“The key point is anime” Toei lineup presentation held – “ChaO” depicting a love story between a human and a mermaid, “Peleliu”, a blockbuster commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of the war, etc. announced
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On January 16, 2025, the 2025 and 2026 Toei lineup presentation was held. In addition to live-action films, STUDIO4゜C’s ambitious work “ChaO” (directed by Yasuhiro Aoki), Shin-ei Animation x Fugaku’s blockbuster “Peleliu – Guernica in Paradise” (tentative title) to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of the Pacific War (Kuji) Anime works such as Goro (directed by Goro) were also announced.
Also attending the event were Fumio Yoshimura, president and representative director of Toei Co., Ltd., Hiroshi Deme, head of the film business division and director of film programming, Satoshi Maeda, director of “Hanamanma,” Eiko Tanaka, producer of “ChaO,” and Masashi Igarashi, producer of “Takarajima.” Goro Kuji, director of “Peleliu: Guernica in Paradise” (tentative title), took the stage.
First of all, the newly announced original animation “ChaO” by STUDIO4゜C. It will be released in summer 2025. In his opening remarks, representative Mr. Yoshimura said, “One of the key points for 2025 is “anime,” and producer Mr. Tanaka also heard this and proposed this work, which he had been warming up at STUDIO4゜C. That’s what it means.
The story is set in a future society where humans and mermaids coexist. Stefan, an office worker, is proposed to be married to Chao, a princess from a mermaid kingdom, and a love story that transcends race and culture is drawn. While 3D animation production is progressing these days, this work was created using tens of thousands of hand-drawn sheets, and is based on the subculture art that STUDIO4゜C is good at, having previously worked on works such as “Tekkonkinkreet” and “Children of the Sea.” He says that the parts are also important.
Another newly announced work, “Peleliu: Guernica in Paradise” (tentative title), is a blockbuster anime dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the end of the war. Goro Kuji, who directed “Mato Seihei no Slave”, will be directing a movie for the first time. In the production, Shinei Animation, known for the nationally popular anime series “Doraemon” and “Crayon Shin-chan,” and Fugaku, an up-and-coming production company involved in popular works such as the TV anime “Dog Signal,” are teaming up.
This work is based on the manga by Kazuyoshi Takeda, which depicts the fierce battle at Peleliu, a hellish battlefield in which only 34 out of 10,000 people survived. Although the characters are drawn with a cute touch, the horrors of war are clearly depicted, and director Kuji said, “I wanted to express it in a way that doesn’t shy away from the facts that happened.”
In addition, in the anime, “Oshiri Tantei Star and Moon” (released on March 20th), “Kamen Rider Gav the Movie (tentative)/Number One Sentai Gojuger the Movie (tentative)” (released in summer 2025), “Kimi to Idol PreCure the Movie (tentative title)” (to be released in fall 2025) is coming up.
The release dates of the full and second part of the movie version of “Girls Band Cry” and the movie version of “My Heart’s Dangerous Guy” (tentative title) will be announced in the future.
Also, in 2026, Toei’s original work “Expelled from Paradise: Resonance of the Heart” will be released.
