The Case of Hana & Alice

The Case of Hana & Alice, released in 2015, serves as a prequel to director Shunji Iwai's 2004 live-action film Hana and Alice. Produced by the studio Steve N' Steven, the film utilizes a distinctive rotoscoping technique where animation is traced over live-action footage of the actors. This stylistic choice was intended to capture the ethereal, naturalistic quality of adolescence, bridging the gap between the original film's narrative tone and the flexibility of the animated medium.

Shunji Iwai both wrote and directed the film, reuniting the original lead actresses, Anne Suzuki and Yu Aoi, to provide the voices for their younger counterparts. The project was conceived as a way to revisit the characters a decade after the original production, allowing Iwai to explore the backstory of how the two girls first met. Critics generally received the film well, frequently highlighting its visual inventiveness and the gentle, observational storytelling that has become a hallmark of Iwai's filmography.