Anime film We Are Aliens has taken home the Anima’t Award at the Sitges Film Festival, with director Kadowaki — who celebrated his 30th birthday on October 14 — becoming the youngest Japanese director ever to win the honour. Previous Japanese recipients include Makoto Shinkai’s your name. in 2016 and Mamoru Hosoda’s Mirai in 2018.
Story
We Are Aliens follows Tsubasa and Gyōtarō, two boys who became close friends in elementary school before jealousy and misunderstandings drove them apart. Years later, living very different lives, they are forced to confront what happened between them when memories of the past resurface.
Cast
- Ryōta Bandō (Fureru., Japanese dub of the live-action How to Train Your Dragon) voices adult Tsubasa
- Amane Okayama (Blue Giant, live-action I”s, Hirayasumi) voices adult Gyōtarō
- Child actors Yūto Maki and Tasuku Nakagome, both cast through auditions, voice young Tsubasa and young Gyōtarō respectively
- Sakurazaka46 member Ten Yamasaki as Konatsu
- Comedian Kemuri Matsui as Batahara
- Gaku Sano as Tsubasa’s friend Seiya Toda
- Reika Ōzeki as young Seiya
- Arisa Sasaki as Toda’s friend Elmo Matsushita
- Edo Harumi as a calligraphy teacher
Staff
Kadowaki, known for creating the ending sequence of BEASTARS Season 2 and music videos for YOASOBI, served as planner, scriptwriter, director, storyboard artist, and editor. Music was composed by Yaffle, who has previously worked with Fujii Kaze, Kenshi Yonezu, and others. Artist adieu performs the theme song “Sasakure” (Split). The film was planned and produced by NOTHING NEW, with French studio Miyu Productions (Ghost Cat Anzu, A New Dawn) joining the production in June 2025.
Screenings and Awards
We Are Aliens opened in Japan on September 15. It screened at the Directors’ Fortnight of the Cannes Film Festival on May 14 and competed at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival (June 21–27). The film also screened at the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF), the New Zealand International Film Festival (NZIFF), and the 31st Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) in the “Japanese Animation Special: Masterpieces of Madness, Exhilarating Prospects 12+1” section. Last month, the Ottawa International Animation Festival awarded it the Grand Prize for Animated Feature.
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