GKids

GKIDS Licenses the Promare Anime Film for September 2019 Theatrical Screenings in North America

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

GKIDS has announced that it has licensed Studio Trigger and XFlag’s original anime film Promare for North America. It will hold a premiere event for the film on September 17 and 19, 2019, and will open in select theaters on September 20, 2019.

GKIDS describes the film as:

Thirty years has passed since the appearance of Burnish, a race of flame-wielding mutant beings, who destroyed half of the world with fire. When a new group of aggressive mutants calling themselves “Mad Burnish” appears, the epic battle between Galo Thymos, a new member of the anti-Burnish rescue team “Burning Rescue,” and Lio Fotia, the leader of “Mad Burnish” begins.

The film opened in Japan on May 24, 2019 in 200 theaters, and ranked at #8 in its opening weekend. The film has so far earned a cumulative total of 357,531,500 yen (about US$3.29 million) as of June 9, 2019.

Source: ANN

GKIDS Licenses The Case of Hana & Alice, Genius Party, and Summer Days with Coo Anime

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

GKIDS has announced that it has acquired the North American distribution rights for The Case of Hana & Alice, Genius Party, Genius Party Beyond, and Summer Days with Coo. The company will release the anime on home video in 2019.

The Case of Hana & Alice (Hana to Alice Satsujin Jiken) opened in Japan in February 2015 as Shunji Iwai’s animated prequel to his 2004 live-action coming-of-age film Hana & Alice.

Genius Party is an anthology of short films produced by Studio 4℃ and featuring directors such as Koji Morimoto, Shinichiro Watanabe, Shoji Kawamori, Masaaki Yuasa, and Mahiro Maeda. The anthology was split into two parts—Genius Party and Genius Party Beyond — which opened in 2007 and 2008, respectively.

Keiichi Hara directed the 2007 anime film, Summer Days with Coo, at Shin-Ei Animation.

Source: ANN

GKIDS Licenses Makoto Shinkai’s Weathering With You Anime Film

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

GKIDS has announced that it has licensed Makoto Shinkai’s new anime film Weathering With You (Tenki no Ko). The film will have an “awards qualifying” theatrical run in 2019, with a broader theatrical release scheduled for early 2020 with both English subtitles and English-dubbed screenings.

Weathering With You will open in Japanese theaters on July 19, 2019.

Source: ANN

GKIDS and Shout! Factory to Release Ronja, The Robber’s Daughter on Blu-ray Disc in August 2019

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

GKIDS has announced that it and Shout! Factory will release Goro Miyazaki and POLYGON PICTURES’ Ronja the Robber’s Daughter television anime on Blu-ray Disc on August 20, 2019. The release will include all 26 episodes with the English dub, English subtitles with Japanese audio, a “making-of” featurette, and an interview with Goro Miyazaki.

GKIDS licensed the anime in 2018.

Ronja the Robber’s Daughter premiered in Japan in October 2014 and ran for 26 episodes. Amazon began streaming the series internationally in January 2017. David Freedman adapted and directed the English version, and actress Gillian Anderson narrated the series.

The anime won the Animation category at the International Emmy Kids Awards in April 2016.

Source: ANN

GKIDS and Shout! Factory to Release the Okko’s Inn Anime Film on Blu-ray and DVD

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

GKIDS and Shout! Factory have announced that they will release the Okko’s Inn (Waka Okami wa Shōgakusei!) anime film on Blu-ray Disc and DVD on July 2, 2019. The film will also launch for digital download on the same day.

GKIDS and Fathom Events held United States screenings of the anime film on April 22-23, 2019. Screenings on April 22, 2019 had the English dub, while screenings on April 23, 2019 featured Japanese with English subtitles. The New York International Children’s Film Festival (NYICFF) screened the world premiere of the film’s English dub on February 23, 2019, with another screening on March 10, 2019.

Canadian theater chain Cineplex and Landmark Cinemas are listing that they will screen the film in Canada in May 2019. Screenings on May 4, 2019 will be English-dubbed, while screenings on May 6, 2019 will be in Japanese with English subtitles.

The film opened in Japanese theaters in September 2018, and is based on writer Hiroko Reijō and artist Asami’s juvenile literature series.

Source: ANN

GKIDS Licenses the Children of the Sea Anime Film

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

GKIDS has announced that it has acquired the North American distribution rights for Studio 4°C’s anime film of Daisuke Igarashi’s Children of the Sea (Kaijū no Kodomo) manga. The company will screen the film theatrically in Japanese and English in 2019.

Joe Hisaishi of Studio Ghibli fame is composing the music for the film. Ayumu Watanabe is directing, and Kenichi Konishi is the animation director and character designer.

Children of the Sea is scheduled to open in Japanese theaters on June 7, 2019.

Source: ANN

Studio Ponoc’s Animated Anthology Modest Heroes Comes to Blu-ray from GKIDS & Shout! Factory on June 18, 2019

Posted on by Lesley Aeschliman

GKIDS and Shout! Factory will issue Modest Heroes on Blu-ray + DVD and digital download on June 18, 2019. The release, which features both Japanese and English audio tracks and comes complete with bonus features, is available for pre-order now on shoutfactory.com.

From Studio Ponoc (Mary and the Witch’s Flower), the new studio founded by twice-Academy Award®-nominated producer Yoshiaki Nishimura (The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, When Marnie Was There), comes a thrilling collection of stories exploring ideas of heroism in their own unique way.

Modest Heroes is an ambitious collection of three thrilling tales created by some of the greatest talent working in Japanese animation today. Kanini & Kanino is directed by Academy Award®-nominee Hiromasa Yonebayashi (When Marnie Was There, Mary and The Witch’s Flower); Life Ain’t Gonna Lose, featuring the voice of Maggie Q (Nikita, Designated Survivor), is helmed by Yoshiyuki Momose, who was a key animator on Isao Takahata’s films at Studio Ghibli; and Invisible director Akihiko Yamashita was a key animator on many of Hayao Miyazaki’s best-known films. Each is produced by Studio Ponoc’s Yoshiaki Nishimura.

Special Features:

  • Modest Heroes of Studio Ponoc
  • Film Completion Press Conference
  • Interviews with Japanese Voice Cast
  • Art Galleries
  • Trailers and TV Spots

GKIDS is a producer and distributor of award-winning feature animation for both adult and family audiences. Since 2010, the company has scored an astounding eleven Best Animated Feature Oscar nominations with The Secret of Kells in 2010, A Cat in Paris and Chico & Rita in 2012, Ernest & Celestine in 2014, The Tale of the Princess Kaguya and Song of the Sea in 2015, Boy and the World and When Marnie Was There in 2016, My Life as a Zucchini in 2017, The Breadwinner in 2018, and most recently Mirai in 2019. GKIDS also handles North American distribution for the famed Studio Ghibli library of films, one of the world’s most coveted animation collections with titles Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke and others.