The Taste of Water combines live-action footage, animation, and artificial intelligence to explore the history and future of one of Japan’s most iconic traditions.
At the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, Toonz Media Group and Japanese production company Supersub LLC announced a partnership to co-produce The Taste of Water, an animated feature documentary exploring the history, culture, and future of Japanese sake through an innovative blend of live-action filmmaking, animation, and AI-powered technologies.
Directed by Riki Ohkanda, the project is currently in production and marks a new chapter in its international journey. The film was previously showcased at MIFA 2025 as part of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s Annecy exhibition program.
Structured around five thematic chapters—The Basics of Sake, The History of Sake, Sake and Culture, The Crisis of Sake, and The Future of Sake—the documentary offers an in-depth look at Japan’s iconic beverage. Through interviews with brewers, historians, artists, and cultural experts, the film explores the traditions and human stories that have shaped sake over centuries.
One of the project’s most distinctive features is its visual approach. Footage filmed across Japan will be transformed into anime-inspired animation using a production pipeline that combines AI-assisted rotoscoping and 3D Gaussian Splatting (3DGS) technology developed by Supersub LLC.
According to the filmmakers, the goal is to use AI as a creative tool capable of visualizing emotions, sensations, memories, and cultural experiences that are difficult to capture through traditional documentary techniques.
“The story of sake engages all five senses. Through this combination of live action, animation, and AI-assisted visual transformation, we can bring audiences closer to experiences that cannot be expressed through conventional filmmaking alone,” said Executive Producer Ryo Nakajima.
Viswanath Rao of Toonz Media Group highlighted the creative potential of artificial intelligence in storytelling: “With The Taste of Water, we are demonstrating how AI can work alongside artists and filmmakers to create new forms of expression, expanding the possibilities of documentary filmmaking while preserving the human heart of the story.”
The project also represents a strategic creative partnership between Japan and India, bringing together Supersub’s expertise in innovative production technologies and Japanese cultural storytelling with Toonz Media Group’s global animation capabilities, distribution network, and international reach.
“Animated feature documentaries are one of the most exciting growth areas in the international market today. We believe The Taste of Water has the potential to travel across festivals, platforms, and territories worldwide,” said Gulshan David, VP of Feature Films at Toonz Media Group.
The film is expected to begin its international festival run in 2027, targeting some of the world’s leading documentary and animation events, including Berlin, Seattle, and San Sebastián.
Blending cultural heritage, technological innovation, and documentary storytelling, The Taste of Water also aims to tap into a fast-growing market segment: adult audiences seeking premium animated content, an area where streaming platforms and distributors continue to expand their offerings globally.
