Hiroshima Animation Season Selects Kamiina Botan OP and Hoshimachi Suisei MV
The festival's inclusion of a TV anime opening and a VTuber music video in its competition section signals a widening of the definition of animation beyond traditional short and feature films.
Reporting from 1 sources: KAI-YOU.
The Hiroshima Animation Season 2026, Japan's only Academy Award-accredited animation film festival, announced its competition selections from a record 3,181 submissions. Among 76 chosen works are the opening video for TV anime Kamiina Botan, The Drunken Bloom of a Lily and Hoshimachi Suisei's Caramel Pain music video.
The third edition of the Hiroshima Animation Season received a record 3,181 submissions from 110 countries and regions, the festival announced. A jury selected 76 works across four competition categories, including 40 short films, 5 feature films, 12 youth works, and 19 Japanese commissioned works. The Japanese Commissioned Works Competition, which accepts commercials, music videos, and TV specials, drew entries from major anime and music properties. The TV anime Kamiina Botan, The Drunken Bloom of a Lily opening video and Hoshimachi Suisei's Caramel Pain music video both made the cut. The festival runs August 19-23 in Hiroshima City. The Short Film Competition Grand Prix winner earns an automatic U.S. Academy Award nomination.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.