Film based on childrens' book series opened in Japan in September

GKIDS announced on Monday that it has acquired the North American distribution rights for the Okko's Inn ( Waka Okami wa Shōgakusei! ) anime film. GKIDS plans to release the film theatrically in Japanese with English subtitles and with an English dub .

The film opened in Japan on September 21. The film had previously screened in competition at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in June under the title Okko's Inn , and also screened at Los Angeles' Animation is Film Festival in October.

The film is based on writer Hiroko Reijō and artist Asami's juvenile literature series. The books also inspired a 24-episode television anime that premiered on April 8 on TV Tokyo and five other affiliates. The film tells a story not told in either the original book series or the television series — specifically, a story about "Okko" and her parents. GKIDS describes the film:

OKKO'S INN follows Okko, who goes to live with her grandmother in the countryside after losing her parents. While she prepares to become the inn's next caretaker, Okko discovers there are playful ghosts who live there. However, only she can see them.

DLE and Madhouse animated the film along with the television anime, but Kitaro Kousaka ( A-Girl , Nasu: Summer in Andalusia ) directed the film instead of the television anime's directors. Similarly, Reiko Yoshida ( K-ON! , The Cat Returns , Girls und Panzer ) wrote the script instead of the television staff. Kyōko Yauchi was in charge of art setting, and Shunsuke Hirota was the animation director.

Reijō launched the book series in 2003, and Kodansha 's Aoi Tori Bunko imprint published 20 volumes with seven spinoff and short story collections. The book series has 3 million copies in print. Eiko Ōuchi serialized a manga adaptation in Kodansha 's Nakayoshi magazine, and Kodansha published seven compiled book volumes.

Source: Press Release