ChaO (2025) Anime Movie Review | Fantasia Festival

ChaO is a rhapsodic dive into the oceanic depths of romance to reveal true beauty is hidden at first glance. If one doesn’t make their partner comfortable, they only ever get to see one side: the public facade. Rather than the mermaid within, locked away.

ChaO’s protagonist ‘Stefan’ is so concerned about what the world thinks about him marrying another species that he forgets why he fell in love in the first place. Leaving the sensitive princess of the seas in a state of perpetual heartbreak.

Warning: This ChaO anime movie review from the 2025 Fantasia Film Festival contains spoilers.

ChaO Cultural Impact and Themes

It’s difficult to say for certain if ChaO was intended as an subtle metaphor for interracial relationships.

On one side, yes you have a light hearted tale about a man (Stefan) marrying a fish (ChaO) who shows glimpses of her true mermaid state throughout… But there seems to be a deeper meaning here as Stefan is routinely hurt by the gossip of co-workers and randoms throughout about getting eloped with an aquatic wanderer. Carelessly ignoring the feelings of ChaO as an individual rather than another species.

ChaO (2025) anime movie artwork courtesy of Fantasia International Film Festival

Often times Stefan feels indebted to his boss, his dream of an air jet, and the good of humanity’s relationship with merman/mermaids. But ChaO’s acceptance into the human world is often last in priority on his clipboard to-do list. Stefan doesn’t really take into consideration how ChaO might feel leaving her people to live in the human world just because of her her love for him.

ChaO anime film art from Fantasia Festival 2025

It’s only midway through the Japanese anime film when Stefan loses ChaO that he remembers what brought them together in their youth to start with.

The Second Half of the film

ChaO (2025) anime movie poster courtesy of Fantasia International Film Festival

Honestly, the second half crescendo showcasing Stefan’s troubled youth (losing his parents) might have been better served with an introduction earlier in the movie. Nevertheless, the audience comes to learn of Stefan’s thorny past getting bullied by his peers at every turn. His only refuge is a young ChaO, who he gives a different name at the time after his favorite robot action figure.

Stefan’s peers steal his figure and ChaO (who is formed into a ball at the time). ChaO is freed by the bullies’ clutches but is haphazardly lost at sea just out of Stefan’s grasp as a child. The adult Stefan had forgotten all of this when rediscovering ChaO years later. It’s quite stunning the length psychologically damaged individuals will go to repress crushing memories.

Quite disheartening when one of the bullies as an adult casually apologizes to Stefan in a joking manner upon the two getting reacquainted. To the bully it was nothing, empty belly laughs with his pals… To Stefan it was everything and more.

There’s also hidden messages in this animated feature about the work system. Before Stefan is set to marry the princess of the merfolk, his air jet idea is pushed to the side as worthless. Even though it will help the merfolk from getting hurt it presents no additional revenue stream to the company, so Stefan’s boss sends him to clean his yacht instead. But when Stefan gets ‘connected’ by marrying ChaO, suddenly the boss wants to promote him, push his air-jet idea and everything else.

Just goes to show the same ideas can be pushed as gold or garbage depending on one’s social status in society. It’s rarely about just the ideas themselves.

Animation Quality and Visual Design

Animation wise, ChaO’s characters have a unique look particularly around the eye region that sets it apart from other animes. You’ll either like the spaced eye look or not but you’ll definitely love the gorgeous backgrounds and sets.

Slightly Chaotic Plot Pacing

The main issue in the film is the story structuring feels a bit wild at times. It’s anything but linear like the thematic inclusion of a robot genius character for example. These kind of sections might take away for some audience members looking to stick closely to the film’s core relationship plot.

You didn’t see robot geniuses and their gimmicks (Inspector Gadget like devices) in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. Sometimes simple linearity can be an asset rather than over experimentation.

ChaO Review Conclusion and Movie Score

That said, ChaO is an enjoyable voyage of double meanings and romance metaphors. A worthy story to plunge into the depths from the Fantasia 2025 Movie Festival.

⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

More Fantasia Anime Reviews

Enjoyed this ChaO (2025) review and our Fantasia 2025 anime coverage? Here’s a selection of past Fantasia anime film reviews and exclusive interviews to check out:

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