REVIEW: ChaO [2025]

Rating: NR | Runtime: 90 minutes
Release Date: August 15th, 2025 (Japan) / April 10th, 2026 (USA)
Studio: Studio 4°C / GKIDS
Director(s): Yasuhiro Aoki
Writer(s): Hanasaki Kino

The blessings of the sea keep us alive.

The world has accepted merpeople as equals. We see it in the infrastructure and the people surrounding Juno’s (Shunsei Ôta) young reporter as he chases an exclusive for his editor. A last-minute departure change and a dangerous journey through a literal jet stream highway that’s not meant for human travel later finds him at his destination a minute too late. To his surprise, however, is a familiar face on another boat readying to set sail. So, he stows away on that one instead.

Could it really be Stephan (Oji Suzuka)? His childhood idol and the man who, along with his mermaid wife ChaO (Anna Yamada), ushered in this new era of coexistence between land and sea? We’ve seen a brief glimpse into the novelization of his life and how he was saved by a mermaid as a boy only to fall in love and live happily ever after years later … but what happened next? Well, we’re about to find out as Juno lucks into conducting the interview of the century.

The feature debut of director Yasuhiro Aoki (who’s spent four decades working as a storyboard artist and key animator, amongst other hats, on a ton of big-name properties), ChaO soon takes us back in time to a crucial moment in Earth’s history: an unlikely wedding proposal that changed everything. Because Stephan isn’t a boy when we meet his past self. He’s a grown man who’s about to find himself lost at sea and in need of a savior.

His boss (Ryôta Yamasato) has just rejected his condensed air engine that would revolutionize the shipping industry as well as create an olive branch to King Neptunus (Kenta Miyake) by helping to protect marine life in the process. Why? Because it isn’t cost effective. Diplomacy means nothing to a short-sighted capitalist, but everything to an opportunist who sees value in being at the table. And that’s exactly where he sits upon realizing who saved Stephan’s life.

Screenwriter Hanasaki Kino does a great job writing the ensuing romantic comedy as both a meet cute and tragic pairing. Is Princess ChaO’s proposal a random whim? Is it worth it for Stephan to say yes if it means his boss will finally bankroll his project? Can her love also become his the longer they get to know one another? These aren’t easy questions to ask, though, considering merpeople look like giant talking fish when out of the water.

As such, the narrative deals with what Aoki describes as learning to grasp the “tolerance to understand and appreciate other cultures.” It can reveal itself as somewhat shallow considering ChaO’s natural state is a beautiful woman through the filter of water or when comfortable with showing her true self around humans. One could argue Stephan is being less empathetic towards his wife than hopeful the aesthetic barrier between them will soon dissolve.

But there’s merit in that too. How many societal issues aren’t taken seriously by a certain segment of the population until they find themself or a loved one victimized by it? The promise of a beautiful wife opens Stephan’s heart to the beauty of her soul and lets love blossom even as his brain refuses to fully figure it out until it’s too late. What then is he really angry about when his world inevitably comes crashing down? ChaO or himself?

The hand-drawn animation style is wonderfully unique with myriad different character designs that go beyond just the difference between humans and merpeople. The latter have their differing forms (humanoid or fish) while the former simply have multiple body types: proportional, big heads, and spherical. It leads to many humorous moments and physical comedy as each interacts with their environment. And Aoki has a lot of fun with action homage too.

Kino deftly brings Juno back for necessary reminders that we’re watching a story as told by a narrator with a very specific agenda to how it unfolds. It’s the tragedy of Stephan’s immaturity and ease at taking ChaO for granted rather than helping her feel comfortable in this new world first and then the epiphany of core memories he had long forgotten to better clarify his stubborn motivations and introduce his potential for growth. Maybe a happy ending is still possible.

After all, the world did change. Whether Stephan and ChaO’s love set this new harmonious cohabitation between species in motion or not, acceptance was found on a social and cultural level beyond the bullying and ignorance we see during their “celebrity” love affair’s early days. As with all things partisan and bigoted today, the first step to understanding is trust. To be yourself and to see others as who they are rather than the warped image you’ve been fed.