Josee, The Tiger And The Fish to be Released from July 12th in the U.S.

When released at the screening of Busan International Film Festival 2020 Josee, the Tiger and the Fish left a great impact on the audience and sent the Japanese anime community into a gushing discussion about the plot.

After a long wait, the U.S. fans will finally be able to watch the anime film in theatres from July 12th.

What Is Josee, the Tiger and the Fish About?

Josee and Tsuneo at the aquarium snippet from the trailer released

Josee, the Tiger and the Fish, the alternative title ‘Josee to Tora to Sakana-tachi’, is based on a short story with the same name, written by Seiko Tanabe.

The story follows the lives of Josee and Tsuneo, two complete strangers that meet by accident and end up playing a huge part in each other’s lives. Josee is disabled dreamer who usually spends her time painting or reading and Tsuneo is a college student studying marine biology.

The two meet by chance when Tsuneo comes across Josee and her grandmother on a morning walk and through a chain of events Tsuneo ends up becoming Josee’s caretaker.

They have many ups and downs and disagree on many things but soon grow to understand and respect each others’ perspectives.

The voice actors for the Japanese versions are Kaya Kiyohara who plays Josee and Taishi Nakagawa as Tsuneo. For the English dubbed versions, Josee is voiced by Suzie Yeung and Tsuneo is voiced by Howard Wang.

The official movie trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8YSLthFpTM

Where Can You Watch It?

As of now the movie is available only in New Zealand and Australia in theatres. There has been no announcement made so far about its streaming availability. The movie is produced by Funimation who has their own streaming platform so you can expect it to release on Funimation in the near future.

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Is There a Difference In Its Previous Versions?

The main difference is that the previous two versions released, Josee (2003) and Josee (2020) are both live-action films while this is an anime film with soft flowing beautiful animations with a pastel theme consistent throughout.

The storyline for all three movies is consistent. The movie talks about the harsh candid reality of living as a disabled person including the various difficulties they face daily.

Such a film in the anime industry is rare, A Silent Voice released in 2016 was another such film that depicted the harsh conditions that disabled individuals must go through. From the trailer released, we get to see that there are sparks that fly between the two main characters and a possible romance developing.

The film has a few important themes and messages, the most important one being the importance of pursuing one’s dreams, and understanding that the world can occasionally be a dark place, but it can also be a beautiful one especially when you are surrounded by those you love.