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Daisuke Igarashi's Little Forest Manga Gets Live-Action Film
posted on by Jennifer Sherman
Daisuke Igarashi's slice-of-life manga Little Forest is receiving a live-action film adaptation. Ai Hashimoto (live-action I'll Give It My All... Tomorrow, Another films) will star as the protagonist Ichiko. The other main cast members include:
- Takahiro Miura as Ichiko's childhood friend Yūta
- Mayu Matsuoka as Kikko
- Yōichi Nukumizu as campground manager Shigeyuki
- Karen Kirishima as Ichiko's mother Sachiko
Food director and Eatrip restaurant owner Yuri Nomura, who debuted as a director with the 2009 food documentary film Eatrip, is participating. Nomura will supervise food production for the film and coach Hashimoto's cooking.
The original manga follows Ichiko when she leaves behind the city to lead a self-sustained life in the small Tohoku community Komori (Little Forest). The story showcases nature and seasonal foods while Ichiko cooks every day to maintain her solitary life.
Igarashi (Children of the Sea, Hanashippanashi) once lived a similar self-sufficient life to Ichiko's. The manga creator's own experiences living in a mountain hut in Tohoku's Iwate Prefecture inspired the story.
Director and scriptwriter Junichi Mori (Jūryoku Pierrot, Amoretto) is shooting the film for about one year in locations such as Ōshū, Iwate. Because the film highlights the four seasons, it will be presented in separate "Summer and Fall" and "Winter and Spring" parts. The first half is slated to open in Japan on August 30, 2014, with the second half opening on February 14, 2015.
Source: Comic Natalie
