The official website for Kōhei Kadowaki and NOTHING NEW‘s We Are Aliens (Ware Ware wa Uchūjin) anime film announced more cast members for the film on Thursday.

The new cast members include Gaku Sano as Tsubasa’s friend Seiya Toda (both upper left in image above), Reika Ōzeki as young Seiya (both upper right), Arisa Sasaki as Toda’s friend Elmo Matsushita (both lower left), and Edo Harumi as a calligraphy teacher (both lower right).

We Are Aliens centers on Tsubasa and Gyōtarō, two boys who as elementary school students became close friends, but jealousy and misunderstandings eventually drove them apart. Years have passed and the two boys have gone in different directions in life. But when the memories from their past come back, they must face what happened between them years ago.

The film stars Ryōta Bandō (Fureru., live-action How to Train Your Dragon’s Japanese dub) as Tsubasa, and Amane Okayama (Blue Giant, live-action I”s, Hirayasumi) as Gyōtarō, when both characters are young adults. Child actors Yūto Maki and Tasuku Nakagome — who were both selected through auditions — voice Tsubasa and Gyōtarō, respectively, when they were younger. Other cast members include Sakurazaka46 idol group member Ten Yamasaki as Konatsu, and comedian Kemuri Matsui as Batahara.

Kadowaki, who created the second BEASTARS season’s ending sequence and music videos for YOASOBI, served as the film’s planner, scriptwriter, director, storyboard artist, and editor. Yaffle, who previously produced music for Fujii Kaze, Kenshi Yonezu, and others, composed the music. NOTHING NEW planned and produced the upcoming film, and French studio Miyu Productions (Ghost Cat Anzu, A New Dawn) collaborated on the production, after joining on the project in June 2025. adieu performs the film’s theme song “Sasakure” (Split).

The film will open in Japan on September 25. The film screened at the Directors’ Fortnight of the Cannes Film Festival on May 14, and screened in competition at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, which began ran from June 21 to 27. The Ottawa International Film Festival (OIAF), the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF), and New Zealand International Film Festival (NZIFF) will screen the film. OIAF takes place from September 23-27, MIFF takes place from August 6-23, and NZIFF takes place from July 29-August 9. 

Sales company CHARADES licensed the film to the distributors Hooray Films in Taiwan, Shaw Organisation in Singapore, Intercontinental Film Distributors in Hong Kong, and Sahamongkol Film in Thailand. CHARADES is handling international sales of the film.

The staff launched a crowdfunding campaign in November on the Motion Gallery website. The campaign aimed to cover production and advertising costs, specifically to “improve the quality of the work” and to “distribute the film more widely.” The campaign ended on March 2 and exceeded its 8 million yen (about US$50,365) target and raised 9,604,510 (about US$60,467) yen.

NOTHING NEW is a small film company that was founded in 2022 with the aim “to create a world where talent is not crushed.”

Sources: PR Times, Comic Natalie

The staff for Eiga Meitantei Precure! Fushigi na Niwa to Futari no Himitsu (Star Detective Precure! The Movie: The Mysterious Garden and the Secret of 2 People) — the film for Star Detective Precure!, the 23rd main anime entry in the Precure franchise — announced on Thursday that Jinji Nishimura and Kyon from the comedy duo cotton are guest cast members for the film. The two play creatures known as Dame Dame, who can slap an X mark on things to make them unusable and unable to move.

The film’s story begins with the Detective Precures investigating the “X Mark Incident,” when a fairy named Rain appears and requests for the Detective Precures’ help. Rain leads the team to a lovely garden called “Karin’s Garden,” but it is being overrun by tiny creatures called “Dame Dame.” The team investigates the “Dame Dame” creatures and discovers the secret hidden in the garden.

The cast members who voice the film’s original characters are:

Past Precure characters from You and Idol Precure♪ and Wonderful Precure! also appear in the film.

Hanako Ueda (You and Idol Precure♪, Summer Time Rendering My Hero Academia FINAL SEASON episode director) is directing the film. Yoshimi Narita (Eiga HappinessCharge PreCure! Ningyō no Kuni no Ballerina, Eiga Precure All Stars New Stage 3: Eien no Tomodachi, Eiga Tropical-Rouge! Precure: Yuki no Princess to Kiseki no Yubiwa! films) is writing the script, Erika Fukasawa (Eiga Kimi to Idol Precure♪ Omatase! Kimi ni Todokeru Kirakkilive!) and Misaki Umase (You and Idol Precure♪) are composing the music, and Emiko Miyamoto (Eiga Precure All Stars F, Precure Super Stars! original character designer) is designing the characters and is also the film’s chief animation director. 

Additional staff members include art director Risa Fujii, color key artist Satoshi Takezawa, compositing director of photography Takumi Arai, and production manager Hirotaka Naota.

Yūka Masui and Chihaya Yoshitake performs the film’s ending theme song “FIRST PRISM.” Ami Ishii performs the insert song “First Step.”

The film will open in Japan on September 18.

The Star Detective Precure! anime debuted on February 1 on ABC TV, TV Asahi, and their affiliate channels at 8:30 a.m. JST. Crunchyroll is streaming the anime in North America, Central America, South America, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and CIS.

The anime centers on Anna Akechi, a second year middle school student who lives in Makoto Mirai Town. She travels back in time from 2027 to 1999 when her “companion fairy” named Pochitan appears on her birthday. In 1999 Makoto Mirai Town, Anna meets Mikuru Kobayashi, another second year middle school student who dreams of becoming a great detective. The two girls witness the troubles caused by the Phantom Thieves who steal people’s precious belongings, and they transform into great Precure detectives and use their deductive reasoning skills to protect the people’s smiles.

The anime stars:

Ami Ishii performs the series’ opening theme song “Heart ni Hint! Meitantei Precure!” (Hint In My Heart! Star Detective Precure!). Akane Kumada and Yūka Masui perform the ending theme song “Naze? Nazo?! ANSWER” (Why? Mystery?! ANSWER).

Sources: Star Detective Precure! film’s website, Comic Natalie