Children of the Sea (KOTATSU screenings)

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January 25 @ 11:00 am - 12:55 pm EST
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Registrations are now full. We will have a rush line before the screening, and will start to release unclaimed seats 10 minutes before showtime. Thank you for your interest and understanding.
Children of the Sea
海獣の子供
Saturday, January 25, 11:00AM (ET)
Lineup starts 10:30AM | Doors open 10:45AM | Film Screening | In-Person | Innis Town Hall
Directed by WATANABE Ayumu • 2019 • Anime/ Fantasy • 111 minutes • Presented in Japanese with English subtitles • Trailer
When Ruka was younger, she saw a ghost in the water at the aquarium where her father works. Now she feels drawn towards the aquarium and the two mysterious boys she meets there, Umi and Sora. 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 oceans’ fish.
Directed by WATANABE Ayumu (Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko) and scored by longtime Studio Ghibli composer Joe HISAISHI (My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, How’s Moving Castle), Children of the Sea is adapted from the manga of the same name by author and manga artist IGARASHI Daisuke, which won the Excellence Prize at the Japan Media Arts Festival.
This is a family-friendly screening and is a part of our annual winter film showcase, KOTATSU 2025: Japanese Cinema at Innis Town Hall.
Free admission. Register below.
Director Profile:
Born in 1966, WATANABE Ayumu joined Studio Mates in 1986 and debuted his first original picture with the same studio. In 1988 he moved to Shinei Videos and was active in a wide range of roles including key animator, animation director, and director. Watanabe directed the short theatrical release Obachan no Omoide (2000), and the feature film Doraemon: Nobita’s Dragon 2006 (2006) and became a free agent in 2011. After that time, he tirelessly built up his directing portfolio with projects such as the TV series Mysterious Girlfriend X (2012), Danchi Tomoo (2012-15), If Her Flag Breaks (2014), Space Brothers (2012-14), and Ace Attorney (2016). Three TV series directed by Watanabe aired in 2018, including After the Rain, Gurazeni, and Major 2nd. Children of the Sea is his fourth time directing a full-length theatrical release.
Author Profile:
Born in 1969, IGARASHI Daisuke made his debut in 1993 when he received the Shiki Award from Gekkan Afternoon (Kodansha). He is known for Witches, which won the Japan Media Arts Festival Manga Category Award, and SARU (Shogakukan), which he created in collaboration with novelist ISAKA Kotaro. His series Little Forest (Kodansha), which ran from 2002 to 2005, was made into a live-action films in Japan and Korea. In 2009, Igarashi received the Japan Cartoonists Association Award for his first long-form work, Children of the Sea. His most recent work is Designs (Kodansha).
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