A sneak peek into the first film adaptation of Waki Yamato’s Haikara-san ga Tooru manga is officially out. The clip, as of Tuesday is streaming on media news site Natalie and features main characters Benio and Lieutenant Shinobu.
Titled as “Gekijōban Haikara-san ga Tōru Zenpen: Benio, Hana no 17-sai”, the film had its first trailer released in September on its official website. With the latest clip it presents Benio climbing a tree to retrieve the kite of her friend Ranmaru only to end up falling upon seeing Lieutenant Shinobu then end up being caught by said man.
The film will officially be released in Japan on November 11. Followed after this is a second film, which was also slated to release this year but ended up being set for summer 2018 and is titled, “Gekijōban Haikara-san ga Tōru Kōhen: Tokyo Dai Roman.” As for their Western release, Warner Bros. Japan announced at Anime Expo that an English subbed version of the film will be released in the United States in July.
Set in Tokyo in the Taishō era (1912-1926) the film will be taking focus onto Benio “Haikara-san” Hanamura. Raised by a single father, whom is a high-ranking official in the Japanese army, she grows up to be a complete tomboy who studies kendo, drinks sake, dresses in often outlandish-looking Western fashions instead of the traditional kimono, and is not as interested in housework as she is in literature.
More than these however, she is also a strong advocate for females having the freedom to choose the career and who they marry, as she rejects the idea with marriage. Along with her is her more feminine and beautiful friend Tamaki. Also friends with her is the effeminate Ranmaru, a young man who was raised to play female roles in the kabuki theater. On the other side and the second star of this tale is her betrothed Shinobu Ijūin, a second lieutenant in the army.
The staff working on this production include Kazuhiro Furuhashi as the director and scriptwriter for the first film while Mitsuko Kase will be working on the second film as its director. Designing the characters for both films is Terumi Nishii along with Kentaro Akiyama for the background design and art direction. As for the music of the films, it will be composed by Michiru Oshima and for the overall animation production, it is Nippon Animation who is taking charge.
As for other additional staff members there are:
Color Designer: Kunio Tsujita
Photography Director: Takeo Ogiwara
Sound Director: Kazuhiro Wakabayashi
Saori Hayami will be playing as the protagonist Benio “Haikara-san” Hanamura. More than being a cast member, Hayami will also be performing the film’s theme song “Yume no Hate made” (Until the End of the Dream). The work was composed and written by Mariya Takeuchi.
Acting as her co-star and the character’s fiance Shinobu is Mamoru Miyano
As for the rest of the cast, they include:
Takahiro Sakurai as Tōsei Aoe, president of the “Jōdansha” publishing company where Benio works.
Kazuya Nakai as Shingo Onijima, Shinobu’s subordinate and a sergeant who was dispatched to Siberia.
Yuuki Kaji as Ranmaru Fujieda, a kabuki actor who plays female roles, and is the childhood friend of Benio.
Asami Seto as Tamaki Kitakōji
Unshō Ishizuka as Major Hanamura
Reiko Suzuki as Housekeeper
Kenta Miyake as Ushigorō
Shizuka Itou as Kichiji