Studio 4°C has two recent feature films in circulation: the romantic comedy ChaO, which won the Jury Prize at Annecy 2025 and is receiving a North American Blu-ray release on September 22, and the sequel Chimney Town: Frozen In Time, which premiered at the Berlinale and will screen at Annecy.
Studio 4°C is active with two feature films that have recently reached or are reaching audiences. The first, ChaO, is a romantic comedy directed by Yasuhiro Aoki about a mermaid princess and a salaryman. It won the Jury Prize at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival in 2025 and is already available digitally in the United States. GKIDS will release the film on Blu-ray Disc on September 22, with extras including storyboards, animatics, and trailers.
The second film, Chimney Town: Frozen In Time, is a sequel to the 2020 CG feature Poupelle of Chimney Town. Director Yusuke Hirota returns for this installment, which uses a hybrid 2D/3D technique that the studio has refined since its first all-CG feature. The film premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival and will also screen at Annecy. Hirota has discussed the film's creature design, which draws from the protagonist Lubicchi's imagination, and cited influences including Level-5 games and stop-motion classics.
Together, these two projects show Studio 4°C continuing to produce original feature animation with distinct visual approaches, from the hand-drawn style of ChaO to the hybrid technique of the Chimney Town sequel. Both films have received festival recognition and are reaching international audiences through distribution deals and festival screenings.
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GKIDS will release Studio 4°C's anime feature ChaO on Blu-ray Disc on September 22. The film, directed by Yasuhiro Aoki, is a romantic comedy about a mermaid princess and a salaryman. It is already available digitally in the U.S. The Blu-ray includes storyboards, animatics, and trailers. The film won the Jury Prize at Annecy 2025.
Director Yusuke Hirota returns for Chimney Town: Frozen In Time, a sequel to the 2020 CG feature Poupelle of Chimney Town. The film premiered at the Berlinale and will screen at Annecy. Hirota discussed the studio's hybrid 2D/3D approach, creature design drawn from protagonist Lubicchi's imagination, and influences including Level-5 games and stop-motion classics.