Highlights
- Studio 4°C’s ChaO will debut in Indian theaters in August 2026.
- The original anime film follows Stephan and mermaid princess ChaO, blending romance and fantasy.
- Produced over seven years with approximately 100K hand-drawn frames, the film showcases Studio 4°C’s signature animation style.
Studio 4°C’s acclaimed anime film ChaO is opening in Indian theaters on Aug 7, 2026, as per PVR Pictures’ July 14 social media posts. ChaO, first released across Japan on Aug 15, 2025, won the prestigious Jury Award at that year’s Annecy International Film Festival.
ChaO tells an original story, set in a futuristic society where humans and mermaids coexist, through the journey of Stephan. In the movie, Stephan works at a shipbuilding company and eventually meets a princess from the mermaid kingdom, ChaO, who proposes to him.
Despite its limited theatrical presence, the ChaO anime film comes to Indian theaters with significant critical recognition. The movie had an extended run across several international film festivals, including Fantasia, Ottawa International Animation Festival, and The JAPAN CUTS, through 2025.
ChaO Brings Studio 4°C’s Original Animation to India
The movie begins as an unlikely romance tale that gradually explores themes of coexistence, identity, and acceptance through fantasy and comedy. GKIDS described the narrative as, “Equal parts hilarious and heartbreaking, ChaO’s singular narrative is an ode to boundless love.”
Studio 4°C is famous for its previous celebrated works, including Berserk: Golden Age Arc, Mind Game, Tekkonkinkreet, and Children of the Sea. The anime studio is known for blending environmental and existential themes into seemingly slice-of-life stories.
ChaO was produced over seven years, underscoring Studio 4°C’s emphasis on handcrafted animation. Roughly 100K hand-drawn frames were required in creating the maximalist visuals, a scale consistent with the studio’s reputation for hand-crafted animation.
The film’s production team comprises anime industry veterans, including director Yasuhiro Aoki and character designer and chief animation director Hirokazu Kojima. The voice cast includes Ōji Suzuka as Stephan and Anna Yamada as ChaO.
ChaO premiered at the festival in June 2025, prior to its staggered global release. During a meet-and-greet event on its Japanese debut day, it was confirmed that ChaO will screen in 16 countries and regions worldwide.
GKIDS finally brought the film to North America on April 10, as its first international screening. In the following months, respective distributors released the movie across Russia/CIS, Colombia, and Italy, according to Box Office Mojo. This makes India the fifth country to screen ChaO, underscoring the distributor PVR INOX’s confidence in India’s expanding anime audience.
