Upcoming original theatrical anime film ChaO has won the Jury Award at the prestigious Annecy International Animation Film Festival which ran this year from June 8 – 14, 2025 in Annecy, France. This marks the first time in about 8 years that a Japanese film has won the Jury Award, with the last Japanese film to win the award being In This Corner of the World in 2017. ChaO has also been submitted for competition at the Fantasia International Film Festival , which runs from July 16 – August 3, 2025, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. ChaO begins its theatrical run in Japan on August 15, 2025. ChaO movie poster RELATED: ChaO Anime Movie Releases Main Trailer, Visual Yasuhiro Aoki directs the film at STUDIO4℃. Hirokazu Kojima provides the character designs and serves as animation director, while Hiroshi Takiguchi serves as art director. TOEI distributes the film in Japan. GKIDS distributes the film in the United States, and describes ChaO as follows: 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. Sources: Official Annency International Animation Film Festival home page (English), Comic Natalie
