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Japanese entertainment giant Toho has reached an agreement to buy the Oscar-winning American animation distributor and producer GKids as part of its global expansion strategy.

New York and Los Angeles-based GKids will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Los Angeles-based Toho International, and GKids founder Eric Beckman and Dave Jesteadt will remain as CEO and president, respectively.

Financial terms of the 100% equity acquisition were not disclosed. The move accelerates the Japanese company’s Toho Vision 2032 Toho Group Management Corporate Strategy to expand operations beyond Japan and connect creators and productions with the international fan base.

It also builds on an existing relationship.

Japanese entertainment giant Toho announced today that it has reached an agreement to acquire Gkids, the Academy Award-winning North American animation producer and distributor. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Gkids, which maintains offices in New York and Los Angeles, will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Los Angeles-based Toho International. Gkids Founder Eric Beckman will remain as CEO, and Dave Jesteadt will remain as President of the company.

Beckman and Jesteadt have run Gkids together since the company first released the Academy Award-nominated film The Secret of Kells as a two-person company in 2009. Together, they have grown Gkids into a powerful force in the U.S. animation scene, amassing an outstanding thirteen Best Animated Feature nominations at the Academy Awards and a win last year for Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron.

Toho’s acquisition of Gkids serves to further accelerate its “Toho Vision 2032 Toho Group Management Strategy,...

Japanese media giant Toho is acquiring Gkids, the North American distributor of prestige animated films like the Oscar-winning The Boy and the Heron.

Gkids will continue to operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Los Angeles-based Toho International. Gkids Founder Eric Beckman will remain as CEO, and Dave Jesteadt will remain as President.

The two execs have run Gkids together since the company first released the Academy Award-nominated film The Secret of Kells as a two-person outfit in 2009. The company has gone on to rack up 13 Best Animated Feature nominations at the Academy Awards, winning the trophy last year for Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron.

The deal advances Toho’s goal to grow outside of Japan, and aims to connect its Japanese and international productions, creators, and studios more directly and widely with creators and fans overseas. Toho acquired Japanese animation studio Science Saru and also...

Japanese media giant Toho Co. — the studio behind that country’s famous Godzilla movie monster — has unveiled a deal to acquire Gkids, the North American indie producer and distributor.

Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but Gkids, launched in 2008 with a focus on animated movies, is set to operate as a subsidiary of Toho under company founder/CEO Eric Beckman and president Dave Jesteadt.

“Through their hard work, vision, and integrity, Gkids has built a unique position in the U.S. market, which dovetails perfectly with Toho’s own strengths and strategic mission. This partnership accelerates Toho’s goals to prioritize animation, develop international markets, and support IP creation, while bringing exceptional Japanese and animated content to global audiences,” Toho President and CEO Hiro Matsuoka said in a statement on Tuesday.

Beckman and Jesteadt have run Gkids together since the company released the Oscar-nominated film The Secret of Kells...

One Piece, one of the most beloved anime series created by Eiichiro Oda, also features several movies to support the ongoing anime. There’s an endless plethora of stories within the One Piece universe, but not all of them carry the same light-hearted tone. One movie in particular, One Piece: Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island, is possibly one of the darkest movies created. The director, Mamoru Hosoda, flipped the script and made fans uneasy.

The Straw Hat crew in One Piece: Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island. [Credit: Toei Animation]

Many spectate the grim direction of One Piece: Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island is partly due to the director’s frustration during his feud with Studio Ghibli. There’s an entire history between Hosoda and the studio after the director, who was originally set to direct Howl’s Moving Castle, left allegedly due to creative differences and pressures from the studio.

When people think of Asian animated films, Studio Ghibli often comes to mind first. With iconic films like My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away, the studio has become synonymous with high-quality animation and captivating storytelling. However, Asia’s animation industry is vast and diverse, with many other studios and filmmakers contributing unique and innovative works that deserve recognition. This article explores the rich landscape of Asian animated films beyond Studio Ghibli, highlighting some of the most remarkable productions from different countries.

The Rise of South Korean Animation

South Korea has become a significant player in the global animation industry, producing a variety of films that cater to both domestic and international audiences. One standout is Leafie, A Hen into the Wild (2011), directed by Oh Sung-yoon. This film, based on a popular Korean children’s book, tells the story of a hen who dreams of freedom beyond the farm. Its success...

A feature adaptation of A Pale View of Hills, the debut novel of Nobel Prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro, has begun filming in Japan.

The mystery drama is adapted and directed by Japanese filmmaker Kei Ishikawa, whose previous feature A Man scooped eight awards including best film at the Japanese Academy Awards following its premiere at Venice in 2022.

The upcoming film is presented by U-Next, Japan’s leading local streaming company, and produced by Bunbuku, the Japanese production company founded by Hirokazu Kore-eda, in association with the UK’s Number 9 Films, led by producers Stephen Woolley and Elizabeth Karlsen.

Ishiguro serves...

At the Annecy International Animation Film Festival 2024, we met with the executives of Fortiche , the French animation studio that gave life to the acclaimed show Arcane , set in the League of Legends universe. After presenting their new project — Penelope of Sparta — we met Pascal Charrue, co-founder of Fortiche, to discuss their anime inspirations and learn more about the studio. From the “shorter” music videos to a longer format of a series, how did you all manage to scale up your production? Pascal Charrue: Fortiche Studio has gone through several transformative phases in its development. Our founders — Pascal Charrue, Jérôme Combe, and Arnaud Delord — each brought diverse yet complementary expertise to the table. Initially, we focused on producing advertisements, music videos, and various gaming cinematics. A significant milestone was our contribution to the Gorillaz music video, which showcased our ability to meet international creative standards. Our turning point came when Christian Linke,...

A decade ago, legendary director Hayao Miyazaki retired, sending Studio Ghibli’s team of animators to seek employment elsewhere. Those were dark, uncertain times for the industry, which explains why veteran Ghibli producer Yoshiaki Nishimura picked the word “ponoć” (which means “midnight” in Croatian) for his new studio: He wanted to convey a new dawn for some of the medium’s most talented artists.

No question, the spirit survived in Studio Ponoc’s first feature, “Mary and the Witch’s Flower,” as well as a series of shorts bundled under the title “Modest Heroes.” Anime fans breathed a collective sigh of relief. The magic they’d associated with Studio Ghibli would live on. And then Miyazaki changed his mind and made “The Boy and the Heron”. In an unexpected twist, the artists who’d come up working alongside Miyazaki now found themselves competing with him.

Studio Ponoc’s second feature, “The Imaginary,...

UK distributor Anime Limited and Germany’s Plaion Pictures have acquired UK, France, Italy and Germany rights to the catalogue of Japanese director Mamoru Hosoda.

Three titles have been newly acquired by the two companies: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Summer Wars and Wolf Children. Plaion Pictures has also picked up The Boy And The Beast for Germany and Italy.

The films join two further Hosoda titles on the slates of Anime and Plaion: Oscar-nominated Mirai, and his most recent film, 2021’s Belle.

The companies are working on a ‘World of Mamoru Hosoda’ theatrical season, releasing one of the...

A creepy tale full of lingering regrets unfolds in Riisa Naka's clever horror short “Kaburagi.” Before this, Naka established an extensive career in acting and remains an active actress to this day. International audiences may remember her for voicing Makoto Konno in Mamoru Hosoda's anime film “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time,” based on the novel by Yasutaka Tsutsui. Beyond this, she's very active on YouTube and even has her own fashion brand. Now, with “Kaburagi,” she showcases her talents as a director.

Kaburagi is screening at Short Shorts Film Festival and Asia

Kaburaki is a photographer for a weekly magazine. While highly regarded by his peers, he's overwhelmed with guilt after exposing a scandal that drove an actress to suicide. Despite his depression, his colleagues and boss encourage him to continue his line of work. One day, he receives a message from an unknown source that tips...

Eurozoom, a leading French distributor for Japanese animation, has forged a strategic partnership with major French animation producer Special Touch Studios, led by founder and CEO Sebastien Onomo.

“We both share the same passion for animation and want to tell bold stories with a particular attention to professional diversity,” said Eurozoom’s CEO-Founder Amel Lacombe, who added that they were jointly working on a six-animation feature lineup.

Leading the pack is “Melvile,” directed by Romain Renard and Fursy Teyssier. Initiated and produced by Anne-Laure Guégan alongside Onomo, the feature is an adaptation of the eponymous graphic novel “Les Chroniques de Melvile” by the multi-awarded comic artist Romain Renard.

“Melvile” revolves around Paul, who, since his fourteenth birthday, has been haunted by the belief that he is responsible for the disappearance of Ruth, his first love, who perished in a fire. Two decades later, he returns to Melvile to settle his grandmother’s estate.

Oscar-nominated Swiss animator Claude Barras (“My Life as a Zucchini”) will be honored by the Locarno Film Festival with its Locarno Kids Award given to personalities credited with infusing younger generations with a love for cinema.

Barras’ beloved stop-motion film “Life as a Zucchini,” about an orphaned boy who lives in a foster home, played at Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes in 2016, and went on to be nominated for best animated feature at the Oscars and secured distribution in over 50 territories.

Barras’ more recent work “Sauvages,” about an orangutan fighting to save the forests of Borneo with his friends, will travel to Locarno after premiering positively at Cannes earlier this month.

“Sauvages” will play on the prominent Swiss fest’s 8,000-seat Piazza Grande on Aug. 13 with the director in tow.

“Claude Barras is one of the great shapers of the contemporary collective imagination,” said Locarno’s artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro in a statement.

The revival screening project sponsored by Filmarks, one of the largest film, drama and anime review services in Japan, will screen Mamoru Hosoda's 2009 anime feature film Summer Wars , which marks the 15th anniversary of its theatrical release this year, for a limited time of two weeks in 126 theaters across Japan starting July 26, 2024. Following the critically-acclaimed The Girl Who Leapt Through Time in 2006, as Hosoda's first original feature film, Summer Wars released in Japan on August 1, 2009. This two-week screening period includes two anniversaries: August 1, the film's first release date in Japan, and the birthday of the heroine Natsuki's great-grandmother, Sakae Jinnouchi. A number of plans are being prepared for the screening, including the distribution of original bonus items for theatergoers and other activities that will celebrate the memorable 15th anniversary. More details will be announced in the future. Related: Summer Wars Starts 15th Anniversary Project With Film Concert Source...

Two of France’s fastest-rising young stars, Lyna Khoudri and Rio Vega, will lead the French voice cast of animated feature “In Waves,” an unconditional first love story, and tale of loss and memories adapting American illustrator Aj Dungo’s same-titled multi-prized graphic novel.

An anticipated banner prestige animation title from Paris-based Silex Films, “In Waves” lead producer, the feature also marks the first animated co-production of both Anonymous Content and Charades, behind sales of Jeremy Clapin’s “I Lost My Body” and Mamoru Hosoda’s “Mirai,” both Oscar nominated titles.

In Waves is directed by Phuong Mai Nguyen, a former student of French animation schools Gobelins and La Poudrière who helmed episodes of the Silex-produced animated series “Brazen” and was Oscar-shortlisted for her short “My Home,” “In Waves” has just been announced as one of five titles at the Annecy Animation Showcase, part of Cannes’ Animation Day on May...

You read that right, Mamoru Hosoda’s Summer Wars anime film turns 15 years old this year. To celebrate, Studio Chizu will be holding a multi-installment 15th-anniversary project for the flick, starting with a film concert in June. A new visual by Oz avatar designer Takashi Okazaki was released to go along with the announcement. The Summer Wars film concert also got its own visual released, which is an updated version of the visual used for the 10th-anniversary concert in 2020 that was canceled due to Covid-19. Akihiko Matsumoto, who composed the music for Summer Wars , will be in attendance at the event alongside Kazuki Wada conducting the New Japan Philharmonic. The Summer Wars film will be played in full alongside a full orchestral rendition of the soundtrack. The first event will be held at the Tokyo International Forum with tickets on sale now through lottery. Those who purchase an “S” class...

Gkids has announced the acquisition of North American rights to Mamoru Hosoda’s entire film catalog.

Hosoda’s films include “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time,” “Wolf Children,” “Mirai” and “Belle.”

Gkids’ President David Jesteadt said, “One of Gkids’ earliest distribution projects was the theatrical release of ‘Summer Wars,’ when Mamoru Hosoda had already cemented his position as one of the most exciting animation directors. We were honored to deepen our relationship with the release of his two latest films, ‘Mirai’ and ‘Belle,’ and are excited to now be able to showcase the full breadth of Hosoda’s ambitious storytelling across his film catalog, featuring some of the most acclaimed and successful Japanese animated films of all time.”

Hosoda’s six features have all been nominated for, and five have been awarded, the Japan Academy Prize for “Animation of the Year.” He also landed an Oscar nomination for 2018’s “Mirai...

An anime film was bound to make it into the Oscar nominations this year, and the contender this time around is Hayao Miyazaki's The Boy and the Heron . Ghibli's latest film was nominated in the Animated Feature Film Category, where it will compete with Elemental , Nimona , Robot Dreams and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse . Other nominations include Godzilla Minus One , which is up for the Visual Effects category , and Japanese/German co-production Perfect Days —directed by Wim Wenders and written by Wim Wenders and Takuma Takasaki—which is up for Best International Feature Film . We'll find out who wins when the 96th annual Academy Awards ceremony airs live on Sunday, March 10, 2024 at 4:00pm Pacific Time. Related: The Boy and the Heron Awarded Golden Globe for Best Animated Film Miyazaki previously won an Academy Award in 2002 for Spirited Away , making anime history. His Howl's Moving Castle film was nominated in...

Charades has taken on worldwide sales rights outside of Japan for anime master Mamoru Hosoda’s library.

Charades has taken on worldwide sales rights outside of Japan for anime master Mamoru Hosoda’s library and has partnered with acclaimed animation house Studio Chizu to expand the brand across borders.

Hosada’s full library will now be consolidated under the Charades banner after the two powerhouse companies previously joined forces for sales on the filmmaker’s Oscar-nominated 2018 coming-of-age anime Mirai and 2021 metaverse fairytale Belle that premiered in Cannes and was a box office hit in Japan, the US and other global territories.

Exclusive: There’s been much celebratory talk here at the Tokyo Film Festival about a new dawn of internationally-minded Japanese artists led by directors such as Hirokazu Kore-eda, Makoto Shinkai, and Ryusuke Hamaguchi.

One of the key creative voices often mentioned amongst this new Japanese set is Genki Kawamura, known internationally by audiences as the writer of If Cats Disappeared from the World, one of Japanese literature’s most successful contemporary novels, and the filmmaker who brought that book and titles such as Suzume, Weathering with You, and, most recently, Kore-eda’s Cannes prize-winning Monster to the big screen.

Born in Yokohama in 1979, Kawamura began his career at entertainment juggernaut Toho, where he was identified early as a promising talent. He cut his teeth on pics like Tetsuya Nakashima’s 2010 feature Confessions, which was shortlisted for the Best International Feature Oscar, and Mamoru Hosoda’s The Boy and the Beast.

Hayao Miyazaki just won't stop. The animation maestro has retired then unretired so many times it is just silly now, with his latest movie "The Boy and the Heron" being released in Japan with no trailers and being billed as his last goodbye — until it was revealed he was already throwing around ideas for his next project. "He's thinking about this next project every day, and I can't stop him -- in fact, I've given up," studio co-founder and long-time producer Toshio Suzuki recently said in an interview with French outlet Liberation.

But while the idea of more Miyazaki is exciting, what's somewhat troubling is the future Studio Ghibli is headed toward. After all, this is the greatest animation studio in the world, responsible for all-time classics like "Kiki's Delivery Service" (which ended up on our list of 100 best movies ever) and "Princess Kaguya," and which gifted us Totoro and tanuki testicle transformations.

Asian buyers are ultra-cautious as theatrical markets are still in recovery following the pandemic, but bright spots include animation and re-releases of classic titles, said a group of leading European sales agents at the Cannes Marche’s Spotlight Asia panel today.

Sellers including Charades, Kinology, Films Boutique and StudioCanal said Asian buyers are finally back in person at markets, following three years of pandemic travel restrictions, but there is very little pre-buying activity as buyers in most Asian markets now won’t make a decision before seeing completed films.

Stronger territories include Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong, but South Korea is taking longer to come back. “Korea was traditionally a strong market for arthouse, but is now very difficult for us,” said Films Boutique’s Valeska Neu. “From time to time you see something break through, but Korea’s arthouse market is now very concentrated on high profile cast and big names.

Exclusive: Paris-based sales and production company Charades and London-based production and financing studio Anton are partnering on the worldwide sales of Oscar-winning Australian director Adam Elliot’s upcoming stop-motion drama Memoir Of A Snail.

The poignant tale of a young lonely misfit is the second feature after the award-winning 2019 animation Mary And Max for Elliot, who won an Oscar for the 2004 short Harvey Krumpet.

The partners have unveiled a first image as well as some first members of international voice cast featuring Jacki Weaver (Yellowstone), Kodi Smit-McPhee (Elvis), Dominique Pinon, Magda Szubanski, and Eric Bana (The Dry).

The lead cast has yet to be announced.

The animated feature is produced by Arenamedia, with Liz Kearney (Paper Planes) as producer, and Robert Connolly (The Dry) and Robert Patterson as Executive Producers.

The film is currently shooting in Melbourne, Australia, with an expected release date...

Anonymous Content has come on board California surf-themed animated feature adapted from illustrator Aj Dungo’s celebrated graphic memoir, “In Waves.”

Produced by Paris-based Silex Films, “In Waves” marks the feature debut of Phuong Mai Nguyen (“Brazen”), and is being penned by Fanny Burdino and Samuel Doux, whose screenwriting credits include “After Love” and “The Origin of Evil.”

The feature is produced by Priscilla Bertin and Judith Nora, co-Founders of Silex Films, alongside Charades and Nick Shumaker, Garrett Kemble, and David Levine who will executive produce on behalf of Anonymous Content.

“We fell in love immediately with ‘In Waves’ on first read,” said Nick Shumaker on behalf of Anonymous Content. “Its themes of first love, loss, and memory will speak to worldwide audiences across age ranges and demographics, and is a needed anecdote to help inject positive emotion back into our everyday,” Shumaker continued. He pointed out the projects marks...

Oscar-winning French director Luc Jacquet (“March of the Penguins”) will be honored by the Locarno Film Festival with its Locarno Kids Award celebrating a film personality who has brought the magic of movies to younger audiences.

“Luc Jacquet’s gaze has followed the perspective of the plant and animal kingdoms through his many voyages to the Antarctic or into forests both remote and close to home,” the Swiss festival dedicated to indie cinema said in a statement. It pointed out that this year’s prize “goes to a filmmaker who has consistently conveyed a powerful ecological message to younger generations of cinema lovers.”

The French biologist and filmmaker has made hugely popular nature documentaries such as “Penguins,” watched by more than 25 million people worldwide since its 2006 release, and “Once Upon a Forest” in 2013 and “Ice and the Sky” (2015). He also helmed a fiction feature “The Fox & the Child” (2007).

Jacquet...

Luc Jacquet, the Oscar-winning French director of March of the Penguins, will be honored with the 2023 Locarno Kids Award, an honor celebrating a film personality who has brought cinema to younger audiences, giving them “a sense of discovery about the big screen.”

Jacquet will receive his award in Locarno on Aug. 7, ahead of an open-air screening of March of the Penguins on Locarno’s legendary Piazza Grande. Jacquet will also take part in a panel discussion on Aug. 8. Locarno will screen a selection of Jacquet’s other films, which include documentaries Once Upon a Forest, 2015’s Ice and the Sky and Penguins sequel Penguins 2: The Next Step (2017), as well as the 2007 feature The Fox & the Child.

“Luc Jacquet is a director who has masterfully woven together the magical charm of observation and the pure poetry of storytelling, taking our gaze to dimensions of the planet never before explored,...

Cartoon Movie, the European animation sector’s flagship co-production and pitch forum, closed out its 25th edition besting pre-pandemic attendance numbers, welcoming just below 900 industry participant and noting a 40% increase in buyers. Overall, 58 feature projects were presented (and 16 countries encompassed), and — in a testament to France’s robust animation ecosystem — Gallic outfits had a hand in nearly half of them. The forum also reflected the enduring strength of the family market, with 59% of all projects aimed at that demographic.

Here are four takeaways from this year’s session, which ran from March 7 – 9 in Bordeaux.

A Marquee Event

No film drew greater buzz than “Julián” (pictured above). Led by Ireland’s Cartoon Saloon and listing Sun Creature (Denmark), Folivari (France), Aircraft Pictures (Canada) and Wychwood Media (U.K.) as co-producers, the family title benefits from the accrued pedigree of titles like “Flee,” “The Breadwinner” and “Ernest and Celestine.” Throw in Wychwood...

After scoring a Tko with audiences for his directorial debut on Creed III, Michael B. Jordan could get back into the ring to develop a Creed-Verse with Amazon. According to Deadline, Jordan is dancing around a universe-spanning deal for Creed-related film and television projects. While there have been multiple meetings and attempts to build a Rocky universe, the latest dealings could yield hard-hitting results for the franchise’s future. The seriousness of the deal is the result of Creed III‘s success, which has earned $110M+ worldwide at the time of this posting.

Details about the deal remain shrouded in mystery, though Deadline says an anime series connected to the Rocky IP is possible in addition to a live-action spinoff series. The idea of building a project around Adonis Creed’s daughter, Amara, is also being discussed. The anime project sounds likely, as Jordan is an out-and-proud anime fan.

I want to use this blurb to acknowledge a couple of films I’m yet to see that I feel, through a combination of my own personal taste and their critical reception, maybe would’ve made the cut had I seen them this year. The first of which is idiosyncratic anime Director Masaaki Yuasa’s Inu-Oh, a rock opera set amongst 14th century Japanese performers. I’ve been a fan of Yuasa’s bombastic and enveloping style ever since I watched The Tatami Galaxy a few years ago and am dying to see the latest in his ever-growing oeuvre of impressive works. The second film is Kogonada’s After Yang. Anyone who knows me on a personal level will know how much I loved his debut Columbus and to see the filmmaker follow up that up with a quiet, reflective sci-fi sounds too good to miss. That all being said,...

Jx’23, an event to celebrate Japanese innovators and leaders in the entertainment industry, is being held in Los Angeles at the Grammy Museum on February 9, 2023.

The event, spanning the industries of music, animation, fashion, entertainment and Web3, is co-hosted by the LA Next Generation Japanese American Leaders Initiative and the Consulate General of Japan in Los Angeles.

Speakers will include executives from animation master Mamoru Hosoda’s Studio Chizu, Amuse Group USA, music company Asobisystem and the Japanese arm of Hong Kong-based blockchain gaming giant Animoca Brands.

Studio Chizu is the production company behind Hosoda’s acclaimed animated movies, most recently including Belle (2021), which premiered in Cannes official selection and Mirai (2018), which premiered in Cannes Directors Fortnight and was later nominated for the Academy Awards and Golden Globes.

There will be a big focus on metaverse and Web3, an area where Japan is an innovator, with Japanese content using the...

In the early days of the Academy’s animated feature Oscar, there were questions as to whether enough films would qualify each year for the award to be given. Not anymore! This year sees a record number of contenders across a wide variety of genres, styles and audiences, from serious, adult-targeted films (like “Charlotte” and “Eternal Spring”) to boffo offerings from Hollywood’s top toon studios — and that doesn’t even count such anime franchise sensations as “One Piece Film: Red” and “Jujutsu Kaisen 0,” which didn’t submit but further illustrate the vitality of the form.

Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood

Director: Richard Linklater

Voices: Glen Powell, Zachary Levi, Jack Black

Studios: Minnow Mountain, Submarine, Detour Filmproduction

Distributor: Netflix

A time capsule made possible through a sophisticated blend of 2D, 3D and rotoscope techniques, allows the “Boyhood” director to revive the style of “Waking Life” and his own 1960s Texas boyhood.

Just how far can Luffy stretch? That’s a question “One Piece” fans have been asking for years of the Gum-Gum hero with the go-go-gadget arms. Sure, there are limits to Luffy’s flexibility, but if you look at the pirate adventure series to which he belongs — one that’s been serialized for 25 years running, generating more than 100 books, 1,000-plus anime episodes and 15 theatrical features — it would seem that “One Piece” creator Eiichiro Oda can stretch the entire franchise pretty much as far as he pleases.

Case in point: The series’ latest entry, “One Piece Film: Red,” expands into musical territory, focusing on a pop star named Uta who has been made powerful by the Sing-Sing Fruit. “One Piece” characters gain special abilities after consuming Devil Fruit (Gum-Gum is Luffy’s), and Sing-Sing skills allow this chic chanteuse with two-tone hair and a worldwide fan base to whisk listeners...

When a series gets to the point where its episode count has surpassed one thousand installments, its supplemental feature films number almost twenty, and its (still ongoing) source material has been compiled in over one hundred volumes, the casual observers have been weeded out and what’s left of your audience is the true diehard fans.

For an anime show like “One Piece,” the densely populated pirate saga that’s been broadcasting since 1999, it’s pretty much impossible to simply tune in every once in a while and attempt to follow references to arcs and characters from years prior. The series’ newest film installment, “One Piece Film: Red,” has a similar effect, but is enough of a standalone interlude that someone who hasn’t kept up with the show for many years (i.e. this critic) can still find something to enjoy.

Director Gorō Taniguchi’s film begins, helpfully, with...

The combination of animation with themes of isolation in the hyper-digital age is proving to be a bountiful match. Anime titans Mamoru Hosoda and Masaaki Yuasa have conveyed this through their dense visual tapestries that have confronted our relationship with online space from both optimistic and pessimistic viewpoints. The flexibility of the animated form allows artists to truly capture the sense of disassociation felt through the limited window of online self-expression. This battle with identity is at the forefront of Richan Li’s animated short Babble Bubble, which sees a young girl detach her head and replace it with whichever animal-based persona her online profile requires. It’s a really fun, playful film that’s also enlightening on the discombobulating nature of social media performativity. Dn is delighted to present Babble Bubble on our pages today and be joined by Li for a conversation which covers everything from the medieval...

Like a department store that pulls out its winter holiday items weeks before All Hallows' Eve, Netflix isn't going to let a little thing like the calendar stop it from bombarding its subscribers with Christmas movies in November. That's not to say the streamer's exclusive yuletide rom-coms are all bad — quite the opposite, in fact (consider this your friendly reminder to finally watch "Single All the Way" this year).

Fortunately, if films like "Falling for Christmas" (aka the long-awaited Lindsay Lohan Netflix Christmas movie) aren't your bag, there are plenty of other options on the service to choose from that month. Perhaps you'd be more inclined to watch "Slumberland," Francis Lawrence's fantasy film adaptation of Winsor McCay's classic "Little Nemo in Slumberland" comic strips starring Jason Momoa as a shaggy-furred half-man, half-animal with mountain goat horns and an impeccably flamboyant fashion sense? You could also go for the...

This has been an outstanding year for animation. From Mamoru Hosoda's "Belle" and the brilliant creativity of "Turning Red" to the sea-faring, sea chanty-singing adventure of "The Sea Beast," the stop-motion insanity of "Mad God," and the upcoming stop-motion marvel of Henry Selick's "Wendell & Wild" and Guillermo del Toro's haunting fairy tale "Pinocchio." The 2022 animation year has shown how versatile the medium is, allowing filmmakers to break molds and tell all kinds of stories meant for very different audiences in animation.

Now, one of the oldest and biggest animation studios out there, Walt Disney Animation Studios, is about to enter the race with a movie that promises to be a wildly different ride than the studio's formulaic fare. In their 61st film, Disney is channeling pulp sci-fi stories with "Strange World," a film that feels like a throwback to that brief period in time when they...

If you count yourself among those who walked away disappointed by the brief screen-time Manny Jacinto got in "Top Gun: Maverick," you might be happy to know the actor just booked himself a shiny new role on a live-action "Star Wars" TV series. Bortles!

Deadline is reporting Jacinto has joined the cast of "The Acolyte," a show that takes place near the end of the High Republic era. His co-stars on the series will include "Squid Game" star turned Emmy winner Lee Jung-jae and Amandla Stenberg ("Bodies Bodies Bodies") as leads, with Jodi Smith-Turner ("Queen & Slim") also reported to be playing a key role. Behind the camera, "Russian Doll" co-creator Leslye Headland is serving as the head writer and executive producer on the show.

Give Jason Mendoza A Lightsaber, Please

Jacinto, of course, is best known for starring in Michael Schur's critically-acclaimed fantasy comedy series "The Good Place" as Jason Mendoza,...

Video Version of this Article Photo: Mamoru Hosoda/Studio Chizu An Introduction to Mamoru Hosoda In the somewhat narrow world of mainstream anime, a few names stand out: Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, Makoto Shinkai. A fourth name that comes to my mind, belonging to arguably the most consistently great anime director of the past decade or so, would be Mamoru Hosoda. Hosoda, like Shinkai, got his start at the turn of the millennium — but unlike Shinkai, whose films often feel perennial and yet youthful, Hosoda’s films feel distinctly modern; they express concerns about relationships between parents and their children, between siblings, and between all these people and modern life. Whether it be science fiction or fantasy, a Hosoda film seemingly always takes place in the “now” or just a few years from today — next Sunday A.D., as is said regularly in ‘Mystery Science Theater 3000.’ The tendency toward...

Crunchyroll continues to expand its cinematic collection with hot new titles arriving this September for the first time on the anime streaming service, including the blockbuster hit Jujutsu Kaisen 0, the prequel movie to the critically acclaimed anime series Jujutsu Kaisen, as well as one new movie each Thursday.

The film from Toho Animation, Jujutsu Kaisen 0, is based on Jujutsu Kaisen 0 (Jump Comics / Shueisha), the prequel manga to the popular series written and illustrated by Gege Akutami. The film was distributed by Crunchyroll in the US and select international markets, receiving over 34M at the North American box office, with a total 166M worldwide.

Classic titles such as Mamoru Hosoda’s critically acclaimed The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Fuminori Kizaki’s Afro Samurai: Resurrection starring Samuel L. Jackson, Masahiro Andō’s Sword of the Stranger, and Naoyoshi Shiotani’s Psycho-Pass Sinners of the System film trilogy...

In the career of Nobuhiko Obayashi, his works from the 1980s are certainly some of the most interesting features the director made. Although some of these movies have become somewhat obscure and hard to find for film fans wanting to discover more from Obayashi besides arguably his most popular work today, his 1977 feature “House”. One of the director’s favorite works was “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time”, an adaptation of the novel of the same title by Yasutaka Tsutsui, which also served as the foundation to the 2006 anime directed by Mamoru Hosoda. In his approach to the source material, Obayashi and screenwriter Wataru Kenmotsu highlight the idea of the story being about growth as well as the various irritations when becoming an adult.

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Kazuko Yoshiyama (Tomoyo Harada) is a high-school student living in the city of Onomichi. One day, as she is tasked with cleaning the chemistry lab,...

What if there was a device that allowed the user to enter other people's dreams? What if one of the devices was stolen by someone who could implant ideas in people's minds to control them? What kind of story could come out of this concept?

If your first thought is Christopher Nolan's "Inception," then congratulations, you played yourself. That film became the rare example of a movie that becomes a shorthand term for its premise — entering people's dreams. Still, it pales in comparison to the film it so blatantly rips off, Satoshi Kon's "Paprika," an anime movie adapted from Yasutaka Tsutsui's 1993 novel of the same name.

That novel was almost adapted to live-action over a decade ago by the late, great Wolfgang Petersen, but now Deadline reports that Tsutsui's "Paprika" is getting a second chance at becoming a live-action project, on the small screen. Cathy Yan has...

"Beauty and the Beast" truly is a tale as old as time, and has been retold in countless ways, like the Ron Perlman and Linda Hamilton TV series of the same name, the Fran Drescher comedy "The Beautician and the Beast," the teen rom-drama "Beastly," or even in an episode of "Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater." Recently, legendary Japanese filmmaker Mamoru Hosoda delivered "Belle," a magnificent animated sci-fi fantasy film that thrusts the tale out of the world of old and into the techno future.

The story takes place in the not-so-distant future where the internet has evolved into a legitimate virtual reality called U, where avatars are created by users' scanned biometric information. A teenager named Suzu creates an avatar named Belle who becomes a pop superstar, but everything changes when her virtual concert is interrupted by the seemingly undefeatable fighter The Dragon (or "The Beast"), who she quickly becomes infatuated with.

Celebrating all things anime with attendees at the Sixth Annual Crunchyroll Expo this weekend in San Jose, CA, Crunchyroll, the global leader in bringing the ultimate anime experience to audiences around the world, shared many exciting announcements during its Industry Panel today, which included announcements of new show acquisitions, exclusive first looks, fan favorite movies coming to the streaming service, and more.

Announcements kicked off with a thrilling update that Crunchyroll will be rolling out the red carpet to welcome some of the most beloved anime in cinema history to its platform, including the sci-fi cult classic Akira directed by Katsuhiro Otomo, the fantastical modern romance your name. from director Makoto Shinkai (Suzume no Tojimari; Weathering With You), as well as director Mamoru Hosoda’s critically acclaimed catalog The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Wolf Children, and The Boy and the Beast. Fans will start to see new movies launching on Crunchyroll every Thursday,...

August is here, which means summer is winding down and the options at your local multiplex are starting to become a bit slimmer. Not to worry, though, because a bevy of new titles are streaming this month, offering a ton of new movies — both newly streaming films and genuine new releases — to enjoy from the comfort of your own home. Below, we’ve rounded up a list of some of the best new movies to stream in August, which runs the gamut from a new “Predator” prequel to a vampire action comedy to a pair of brand new animated films.

Belle Studio Chizu

August 1, HBO Max

One of last year’s very best animated features, “Belle” hails from Japanese filmmaker Mamoru Hosoda. A 21st century take on “Beauty and the Beast,” “Belle” concerns a young girl who refashions herself as a pop princess in a virtual space known as the U.

Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

Belle (Mamoru Hosoda)

If a name can trigger nostalgia, don’t be surprised when the occasional sense of deja vu sets in while watching Belle, a dazzling near-future tech fantasia wrapped around a tale, yes, as old as time. Directed by Mamoru Hosoda and mostly set in a vast online world of sweeping musical numbers and weightless action sequences, it tells of Suzu, an awkward teenager (as if there were any other kind) who finds quick fame performing as the pop-singer Belle: her avatar on a hugely popular social media platform called U that looks like a sugary cocktail of Tik Tok and “The Oasis” from Spielberg’s Ready Player One. – Rory O. (full review)

Where to Stream: HBO Max

Blue Island...

The Film

The new Miyazaki. That’s a description I’ve heard applied to Mamoru Hosoda over and over, and it’s never sat well with me. Notwithstanding that Hosoda has expressed critical feelings about Miyazaki’s depiction of women, or my own apathy about Miyazaki’s films, Hosoda isn’t the new anybody, nor does he need to be. He’s the first Mamoru Hosoda, and across his six solo features, he’s established a strong authorial voice and, for my money, stands out as one of the best and most exciting filmmakers working today, and not just in animation.

Belle, like Hosoda’s previous films, takes a gigantic sci-fi concept and boils it down to a tiny personal story. The setting is contemporary, but the internet seems to be dominated by an app called U, a social network which, through body sharing technology (think a less gross take...

To mark the release of Belle on 27th June, we’ve been given a quad poster signed by Mamoru Hosada to give away.

From the celebrated Oscar®-nominated director Mamoru Hosoda and Studio Chizu, creator of Mirai, Wolf Children, Summer Wars, and more, comes a fantastical, yet beautiful and contemporary thematic story of one girl’s growth in the age of social media. Suzu is a 17-year-old high school student living in a rural village with her father. For years, she has only been a shadow of herself. One day, she enters “U,” a virtual world of 5 billion members on the Internet. There, she is not Suzu anymore but Belle, a world-famous singer. She soon meets with a mysterious creature. Together, they embark on a journey of adventures, challenges and love, in their quest to become who they truly are.

Click here to buy Belle now.

Please note: This competition...

Belle, the latest anime sensation from Oscar-nominated director Mamoru Hosoda will be released on DVD, Blu-ray, as well as a special feature-packed 4K Uhd Blu-ray Collector’s Edition that includes the film’s beloved soundtrack on 27th June. To celebrate, we are giving away a Blu-ray!

An original story inspired by the realisation that his own children will grow up in an increasingly online age, Hosoda’s Belle is the story of Suzu, a country girl who becomes a music sensation in the virtual world of “U” with the mesmerising avatar Belle. When her fame attracts the attention of a fearsome yet mysterious user known only as “Dragon”, Suzu will discover where the line between the online and offline self really lies.

Premiering to a historic 14-minute standing ovation at the 74th Cannes Film Festival, Belle released in cinemas across the UK and Ireland in February to critical acclaim, with...

Charades (“I Lost My Body”) has boarded “Chicken for Linda!,” an animated feature directed by Chiara Malta and Sébastien Laudenbach (“The Girl Without Hands”) in the run up to this week’s Annecy Animation Festival.

Produced by Dolce Vita Films (“A Son”) and Miyu Productions (“Plethore de Nords”), and coproduced by Italy’s Palosanto, “Chicken for Linda!” will be presented in the work-in-progress section at Annecy.

Comedy-laced, the animated feature follows a loving mom, Paulette, who feels guilty after unfairly punishing her daughter Linda and would do anything to make it up to her. She sets off to make a chicken with peppers, even though she doesn’t know how to cook.

But how will she find a chicken on the day of a general strike? The heartwarming mother-daughter tale also touches on overcoming grief through the plot involving the recent death of the young girl’s father.

“After the...

Damian won Annecy’s top Crystal prize in 2012 for Crulic – The Path Beyond.

French distributor Eurozoom has acquired French rights to Romanian director Anca Damian’s The Island ahead of its screening in competition at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival (June13-18).

International sales of the film are handled by Brussels-based Best Friend Forever (Bff).

The Paris-based distributor has a long track record in theatrically releasing animated features in France. Past releases include award-winning Japanese titles Your Name by Makoto Shinkai and The Wolf Children by Mamoru Hosoda as well as Spanish director Salvador Simo’s Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles.