ChaO

ChaO
Theatrical release poster
チャオ
Directed byYasuhiro Aoki
Written bySaku Konohana
Produced byEiko Tanaka
Starring
CinematographyTakanori Nakashima
Edited byKengo Shigemura
Music byTakatsugu Muramatsu
Production
company
Distributed byToei Company, Ltd.
Release date
  • August 15, 2025 (2025-08-15) (Japan)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

ChaO (Japanese: チャオ, Hepburn: Chao) is a 2025 Japanese animated romantic comedy fantasy film directed by Yasuhiro Aoki. Produced by Studio 4°C and distributed by Toei Company, it premiered in Japan on August 15, 2025. Takatsugu Muramatsu composed the film's music.

Premise

A mermaid princess becomes engaged to a human engineer.

Voice cast

Character Voice actor
Stefan Ouji Suzuka [ja]
ChaO Anna Yamada
Roberta Yūichirō Umehara
Maibei Kavka Shishido
President Shi Ryota Yamasato
Ambassador Omede Cookie! [ja]
King Neptunus Kenta Miyake
Juno Shunsei Ota [ja]
Editor-in-Chief Anna Tsuchiya

Production

The film is produced by Studio 4°C and directed by Yasuhiro Aoki, with Shōgo Furuya as unit director. Hirokazu Kojima designed the characters and served as chief animation director, and Takatsugu Muramatsu composed the music. Ōji Suzuka and Anna Yamada were cast in the lead roles. The film's theme song is "ChaO!" performed by Koda Kumi.

Release

The film was distributed by Toei Company, who released the film in theaters on August 15, 2025. GKIDS licensed the film for distribution in North America, where it released theatrically on April 10, 2026.

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 86% of 28 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.5/10. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 67 out of 100, based on five critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

Simon Abrams of RogerEbert.com gave the film three and a half out of four stars and wrote that it "is a real pleasure to watch and listen to".

References

  1. 1 2 3 Tai, Anita (March 25, 2025). "Studio 4°C's ChaO Anime Film Announces Cast, August 15 Debut in Teaser". Anime News Network. Retrieved June 18, 2025.
  2. ↑ Pineda, Rafael (March 25, 2025). "Studio 4°C's ChaO Anime Film Reveals More Cast in Video". Anime News Network. Retrieved June 18, 2025.
  3. ↑ STUDIO4℃の新作アニメ映画「ChaO」8月15日公開 鈴鹿央士、山田杏奈がW主演. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. March 26, 2025. Retrieved June 18, 2025.
  4. ↑ Hodgkins, Crystalyn (June 6, 2025). "Studio 4°C's ChaO Anime Film Reveals Kumi Koda's Theme Song in Trailer". Anime News Network. Retrieved June 18, 2025.
  5. ↑ Tai, Anita (June 3, 2025). "GKIDS Acquires N. American Rights to Studio 4°C's ChaO Anime Film". Anime News Network. Retrieved June 18, 2025.
  6. ↑ "ChaO". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved August 29, 2026.
  7. ↑ "ChaO". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved September 9, 2026.
  8. ↑ Abrams, Simon (April 2026). "ChaO". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved April 13, 2026.