making company. Anna Yamada (live-action Golden Kamuy , Saki ) plays Cha o, the pure princess of the mermaid kingdom.

The film also stars:

- Yūichirō Umehara as Roberta
- Nankai Candies comedy duo member Ryōta Yamasato as President Shi
- Kavka Shishido as Maibei
- Yasei Bakudan comedy duo member Cookie! as Ambassador Omede
- Kenta Miyake as the King Neptunus
- Octpath idol group member Shunsei Ōta as Juno
- Anna Tsuchiya as Editor-in-Chief

Aoki ( Kimagure Robot , Tweeny Witches ) directed the film at Studio 4°C , and Hirokazu Kojima ( Deadman Wonderland , Coyote Ragtime Show ) was the character designer and chief animation director. Hiroshi Takiguchi ( Ajin , The Case of Hana & Alice , The Garden of Words ) was the art director. Takatsugu Muramatsu ( Mary and The Witch's Flower , Phoenix: Eden17 ) composed the soundtrack. Toei is distributing the film.

Kumi Kōda performs the opening theme song "ChaO!," written specifically for the film.

The movie made its debut at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival held in France from June 8th to June 14th and received the Jury Prize. It was also shown on the opening night of JAPAN CUTS: Festival of New Japanese Film in New York on July 10th. Afterward, it was screened at the 29th annual Fantasia International Film Festival that took place from July 16th through August 3rd in Montreal.

This year's Ottawa International Animation Festival is featuring a competition for the Grand Prize in Feature Animation, which will take place from September 24th through September 28th.