In February, it was announced that acclaimed director Masaaki Yuasa (Mind Game, Inu-Oh) had opened a new studio called ame pippin. Now we know what Yuasa is up to at the studio as Variety exclusively reports the announcement of his next feature film as director, Daisy’s Life.
The Japanese-French co-production is based on Banana Yoshimoto’s Hinagiku no Jinsei novel, which was first published in 2000 and features the illustrative work of Yoshitomo Nara. Yuasa’s adaptation is currently penciled in for a 2026 premiere.
Screenwriter Sachiko Tanaka (Asako I & II) is on board for the script, which will be her first animated project. Novel illustrator Yoshitomo Nara is credited with character designs, with Asmik Ace producing.
The original novel explores themes of death and loss through lead character Daisy (Hinagiku), a young girl who works at a yakisoba restaurant. Her life changes in mysterious ways after encountering a girl named Dahlia at her window one night.
Here’s what Yuasa had to say about the project:
Even among the works of Ms. Banana Yoshimoto, this is a novel that evokes visual images throughout, and while there are parts that are vividly scary, the final passage is very happy, like something I had dreamed of in the past. I would like to depict the life of the protagonist who works for a yakisoba restaurant in a downtown area with a 100-meter radius on a cosmic scale.
Source: Variety
