GKIDS announced today that the ChaO romantic comedy anime film will begin screening in North American theaters on April 10, 2026. The anime film first premiered in Japan on August 15, 2025.
A new poster visual and English-subtitled trailer were also released.
© 2025 “ChaO” Committee
GKIDS announced that it had acquired the North American rights for ChaO in June 2025.
Yasuhiro Aoki (Psycho-Pass: The Movie co-character designer, SAMURAI NOODLES “THE ORIGINATOR” unit director et al.) directed the anime film, with Hirokazu Kojima (Shoka, More Than a Married Couple, But Not Lovers ending design and animation) as character designer and animation director, and Hiroshi Takiguchi (Weathering With You) as background art director. Studio 4°C was in charge of the animation production.
Meanwhile, the anime film’s main voice cast stars:
- • Oji Suzuka as Stephan
- • Anna Yamada as Chao
- • Yuichiro Umehara as Roberta
- • Kavka Shishido as Mai Bei
The anime film made its world premiere at the Annecy International Film Festival in June 2025, where it was awarded the Jury Award in the Feature Film category. It was also the sole Japanese entry at the 2025 Ottawa International Animation Festival, where it competed in the Grand Prize for Feature Animation category.
© 2025 “ChaO” Committee
GKIDS describes the main premise of ChaO as:
In a fantastical future, humans and mermaids share a troubled coexistence. Stephan, an anxious employee at a shipbuilding company, has big ideas to save the sea. But his life explodes into ecstatic chaos when bubbly mermaid princess Chao proposes marriage out of the blue. Between shopping sprees, giant robots, and actual fireworks, the unlikely pair flounder through their new romance and unlock their true feelings.
Source: press release
