Ani-Marathon

April 17 - 30

As cherry blossom season comes to a close and Sakura Con wraps up we wanted to put together a celebration of some of our favorite anime features. Anime can do things traditional filmmaking cannot. It can bend reality and simulate camera movement in ways technology still cannot fully catch up with and allows for a grasp at the fantastic. Japanese animation in particular can tell stories that deal with more adult themes, and has a style that showcases greater attention to the scenery than most Western animation, making it feel more immersive and lived in.

Curated by Tony Ochoa, Trevor Brandt, Rhys Iliakis, and Wyatt Stone, and co-presented by Sea Slug Animation

Ani-Marathon: Angel’s Egg (4K Restoration)

Japan | 1985 | 73 min. | Mamoru Oshii

Opens April 18, 2026

SIFF Cinema Downtown

In an underwater city, a young girl takes care of a large egg she holds carefully in her arms – a treasure that she believes is an angel’s egg. 4K restoration.

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Ani-Marathon: ChaO

Japan | 2025 | 90 min. | Yasuhiro Aoki

Opens April 25, 2026

SIFF Cinema Downtown

After a freak boating accident, engineer Stephan wakes to find himself engaged to the mermaid princess who saved his life. It’s good for the city, good for business, good for Stephan’s air jet project. There’s only one problem: his wife is a fish.

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Ani-Marathon: Cowboy Bebop: The Movie

Japan | 2001 | 115 min. | Shinichiro Watanabe

Opens April 22, 2026

SIFF Cinema Downtown

Set in the year 2071, this engaging animated tale follows an eclectic crew of space bounty hunters as they hunt down a biochemical terrorist on Mars.

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Ani-Marathon: The End of Evangelion

Japan | 1997 | 101 min. | Hideaki Anno, Kazuya Tsurumaki

Opens April 18, 2026

SIFF Cinema Downtown

An alternative ending to "Neon Genesis Evangelion." SEELE plans an attack on NERV after failing to create a Third Impact. Asuka returns and begins the counterattack, as new enemies descend from the heavens.

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Ani-Marathon: Ghost in the Shell

Japan | 1995 | 83 min. | Mamoru Oshii

Opens April 21, 2026

SIFF Cinema Downtown

2029: A female cybernetic government agent, Major Motoko Kusanagi, and the Internal Bureau of Investigations are hot on the trail of “The Puppet Master,” a mysterious and threatening computer virus capable of infiltrating human hosts.

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Ani-Marathon: Millennium Actress

Japan | 2001 | 87 min. | Satoshi Kon, Kô Matsuo

Opens April 17, 2026

SIFF Cinema Downtown

When the legendary Ginei Studios shuts down, filmmaker Genya Tachibana and his assistant are tasked with interviewing its reclusive star, Chiyoko Fujiwara, who had retired from the spotlight 30 years prior.

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Ani-Marathon: Mind Game

Japan | 2004 | 103 min. | Massaki Yuasa, Koji Morimoto

Opens April 19, 2026

SIFF Cinema Downtown

After a deadly encounter with two yakuza, a loser with a crush on his childhood girlfriend goes to heaven and back, embarking on a psychedelic self-discovery experience with her and his friends.

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Ani-Marathon: Osamu Tezuka’s Metropolis

Japan | 2002 | 108 min. | Rintarô

Opens April 18, 2026

SIFF Cinema Downtown

A detective and his sidekick discover a duke's plot to control the world via a humanlike robot.

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Ani-Marathon: The Night Is Short, Walk on Girl

Japan | 2017 | 91 min. | Masaaki Yuasa

Opens April 29, 2026

SIFF Cinema Downtown

An offbeat Kyoto love story from the pages of a best-selling novel comes to life on screen.

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Ani-Marathon: Paprika

Japan | 2006 | 90 min. | Satoshi Kon

Opens April 17, 2026

SIFF Cinema Downtown

Dr. Atsuko Chiba uses a new invention to enter the dreams of her mysteriously troubled patients. When the device is stolen, only Atsuko and her dream alter-ego Paprika can save Tokyo from an apocalyptic dissolution of dreams and reality. A masterfully trippy anime from the director of PERFECT BLUE.

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Ani-Marathon: Perfect Blue

Japan | 1997 | 81 min. | Satoshi Kon

Opens April 17, 2026

SIFF Cinema Downtown

Rising pop star Mima has quit singing to pursue a career as an actress and model, but her fans aren’t ready to see her go… Encouraged by her managers, Mima takes on a recurring role on a popular TV show, when suddenly her handlers and collaborators begin turning up murdered. 

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Ani-Marathon: Promare

Japan | 2019 | 111 min. | Hiroyuki Imaishi

Opens April 23, 2026

SIFF Cinema Downtown

A brash firefighter faces off against a strong-willed, misunderstood pyrokinetic struggling to free his people – with the Earth's fate on the line.

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Ani-Marathon: Redline

Japan | 2010 | 100 min. | Takeshi Koike

Opens April 22, 2026

SIFF Cinema Downtown

The most dangerous underground car race sets the stage for this visually explosive anime, where a daredevil battles fierce opponents willing to unleash all-out destruction to secure the winning title.

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Ani-Marathon: A Silent Voice

Japan | 2016 | 130 min. | Naoko Yamada

Opens April 19, 2026

SIFF Cinema Downtown

Shoya Ishida, haunted by his past bullying of Shoko Nishimiya due to her deafness, sets out on a path of redemption. Is it too late to make amends?

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Ani-Marathon: Summer Wars

Japan | 2009 | 114 min. | Mamoru Hosoda

Opens April 18, 2026

SIFF Cinema Downtown

Kenji is a teenage math prodigy working for OZ, who is recruited by his secret crush Natsuki for the ultimate summer job – her fake boyfriend... until a rogue A.I. program steals his online identity, and Kenji is accused of hacking OZ and causing real world catastrophes.

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Ani-Marathon: Weathering With You

Japan | 2019 | 111 min. | Makoto Shinkai

Opens April 25, 2026

SIFF Cinema Downtown

The summer of his freshman year, Hodaka runs away to bustling, ever-raining Tokyo and falls for Hina, a girl who seems able to manipulate the weather.

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Ani-Marathon: Wolf Children

Japan | 2012 | 117 minutes | Mamoru Hosoda

Opens April 19, 2026

SIFF Cinema Downtown

Master animator Mamoru Hosoda's visually breathtaking family epic––a huge hit in Japan––follows a young girl, an enigmatic wolf-man, and their spirited children discovering the call of the wild. In Japanese with English subtitles.

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