Anime Fest at the Modern celebrates the Japanese anime genre with films that are visually stunning, richly imaginative, and poetic in their storytelling.

All films were chosen with the guidance of anime and manga expert Dr. Marc Hairston, who will introduce the films and be available for Q&A. A professional space physicist, part-time anime scholar, and Fort Worth native, Hairston has hosted annual Japanese animation festivals at the Modern since 2012.

Schedule of events

• September 18: Adolescence of Utena - A stand-alone feature film version of the groundbreaking TV series Revolutionary Girl Utena. Not a typical schoolgirl, tomboyish Utena Tenjo arrives at Ohtori Academy determined to become the prince who saves the damsel. Once there, Utena finds herself embroiled in a strange series of ritual duels to win the hand of the mysterious student Anthy Himemiya, known as the “Rose Bride.” As the story unfolds, both Utena and Anthy must discover the school’s puzzling secrets while fighting for their own personal freedom. Director Kunihiko Ikuhara presents a beautifully surreal story, mixing exciting visuals and operatic rock music. As the first mainstream yuri (girls’ love) anime film in Japan, Utena has long been a cult classic within the LGBTQ community. (Parental discretion advised)
• September 19 (12 pm): The Girl Who Leapt Through Time - In honor of its 20th anniversary, the festival will bring back a classic anime, the Japanese Academy Award winner The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. The first major film by Mamoru Hosoda (Wolf Children, Belle) is based on a well-known science fiction story by Yasutaka Tsutsui (author of Paprika). The film tells the tale of high school student Makoto Konno, who discovers she has the ability to go back a few minutes in time to correct a mistake. At first, her “time leaping” is a great benefit, but when the fates of her two best friends are at risk, Makoto discovers it comes with a high price
• September 19 (2 pm): ChaO - Set in the near future in an alternative Shanghai where humans and merpeople share a tense and uneasy existence. An engineer, Stephan, is trying to develop a water propulsion system that is safe for fish and merpeople. When an accident causes him to meet ChaO, the princess of the merpeople, she immediately proposes to him. Although he recognizes that this union would ease tensions between the two groups, Stephan is uncomfortable dating a human-sized fish - even if she does transform into a more human shape, depending on her mood. Thus begins STUDIO 4°C’s sweet and goofy romantic comedy, as the two lead characters try to overcome their species differences and learn that love is more than skin- (or scale-) deep
• September 19 (4 pm): The Last Blossom - Director Baku Kinoshita and writer Kazuya Konomoto, the team who brought us the wonderfully offbeat anime series ODDTAXI, pair up again to bring us the quirky film, The Last Blossom. Yazuka henchman Atkutsa is on his deathbed in prison and discussing his life story with an unusual creature: a talking balsam flower growing in a tin can. In flashbacks, Atkutsa recounts his career in crime and argues that his main motivation in life was to care for his found family - Nana, the single mother he lived with, and her son, Kensuke. The flower (an offshoot of plants that used to grow in their yard) derides him, telling him that he has lived a pathetic life. Atkutsa holds out for redemption, cryptically repeating “it’s not over until the last move.”
• September 20 (11:30 am): Children Who Chase Lost Voices - One of director Makoto Shinkai’s (Your Name and Suzume) earlier works, this film tells a fantasy story about Asuna, a young, introverted girl. When she is attacked by a strange creature, she is saved by a boy from the alternative world of “Agartha,” who then falls to his death. Asuna turns to her teacher, Mr. Morisaki, and together they begin the search to find this mysterious alternative world that may, or may not, be the land of the dead. The film explores a recurring theme in the director’s work, including his later blockbusters: searching for what is lost.
• September 20 (2 pm): Cocoon: One Summer of Girlhood - In the last days of the Second World War, the U.S. invaded Okinawa. The fighting was fierce, as US troops tried to capture the entirety of Japan’s southernmost island. A group of 200 Japanese high school girls, known as the Himeyuri Gakutotai (Lily Princess Student Corps), had been “volunteered” to help Japanese Army medical units in the island’s many caves. But as the chaos of the frontline fighting took over, the girls were dismissed and told to go home - a near-impossible task in the midst of a battlefield. Animation studio Sasayuri, founded and staffed by Studio Ghibli alumni, presents the beautiful and heartbreaking story of two schoolgirls, San and Mayu, as they struggle to survive through the final days of the war. (Parental discretion advised)