The anime film Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window (Madoigwa no Totto-chan) won both the Best Animated Feature Jury Award and the Audience Award at the Anima 2025 film festival in Belgium last week.

Additionally, Akihito Izuhara’s 2023 short film Kawauso received the Press Award for Best Short Film (UPCB and UCC) at the event.

Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window premiered in Japan in December 2023.

About the Story

Kuroyanagi’s memoir recounts her experiences attending Tomoe Gakuen after struggling to fit in at her original elementary school. At Tomoe Gakuen, she encounters unique classmates and discovers new ways of learning, all while Japan heads toward war.

Originally published in Japan in 1981, the book became a bestseller within a year. By the 1980s, it had been incorporated into Japanese elementary school curriculums and translated into English as well as numerous other languages worldwide.

Cast and Staff

Seven-year-old Liliana Ohno stars as the film’s protagonist, Totto-chan.

The movie was directed by Shinnosuke Yakuwa, known for Eiga Doraemon: Shin Nobita no Daimakyō – Peko to 5-nin no Tankentai, Doraemon the Movie: Nobita and the Birth of Japan 2016, and Doraemon the Movie: Nobita’s Chronicle of the Moon Exploration.

Yakuwa also co-wrote the script with Yōsuke Suzuki (Pazudora). Character designs were handled by Shizue Kaneko, whose previous works include Monster Strike The Movie, Adachi and Shimamura, and How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord. The animation was produced by Shinei Animation.

Awards and Recognition

Shinei Animation won the Hiroshi Ōkawa Award for its work on the film at the third Niigata International Animation Film Festival on February 7. In 2024, the film also earned the Paul Grimault Award for feature films at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival.