Comdot Watches 'We Are Aliens,' Draws on Childhood Friend History
Comdot's video puts a group whose whole draw is long-standing childhood friendship in front of a film built on the same material, which gives Kadowaki's previs-and-child-actor approach a second audience beyond the festival circuit.
Reporting from 1 source: KAI-YOU.
YouTuber group Comdot released a video of their impressions of Kohei Kadowaki's animated film 'We Are Aliens.' Comdot, five childhood friends, discuss how they related to the film's depiction of trouble between elementary schoolers Tsubasa and Akitaro. Kadowaki, who directed the film as his first feature-length animated work, said he would watch the video in real time. The film won the Grand Prize in the feature-length competition at the Ottawa International Animation Festival.
Comdot began activities in 2018 and reached 4 million channel subscribers in December 2022. As of Tuesday, October 20, 2026, the group stands at 4.3 million. Their draw is the five members' long familiarity as local friends, and the 'We Are Aliens' video leans on that: the first half is the group talking on the way to the theater, the second is the five unpacking the film afterward.
The film was planned and produced by the label NOTHING NEW. Kadowaki, 29, shot live-action previs with actual child actors to get realistic movement into the animation. Yamato said the trouble between Tsubasa and Akitaro hit close to his own elementary school memories, including a period when he was too scared to speak at school.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.