GROTESQQQUE

In November 2026, Japanese audiences will get a look at GROTESQQQUE, the first feature-length anthology film from writer-director Atsushi Nishigori. Known for his work on Darling in the Franxx and The Idolmaster, Nishigori here orchestrates three distinct stories that share a fascination with unstable realities and fractured identities. The double-Q in the title is no typo, Nishigori has said the mirrored letters represent the theme of reflection that runs through every segment.

The film is produced by CloverWorks, the studio behind Spy x Family and The Promised Neverland, and co-produced by JOEN. Each of the three segments, Æliens, 4649Girl, and Nocturn: En Cette Nuit Grotesque, was developed by a separate animation team, with Nishigori overseeing the whole project. The voice cast includes Chika Anzai, Kana Ichinose, Nagi Inoue, and Rie Kugimiya, who performs her character Lise without any dialogue. The film runs 1 hour 44 minutes, a concise length for an anthology, with each segment averaging around 30–35 minutes.

Beyond the anthology format, GROTESQQQUE draws visual inspiration from German Expressionist cinema for its 1920s Paris segment, and from cosmic horror for its deep-space story. The film is set to premiere in Japan on November 6, 2026, with international distribution details still pending.[edit]

The film opens in a dimly lit theater where an enigmatic host introduces three stories as “grotesque tales” meant to unsettle and provoke. No further context is given, the host simply invites the audience to watch, then disappears into shadow.

Segment One: Æliens. Yurina (Chika Anzai) works alone at a remote deep-space monitoring station orbiting a dying star. Her days are spent cataloging cosmic anomalies, her only companion an AI assistant that has begun showing strange emotional responses. When a signal emanates from a nearby nebula, Yurina detects what appears to be a stranded alien entity that communicates through fragmented memories and abstract visual patterns. She names it “Echo.” The entity seems to be dying, and Yurina must decide whether to risk her mission protocol to attempt communication. The segment explores loneliness, consciousness, and the terrifying beauty of the unknown, with Nishigori’s signature blend of melancholy and wonder.

Segment Two: 4649Girl. In near-future Tokyo, teenage Miki (Kana Ichinose) discovers she can see “glitches” in reality, moments when the world stutters, repeats, or reveals hidden layers. She learns she is one of many “Observers,” individuals born with the ability to perceive the simulation in which humanity unknowingly lives. A shadowy organization called The Cartographers recruits her, claiming the simulation is degrading and only Observers can repair it. But Miki begins to suspect the Cartographers have their own agenda, they may be trying to rewrite history rather than preserve it. She navigates a world that feels increasingly unreal, questioning what is authentic and what is manufactured, while forming an unlikely bond with a fellow Observer named Ren (Nagi Inoue).

Segment Three: Nocturn: En Cette Nuit Grotesque. The longest and most visually experimental segment takes place in an alternate 1920s Paris. Lise (Rie Kugimiya), a mute cabaret performer, discovers that her shadow has gained a life of its own. The shadow, which she names “Nocturn,” begins appearing in reflections and performing acts Lise never intended. As Lise’s fame grows, Nocturn becomes increasingly independent, eventually communicating through written notes and threatening to reveal dark secrets from Lise’s past. Lise desperately tries to reclaim her identity while being drawn into a surreal underworld of artists, occultists, and other performers whose shadows have also begun to rebel. The story builds toward a confrontation that forces Lise to confront the parts of herself she has repressed.

Recurring visual motifs, spiraling patterns, reflections, and fragmented memories, tie the three segments together, suggesting that each protagonist is grappling with the same fundamental question: what does it mean to be real when reality itself is unstable? The film ends each segment on a cliffhanger, leaving the fates of Yurina, Miki, and Lise unresolved, before returning to the theater where the host offers a cryptic final monologue about the nature of stories and the grotesque beauty of unfinished tales.[edit]