News
DramaFever, Hulu Stream New Live-Action Itazura na Kiss
posted on by Lynzee Loveridge
Streaming services DramaFever and Hulu added the new live-action Itazura na Kiss ~Love in Tokyo television series to their lineups under the name Mischievous Kiss: Love in Tokyo this week. DramaFever is offering episodes to North American audiences on the same day they premiere in Japan.
The newest adaptation of Kaoru Tada's classic unfinished shōjo manga began on March 29 and stars 16-year-old model and actress Honoka Miki (Suzuki-sensei, Maria Watches Over Us) as Kotoko and 25-year-old Yūki Furukawa (High School Debut, Rich Man, Poor Woman) as Naoki.
In the romantic comedy, a high school girl named Kotoko finally tells a fellow senior named Naoki that she has loved him from afar since she saw him on their first day of high school. However, Naoki, a haughty "super-ikemen" (handsome male) with smarts and sports talent, rejects her offhand. Fate intervenes when a mild earthquake ruins Kotoko's family house. While the house gets rebuilt, Kotoko and her dad stay at the home of her dad's childhood friend...whose son is Naoki.
The story follows Naoki and Kotoko through high school and beyond, but the manga is unfinished because Tada passed away in an accident in 1999. The popular manga has more than 30 million copies in print. The story was previously adapted into a live-action television series in Japan in 1996, two live-action television series in Taiwan under the name It Started with a Kiss in 2005 and 2007, a 2008 stage play, a 2008 television anime series, and a live-action television series in South Korea in 2010.
Digital Manga Inc. is publishing the manga in North America, and the company will release the 10th volume in November.
Thanks to WTK for the news tip.
