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Live-Action Baby Steps Show Reveals Cast, Trailer, July Premiere on Amazon

Amazon Japan revealed the main cast and July 22 premiere date of the live-action adaptation of Hikaru Katsuki's Baby Steps manga on Tuesday. The series will premiere on Amazon Japan's Amazon Prime instant video service.

The Amazon Prime YouTube channel also began streaming a trailer.

Kōdai Matsuoka (Naruto, Prince of Tennis stage plays) will play protagonist Eiichirō Maruo, while model Kiwa will play Natsu Takasaki, and Shōta Matsushima will play Takuma Egawa. Kazuyuki Iwata (Mei-chan no Shitsuji) is directing the series, and Yūji Kobayashi (Smile Precure!, Saint Seiya Omega, Sailor Moon Crystal) wrote the scripts.

Baby Steps is one of two manga-based live-action projects that Amazon Japan showcased in its Tuesday presentation. The other manga-based title is the previously announced Happy Marriage!? project. The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline reported that the second manga-based show is Businessmen vs. Aliens (Uchū no Shigoto), but Uchū no Shigoto is an original project that is not based on manga.

The Baby Steps manga revolves around Eiichirō "Ei-chan" Maruo, a punctual and earnest boy who has strived for straight As since elementary school. The 15-year-old high school boy stops by a tennis school to deal with his lack of exercise. There, he meets Natsu Takasaki, a beautiful, earnest girl who only has passion for tennis.

Katsuki launched the Baby Steps manga in Weekly Shōnen Magazine in 2007. Kodansha published the manga's 39th compiled book volume (pictured at right) on March 17.

The manga's first television anime series premiered in April 2014, and the second series premiered in April 2015. Katsuki himself collaborated on the creation of episodes with original stories not told in the manga. Studio Pierrot animated the both television series, with 25 episodes for each series. Crunchyroll streamed both series as they aired in Japan.