Gkids is set to release Kenji Iwaisawa‘s “100 Meters” (“Hyakuemu”). It will launch in both the original Japanese and a new English-dubbed version in Los Angeles on Oct. 10, followed by a nationwide event release on Oct. 12. The film will be released domestically in Japan on Sept. 19.

Based on the beloved manga by Uoto, author of “Orb: On the Movements of the Earth”, “100 Meters” was first announced at last year’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival. The film went on to hold its world premiere as an official selection at the 2025 Annecy International Animation Film Festival.

It follows Togashi, a track star who is born to run. According to the logline, Togashi is naturally gifted and wins every 100-meter race without effort. But in sixth grade, he meets Komiya, a transfer student who is full of determination but lacks technique. In teaching him, Togashi gives Komiya a new purpose: to win no matter what. Years pass by, and Togashi and Komiya meet again as rivals on the track and reveal their true selves.

Iwaisawa is joined by character designer and executive animation director Keisuke Kojima, and art director Keikankun Yamaguchi. The screenplay is written by Yasuyuki Muto (“Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway,” “Tokyo Revengers”), and the score is composed by Hiroaki Tsutsumi (“Jujutsu Kaisen,” “Tokyo Revengers,” “Dr. Stone”). The project is being produced by Pony Canyon, Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) and Asmik Ace.

This marks the second collaboration between GKIDS and Kenji Iwaisawa.

Speaking about the film with Variety, Iwaisawa said, “What attracted me most was the story of the protagonist, who was called a genius, feeling the limits of his talent while growing up, but overcoming obstacles and making a comeback. I could relate to that because I also played sports.”

Visually, he says he wanted to “make the characters as realistic as possible and to capture the atmosphere of Uoto-sensei’s original manga.”

Iwaisawa rose to prominence after his debut film, “On-Gaku: Our Sound.” Gkids distributed the film. It was made up of over 40,000 hand-drawn frames, using the rotoscoping animation technique. It went on to win best independent animated feature at the Annie Awards.

The filmmaker used rotoscoping again on this feature and said, “We have a larger team with many professional staff members who are helping me refine the rotoscoping technique to make it more efficient and improve the quality.”

Watch the trailer below.