‘Nagi Notes’ Courtesy of Cannes Film Festival It has been a very good year for Japanese cinema — and Cannes is where the country has come to prove it.
In the main competition, buzz has been building around three of Japan’s previous Cannes heroes. Palme d’Or winner Hirokazu Kore-eda (Shoplifters, 2018) returns with Sheep in the Box; Ryûsuke Hamaguchi — best screenplay winner in 2021 for Drive My Car — presents his French co-production All of a Sudden; and Koji Fukada, who took the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize in 2016 for Harmonium, competes with Nagi Notes. All three films explore questions of family and friendship. Japan is also looking ahead. On May 15, the Japan Goes to Cannes night at the Marché du Film will present five in-production projects that speak to the strength and diversity of contemporary Japanese cinema.
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Among them is Kore-eda’s next film, Look Back — currently in postproduction — which traces the 13-year friendship between two girls who bond over a love of manga. It will be the director’s first manga adaptation, and the story of how he came to it says everything about the project’s pull.
“He picked it up on impulse and read the entire manga in one sitting that night,” producer Daiju Koide tells THR. “Although manga and film are different mediums, he felt a raw, urgent sense of determination from the work as a creator. He told me he could feel, almost painfully, that the author, Tatsuki Fujimoto, must have felt he couldn’t move forward without creating this piece.”
‘All of a Sudden,’ courtesy of Cannes Film Festival Given the source material’s popularity — and the fact that the anime version scooped an estimated $13 million from the Japanese box office — expectations are high, especially when it comes to the casting of the two much-loved central characters. The hope among fans is that the actors will be announced in Cannes.
“One of the most daunting tasks was finding the right children to portray the two leads, Fujino and Kyomoto,” says Koide. “Before the auditions began, I was genuinely anxious, wondering if children who could embody such captivating characters even existed in the real world. Yet, sitting right next to me, director Kore-eda was all smiles. As it turned out, the two we found through the auditions were truly extraordinary.”
Also being presented is The Gate of Murder, a thriller from Ko Kanai — known for popular TV dramas including Naomi & Kanako (2016). Produced by Yoshikazu Tsubaki and Kadokawa Corporation, the film follows a man haunted by a childhood acquaintance he blames for all his misfortunes, who begins plotting the man’s death.
The bullishness is well-founded. Back home, the world’s third-largest film market saw annual revenues soar 32 percent to $1.79 billion in 2025, surpassing the pre-pandemic record of $1.70 billion set in 2019. Production numbers are also at an all-time high, with 694 Japanese films released in 2025, beating the previous record of 689 (2019), while 685 were released in 2024.
Local titles did the heavy lifting at the box office: the anime monster hit Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle – Part 1 led the way with $255 million, followed by kabuki epic Kokuho ($127 million) — the highest-grossing domestic live-action film of all time — with Detective Conan: One-Eyed Flashback ($95.8 million) and Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc ($67.8 million) also performing strongly.
‘You, Fireworks, and Our Promise,’ courtesy of Cannes Film Festival The Goes to Cannes lineup reflects that momentum. You, Fireworks, and Our Promise (working title), an animated film from Shin-Ei Animation and SynergySP, directed by Suzuki Kei and produced by Michihiko Umezawa, follows a high school boy who discovers a drawing of fireworks bearing his name and a future date — only for the girl carrying it to vanish, replaced by her identical-looking great-grandmother from the past.
“What has always been important to us is the idea that even the smallest moments can carry a sense of warmth, humor, and sometimes a quiet sense of wonder,” says Umezawa. “You, Fireworks, and Our Promise is part of that ongoing journey. While the storyline begins with something very local, the Nagaoka Fireworks Festival, the film speaks about universal ideas of memory, time, and the way emotions can be shared across generations. At its heart, this is also a coming-of-age love story. I think one of the strengths of anime is that it allows the ordinary and the imaginative to exist naturally side by side.”
Shin-Ei Animation has previously developed a global fan base for productions, such as its long-running animated series Doraemon and Crayon Shinchan. The producer says they are all rooted in everyday life, something that a significant share of Japan’s animated content has in common, which allows “the ordinary and the imaginative to exist naturally side by side.”
“We have always been interested in how ordinary everyday life can feel vivid when you look at it from a slightly different perspective,” he says. “A simple passing moment between family members or friends can sometimes stay with you for a lifetime. Animation gives us the freedom to express those feelings in a more direct and sometimes more poetic way. It does not need to rely only on realism to feel true to life. Because of that, anime stories can travel across cultures while still feeling authentic and personal. That sense of emotional recognition across different cultures and backgrounds is one of the reasons anime continues to resonate with global audiences.”
Veteran director Takahisa Zeze (64: Part I, 64: Part II) brings mystery-drama All That Exists (working title), produced by Takahashi Naoya with sales through Toei Company. A journalist haunted by a twin kidnapping case is drawn back into the mystery 30 years later, following the death of the detective who worked it, and into the orbit of a strange realist painter.
‘Sheep in the Box,’ courtesy of Cannes Film Festival Rounding out the lineup is Lives at Right Angles, from Syoutarou Kobayashi (Kaasan Mom’s Life), produced by Sato Gen through Toei Video Company with Hakuhodo DY Music & Pictures handling sales. The film follows Daiki, a janitor who has managed his life with autism spectrum disorder with the help of his sister — until she decides to get married, leaving him facing an uncertain future alone.
For all involved, the opportunity carries real weight. “Not only in terms of exposure, but also in how we connect with the international film community,” says Umezawa — speaking, it’s fair to say, for everyone on the lineup.
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