GKIDS Will Release Mamoru Oshii's 'Angel's Egg' in 2025

There are certain anime titles that are considered to be the medium's 'white wales'. For various complex right reasons, they have been too hard for Western labels to license. One of them was Angel's Egg, a 1985 OAV written and directed by Mamoru Oshii (Ghost In The Shell). The OAV had segments of it used in an unrelated American movie called In The Aftermath (1988), which itself was not released in the US until 2019. It was recently announced in Japan that the OAV would be getting a 4K restoration to celebrate its 40th anniversary. Now, US distributor GKIDS Films have announced that they will be releasing the film theatrically for the first time in America, with a physical release to follow.Oshii is supervising the 4K restoration.

Angel's Egg was Oshii's first OAV (original animation video) and saw him collaborate with artist Yoshitaka Amano, known for his artwork from the Final Fantasy video game series and the Vampire Hunter D novels and movies. Amano was responsible for art direction as well as character designs, and worked closely with Oshii on the OAV.  Animation production was by Studio DEEN.

GKIDS described the anime:

In an underwater city, a young girl takes care of a large egg she holds carefully in her arms – a treasure that she believes is an angel's egg. A boy with a gun arrives in search of a bird he saw in his dream. At first it seems as if feelings of sympathy are developing between the two. Then, one night, the boy crushes her precious egg.

 They say "The film beautifully intertwines Oshii's thematic reflections on philosophy and theology, with Amano's distinctive ink painting style, culminating in an arrestingly beautiful hand-drawn allegorical fantasy."

You can visit the film's website to register for updates.

Meanwhile, GKIDS have also announced that award-winning French animation Chicken For Linda is coming to all major digital platforms this July, with home entertainment distribution from Shout Studios. The film is available in its original French language with English subtitles.

From directors Chiara Malta (Simple Women) and Sébastien Laudenbach (The Girl Without Hands), the film is a hand-painted feature that blends slapstick comedy, family drama and musicality. The film won the Ceasar and Lumiere Awards for Best Animated Film, won the Grand Cristal at Annecy in 2023 and won both the Grand Prize and Audience Award at last year's Animation Is Film Festival.

The film follows mother Paulette, who is wrecked with guilt after unjustly punishing her daughter, Linda. Linda requests a meal of chicken with peppers, just like her father used to make. Paulette heads off to track down the ingredients, but it proves trickier than anticipated with a general strike closing stores and pushing people onto the streets. Paulette finds herself caught up in a series of madcap events as she does everything she can to keep her promise and bring home a chicken for Linda.

The film will be available on all major digital platforms including Apple, Amazon and more from July 2, 2024