Although released almost 11 years before The Murder Case of Hana & Alice (2015), this movie actually serves as the sequel.
The opening scene where Hana and Alice are walking on their way to school appears as a continuation of them walking together in the end scene of The Murder Case of Hana & Alice (2015).
There were three special collectible Kit Kat packages that each came with a DVD, featuring making-of footage from the webisodes, released in 2003. The featurettes were combined and extended for a 64-minute documentary on the film which was then released on the 2-disc DVD for the feature film.
Originally Iwai filmed four short films of the characters of Hana and Alice as webisodes sponsored by Nestle for the 30th anniversary of Kit Kat in Japan. They were "Part 1 - Love of Hana", "Part 2 - Storm of Hana I", "Part 3 - Storm of Hana II", and "Part 4 - Hana & Alice". These were made available on Nestle's special website "Breaktown" and viewable on Windows Media and RealVideo formats. Iwai edited the footage and added new material to create the theatrical feature film version. The shorts were made available on the 2-disc DVD release, though they were slightly altered from their original webisode versions.
The train stations scenes were filmed at real stations, though their signs were changed, with each being named after famous writers/creators. Ishinomori Gakuen Station is named after Shotaro Ishinomori, creator of Kamen Rider. Fujiko Station is named after Fujio F. Fujiko, creator of Doraemon. Mizuki Station is named after Shigeru Mizuki, creator of Gegege no Kitaro. The station signs have references to character names within their works.