Release Date – TBC, Cert – TBC, Run-time – 1 hour 30 minutes, Director – Yasuhiro Aoki
After falling overboard, ship worker Stefan (Oji Suzuka) finds himself getting married to princess of the merpeople, ChaO (Anna Yamada). However, will his uncertainty about the relationship break peace between the land and sea?
Reporters have swarmed around young Stefan (Oji Suzuka) asking him if he’s consummated his new marriage to princess of the merpeople ChaO (Anna Yamada). The engagement itself came after the giant orange fish-person, appearing largely in fish form, saved Stefan after he fell overboard from his job on a ship – working for a major company in the hope of one day designing a safer, better ship. Seeing an opportunity to finally bring peace between the land and the sea – stopping attacks from King Neptunus (Kenta Miyaki) – a wedding between the pair is fast-tracked, with the eager encouragement of Stefan’s boss (Ryota Yamasato). Even after all of this it still takes Stefan some time to say “things are getting crazy.”
So much of this course is captured with a breezy lightness that brings through the frequent laughs and chuckles that are all part of the colourful world that feature debut director Yasuhiro Aoki and his team of animators have created. Aoki was a key animator on The Lord Of The Rings: The War Of The Rohirrim, a very different looking and feeling film to ChaO (pronounced ‘chow’) which has a much bubblier feeling with as much detail in the futuristic world.
There’s a constantly moving nature to the narrative that fuels the frequency of the laughs as the absurdity of the narrative is acknowledged without being dug up or poked at. All helped by the way in which the world comes across and how easy it is to be immersed in it.
Much of what we see is told in flashback by an older Stefan to aspiring journalist Juno (Shunsei Ota). With Stefan’s story being the bulk of the film it does feel as if the details we get of Juno’s arc are ended very abruptly, and somewhat weirdly, perhaps also an effect of the 90-minute run-time, which itself is no bad thing and most of what we see if effectively condensed into. Including the stages of the final act which increases the growing threat faced by Stefan and ChaO in the uncertain state of their relationship and its constant push and pull. Although, amongst this a sense of heart starts to grow as things develop between the pair. Yet, the protagonist still finds himself worrying about what his marriage to a stranger, who just so happens to be princess of the fish people, means for maintaining peace and his won future.
Where this eventually develops has some true video game final boss style to the tone and look of the eventual action towards the film’s close. Yet, still slotting in with what has come before and the overall style of the film. One that provides plenty of light entertainment and laughs over the course of its short run-time that truly captures the colour and energy of the world in which the embraceable chaos unfolds.
A film that knows and embraces its absurdity to boost the humour in its colourful, futuristic world. There’s a good deal of entertainment to be found within ChaO and the heart found growing in the central relationship.
Just A Little Bit Random 