For the longest time, Studio Ghibli seemed like the only widely known anime studio producing regularly successful and gorgeously animated full-length anime films. Today, though, there are plenty of studios in Japan producing silver-screen anime that are all must-see works. From Studio Trigger releasing their debut film Promare to the incredible work of CoMix Wave Films and Makoto Shinkai on Weathering With You, the current anime landscape is full of breath-taking new cinematic experiences. Now, American and Canadian anime enthusiasts will be able to experience yet another cinematic anime achievement, as the Studio 4°C produced full-length film Children of the Sea (Kaijū no Kodomo) is set to screen across America and Canada in April.
GKIDS and Fathom Events announced that they will be running limited-time screenings of the gorgeously animated Children of the Sea across America and Canada this April. American fans will be able to catch the film in Japanese with English subtitles at various theaters across the country on April 20, with an English dub screening of the film following on April 22. Afterward, GKIDS will begin a limited theatrical run of the film starting on April 24. Canadian fans, meanwhile, will be able to attend screenings of the film from April 22 to April 23.
If you want to grab tickets in advance, you’ll be able to starting on March 12 via the Fathom Events website and various other ticketing platforms. All of these screenings will also include an exclusive interview with Children of the Sea director Ayumu Watanabe and CGI director Kenichiro Akimoto. GKIDS is the overseas distributors for the Studio 4°C produced film, while Fathom Events is a company responsible for limited-engagement theater events and screenings that GKIDS often collaborates with.
Children of the Sea is based on the gorgeous manga of the same name by Daisuke Igarashi. Viz media licensed the manga and currently publishes it overseas in English, describing the story as follows:
When Ruka was younger, she saw a ghost in the water at the aquarium where her dad works. Now she feels drawn toward the aquarium and the two mysterious boys she meets there, Umi and Sora. They were raised by dugongs and hear the same strange calls from the sea as she does.
Ruka’s dad and the other adults who work at the aquarium are only distantly aware of what the children are experiencing as they get caught up in the mystery of the worldwide disappearance of the oceans’ fish.
Joe Hisaishi, legendary Studio Ghibli and Ni No Kuni composer, composed the music for Children of the Sea. The animation director is Kenichi Konishi, who previously worked on Tokyo Godfathers and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya.
