Skip to main content
The Concierge film image; anime women in concierge uniform

The Concierge

This event has passed

For Akino it’s a big step: measuring up to the impeccable customer service standards at the prestigous Hokkyaoko Department Store, where she is their newest concierge, tasked with ensuring that each client leaves the building satisfied, no matter how demanding his/her expectations. And one more thing, the store’s caters exclusively to animals, including (the VIPs) extinct species…

Yoshimi Itazu’s lighthearted anime is a wry look at the best — and worst — aspects of a career in the service industry.

With a lively, expressive art style and wonderfully absurd characters, The Concierge’s little vignettes, and low-stakes affairs paint an enthralling picture of the Hokkyokku Department Store’s fantastical ecosystem and a more far-reaching commentary on humanity’s relationship with ecosystems in the real world. Through its light and adorable premise, The Concierge smuggles in a rather tragic environmentalist message, but not at the expense of its incredibly well-crafted gags.

Kambole Campbell, IGN

The Concierge is a wonderfully animated film. While the character designs are simple and only lightly detailed, for the most part, the fluid and expressive animation makes them come alive. Meanwhile, the department store is highly detailed in nearly every aspect, making it appear as the magical, high-class store it’s supposed to be in the eyes of its visitors.

Richard Eisenbeis, Anime News Network

Director

Yoshimi Itazu

Cast

Natsumi Kawaida, Takeo Otsuka, Kenjiro Tsuda

Country of Origin

Japan

Year

2023

Language

In Japanese with English subtitles

19+
70 min
PRODUCTION I.G

Book Tickets

This event has passed.

Also Playing

Two Women

Dir. Chloé Robichaud
100 min

In this light-hearted, emancipatory take on a classic sex farce, two neglected married women discover the joys of casual sex and get their plumbing fixed.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Love

Dir. Dag Johan Haugerud
119 min

This warm, thoughtful piece offers shrewd comic observations on modern dating as it trains a quizzical eye on the trysts of a female doctor, Marianne (Andrea Bræin Hovig), and her colleague, a gay male nurse, Tor (Tayo Cittadella Jacobsen).

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre
Nechako: It Will Be a Big River Again
Nechako: It Will Be a Big River Again film; overhead shot of churning water

Nechako: It Will Be a Big River Again

Dir. Lyana Patrick
91 min

In the face of environmental destruction, two Nations fight to restore their river and a way of life.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Tornado

Dir. John Maclean
91 min

Scotland in the 1790s, travelling circus samurai Tornado (Kōki) runs afoul of a band of murderous brigands led by Tim Roth and his ambitious son, Jack Lowden. Mayhem ensues.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema