Crunchyroll Reveals Theatrical Release Dates For The Concierge And Trapezium

Two new anime movies are coming to theaters soon, and they’re not based on any pre-existing TV series. The Concierge and Trapezium are two original stories that will debut within a week of each other in the US this September.

The Concierge was first released widely in Japan last October. The concierge of the title is Akino, a trainee who’s just started out at Hokkyoku, the department store with a very unusual purpose: it caters entirely to anthropomorphic talking animals. Akino runs around to fulfill the wishes of customers with a myriad of needs and problems, with the goal of earning the right to be hired on full-time.

The store’s most valued clients are extinct species (who aren’t extinct in the film’s world) and Akino must do anything she can to please them. Produced by famed anime studio Production IG, the film is the first feature from director Yoshimi Itazu (Welcome to the Ballroom), and is an adaption of the book The Concierge at Hokkyoku Department Store by Tsuchika Nishimura.

Trapezium is a slice of life story centered around Japan’s idol culture. Yu Azuma, a high school student, dreams of becoming an idol herself and forms a supergroup dedicated to making that happen for each of them. The other members include Shinji Kudo, Yu’s best friend, Kurumi Taiga, who aims to win the championship at a robotics competition, and Mika Kamei, a kind-hearted volunteer. The four of them set off to become famous, but “the journey hides unexpected trials, rigorous demands,  setbacks and pressures, threatening to undo all that Yu has worked so hard for.” Anime studio Cloverworks produced Trapezium; it’s based on Kazumi Takayama’s novel of the same name and was directed by Masahiro Shinohara.

Crunchyroll and Sony Pictures Entertainment have teamed up to distribute The Concierge on September 11 and Trapezium on September 18, both for one-day-only, in North America. Other regions will get the films for a day only as well — The Concierge will appear in Italy on September 23, Germany on September 24, Australia on September 26, and Spain on September 27. Trapezium will be released in France on November 19 and Germany on November 26.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0r4lFOkTiAc