A live-action film adaptation of Momoko Koda’s (No Longer Heroine) romance shoujo manga series, Atashino!, is set to release in Japan in the fall of 2024. The film’s official website and Twitter account open today, revealing the two main cast members — 24-year-old Miho Watanabe as the main heroine Akoko Sekigawa and 26-year-old Masaya Kimura as her love interest, Naomi Mitomo. Watanabe is a former member of Japanese girl idol group Hinatazaka46, while Kimura is an active member of boy idol group INI.
Self-introduction clip by Miho Watanabe and Masaya Kimura
The original manga, Atashino! ran in Shueisha’s Bessatsu Margaret monthly shoujo manga magazine from October 2017 to December 2018, then compiled in four tankobon volumes.The story centers on Akoko Sekikawa, an honest girl who immediately tells others what she thinks. In the new semester of her second year of high school, Naomi Mitomo, one of the most popular students at her school and a year older than her, is going to be in the same grade with her because he is going to stay on for another year, and Akoko falls in love with him at first sight. Meanwhile, her best friend since elementary school, Mitsuki Taniguchi, also makes suspicious moves, saying he does not like him. Akoko decides to take the initiative and confess her feelings to Naomi, but she is rejected without a second thought. Akoko is depressed, but when she hears from Naomi’s best friend, Narita, why Naomi does not have a girlfriend, she decides to continue liking him. Meanwhile, Mitsuki also begins to approach Naomi…
Mitsunori Yokobori, best known for his TV commercial works, as well as music video works for Japanese girl idol groups, such as Nogizaka46, AKB48, and Ninatazaka46, makes his feature film directorial debut.”In this day and age when we mainly comminucate through social networking service and Internet, I envy and miss the protagonist, Akoko, who is able to express her feelings so directly and honestly,” said director Yokobori on the film’s official website. “This film is about Akoko, who is torn between ‘love’ and ‘friendship,’ and who, with her own strength, confronts the wall and grows up to be a little more mature.I believe that you can experience ‘youth’ with Akoko in a very direct way: sweet and sour, funny, and even a little bit tearful in this film. I hope that this film will resonate with everyone through Akoko’s story of ‘growth’ and ‘joy’ that comes after falling in love with someone, bumping into them, and understanding each other.””This is my first feature film as a director. I am very happy to have been able to work with the freshest actors and staff to make a film that is different from the shoujo manga films we have seen in the past. I am looking forward to seeing this film in theaters soon.”
Source: “Atashino!” live-action film official website / Twitter© Momoko Koda/SHUEISHA, Movie “Atashino!” Production Committee
