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GKIDS Licenses The Case of Hana & Alice, Genius Party, Summer Days with Coo Anime

GKIDS announced on Thursday that it has acquired the North American distribution rights for The Case of Hana & Alice, Genius Party, Genius Party Beyond, and Summer Days with Coo. The company will release the anime on home video this year.

GKIDS describes The Case of Hana & Alice:

When Alice transfers to a new middle school, she hears an urban legend about a student who disappeared the previous year and is suspected to have been killed by his fellow students. Even worse, Alice discovers that she lives next door to his former house, a supposedly haunted home now occupied by a reclusive classmate named Hana. Hana and Alice decide to investigate this "murder case" together, but soon find their lack of detective skills may be an obstacle, in this unusual and charming film from famed writer-director Shunji Iwai, in which a shaggy-dog mystery tale ultimately gives way to a wonderfully nuanced story of young female friendship, and the fantasies and thrills of everyday teenage life.

The Case of Hana & Alice (Hana to Alice Satsujin Jiken) opened in Japan in February 2015 as Shunji Iwai's animated prequel to his 2004 live-action coming-of-age film Hana & Alice. Iwai conceived, wrote, and directed the original 2004 live-action Hana & Alice.

The film competed at the 39th Annecy International Animation Film Festival in June 2015, and the Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal screened the film's North American premiere in July 2015. The LA EigaFest also screened the film in September 2015. The New York International Children's Film Festival then screened the film in February and March 2016. Anime Limited released the anime on home video in the United Kingdom.

GKIDS describes Genius Party and Genius Party Beyond:

From groundbreaking animation outfit Studio 4°C, creators of MFKZ and the upcoming Children of the Sea, comes an extraordinary project with a simple vision: to take an all-star team of the some best animators working in Japanese animation today, and give each free reign to tell a unique short story. The results are Genius Party and Genius Party Beyond, two animated anthology films full of boundless imagination, fantastic worlds, and unique visual styles.

Genius Party is an anthology of short films produced by Studio 4℃ and featuring directors such as Kōji Morimoto, Shinichiro Watanabe, Shōji Kawamori, Masaaki Yuasa, and Mahiro Maeda. The anthology was split into two parts—Genius Party and Genius Party Beyond — which opened in 2007 and 2008, respectively.

The anthology debuted on Netflix in the United States in 2015. The anime has had home video releases in the United Kingdom and Australia.

GKIDS describes Summer Days with Coo:

One day, Koichi Uehara, a fourth-grader living in the suburbs of Tokyo, picks up a fossil that looks like a large stone while on his way home from school. To his surprise, he has picked up a baby Kappa (a Japanese mythical water creature), who has been asleep underground for the past 300 years. Koichi names this baby creature "Coo" and brings him to live with his family, and soon the two are inseparable friends.

However, trouble abounds as Coo struggles to adjust to life in suburban Tokyo, and begins to miss his family, leading Koichi and Coo to embark on a summer road trip adventure in search of other Kappa. Directed by Keiichi Hara (Miss Hokusai, Colorful), one of Japan's leading animated film directors, SUMMER DAYS WITH COO is a heartwarming and magical summer adventure.

Keiichi Hara directed the 2007 film at Shin-Ei Animation. The children's adventure film was nominated for the Best Animated Feature Film award at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards in 2007.

Source: Press release