Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Novel "Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo" going to live

It has been confirmed that Yasutaka Tsutsui's popular sci-fi novel "Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo" is getting another live-action movie adaptation. The cast will be led by young actress Riisa Naka (20).

"Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo" has already inspired several adaptations in film and television. The first live-action movie was directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi in 1983, starring Tomoyo Harada. Haruki Kadokawa did a second film in 1997 with Nana Nakamoto as the lead. Most recently, in 2006, Madhouse produced an award-winning animated film based on the story, directed by Mamoru Hosoda.

Naka provided the voice for the protagonist in the animated film. She will play a different character in the new live-action movie, which is an entirely new story.

Naka takes on the role of Akari, the daughter of Kazuko Yoshiyama (played by Narumi Yasuda), who was the heroine in the original novel and the first two films. Akari is going on to university, but after Kazuko falls unconscious due to a car accident, she leaps back in time to the 1970s and begins searching for her mother's first love.

The film is the feature-length debut of director Masaaki Taniguchi. Theatrical release has been scheduled for March 2010.

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