Hiroshima Animation Season Selects Kamiina Botan OP and Hoshimachi Suisei MV
The Hiroshima Animation Season 2026, Japan's only Academy Award-accredited animation film festival, announced its competition selections from a record 3,181 submissions.
1 source May 19
Reporting from 1 source: KAI-YOU.
Why it matters
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.
Key Facts
- The Hiroshima Animation Season 2026 received a record 3,181 submissions from 110 countries and regions.
- The festival selected 76 works across four competition categories: 40 short films, 5 feature films, 12 youth works, and 19 Japanese commissioned works.
- The Japanese Commissioned Works Competition includes commercials, music videos, and TV specials, and accepted the Kamiina Botan opening video and Hoshimachi Suisei's Caramel Pain music video.
- The Short Film Competition Grand Prix winner earns an automatic U.S. Academy Award nomination.
- The festival runs August 19-23 in Hiroshima City.
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.
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