GKIDS Acquires North American Rights to Masaaki Yuasa’s Latest

Acclaimed director Masaaki Yuasa has worked on numerous animated films and shows, including Netflix's upcoming Japan Sinks: 2020. Having distributed four films of his already, it's no surprise GKIDS picked up his latest effort, Inu-Oh.

Presented as a work-in-progress at the Annecy Film Festival – back when film festivals were a thing – the final product will premiere some time in 2021. While many productions around the world have been shut down because of COVID-19, most animated projects have stayed roughly on track.

Inu-Oh tells the story of the 14th century actor and dancer, and his long friendship and collaboration with the blind musician Tomona. Speaking of collaboration, character designer Taiyo Matsumoto returns to work with Yuasa after previously working on his adaptation of Ping Pong.

About Kip Mooney

Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about. I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague. Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work. In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo. I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.