Indie distributor GKIDS has acquired North American distribution rights to the animated feature Children of the Sea, an adaptation from the manga of the same name by Daisuke Igarashi.
GKIDS will release the film theatrically later this year in North America in both Japanese- and English-language versions. It is set to premiere June 7 in Japan.
Children of the Sea is the latest feature from Japan’s STUDIO4°C (Tekkonkinkreet, MFKZ, Mind Game) and is directed by Ayumu Watanabe, with a score by composer Joe Hisaishi (Spirited Away).
The story follows Ruka, who is drawn toward the aquarium where her father works and the two mysterious boys she meets there. 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 ocean’s fish.
