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GKIDS Screens Shoji Kawamori's Labyrinth Anime Film in N. America on May 10-11

GKIDS announced on Thursday that it has acquired the North American theatrical rights to Shōji Kawamori's original animation film Labyrinth (Meikyū no Shiori), and it will screen the movie for two nights only on May 10-11 in Japanese with English subtitles and with an English dub.

The cast includes:

• Atarashii Gakkō! pop group member Suzuka as protagonist Shiori Maezawa and Shiori@Revolution
• Taizō Harada as Komori
• Aoi Itō as Kirara Kurashina
• Jun Saitō as Kento Yamada
• Takuto Teranishi as Suguru Kagami
• Shō Hayami as Keizō Maezawa
• Maaya Sakamoto as Yoriko Maezawa
• Tomokazu Sugita as Tōsaka
• Yūichi Nakamura
• Yūma Uchida
• Inori Minase
• Kana Hanazawa
• Yōko Hikasa
• Aya Endō
• May'n
• Megumi Nakajima
• Ami Koshimizu
• Kiyono Yasuno
• Minori Suzuki
• Nao Tōyama
• Nozomi Nishida
• Kenjirō Tsuda
• Yūki Kaji
• Soyogi Soyogi (the voice synthesis software that is part of Yūki Kaji's voice AI project)
• Takuma Terashima
• Hiroki Nanami

Kawamori (Macross, Aquarion, AKB0048, Arjuna) directed the anime, his first feature-length animated film not based on an existing franchise, at SANZIGEN. The original story concept was credited to the companies Slow Curve, Vector Vision, GAGA, and Fuji Television, and Slow Curve was also credited with planning and producing the project. Risa Ebata (Macross Frontier, AKB0048) designed the characters, and Taichi Hashimoto (Listeners, Gate Keepers 21) wrote the script.  

Other staff members include:

• CG Supervisor: Naoya Okugawa
• Chief Animation Director: Takuya Chanohara
• Color Key Artist: Mana Watanabe
• Production Design: Barnstorm Design Labo
• Background Director: Tatsuki Ooishi, Hirofumi Morikawa
• Compositing Director of Photography: Shouko Hayashi
• Editing: Hatsumi Hidaka
• Sound Director: Fumiyuki Go
• Sound Effects: Ryūta Nakahara
• Sound Production: Bit Grooove Promotion
• Music Producer: Yoshio Tamamura
• Animation Producer: Hiroaki Matsuura
• Development Producer: Shōta Hozumi
• Production: Tatsumi Yoda, Yōka Matsuzaki
• Producers: Ken Teraizumi, Kazuki Ōshima, Masako Iwamoto
• Creative Producer: Taichi Hashimoto
• Planning Producer: Toshiaki Obata

Pop group Atarashii Gakkō! perform the film's theme song "Sailor, Sail On."

Kawamori stated in a comment that the film was born from the idea that smartphones that people use are "another self," that accumulates data such as personal information. Kawamori added that he aimed to create an emotional, pop entertainment piece that combined song and horror.

Source: Press release