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Toei's Niji-iro Hotaru Film Cast, Theme Singer Revealed
posted on by Crystalyn Hodgkins
The cast and theme song artist have been revealed for Toei Animation's Niji-Iro Hotaru ~Eien no Natsu Yasumi~ (Rainbow-Colored Fireflies: The Eternal Summer Vacation~) film. 14-year-old drama actor Akashi Takei (Ima Ai ni Yukimasu, Kamen Rider Decade) will play the protagonist Yūta, and Ayumi Kimura (Permanent Nobara) will play Saeko. Other cast members include Takahiro Sakurai, Mamiko Noto, Kazuya Nakai, Chikao Ohtsuka, and Taro Ishida.
Yumi Matsutoya will compose and sing the film's theme song "Ai to Tooi Hi no Mirai e." Matsutoya previously sang the theme song for Kiki's Delivery Service and the insert song for Tamayura - Hitotose. She also composed and wrote lyrics for the Ai Monogatari insert song, the opening and fifth ending theme songs for Tamayura - Hitotose, and the ending theme song for Ayakashi - Samurai Horror Tales.
Konosuke Uda (One Piece, Galaxy Express 999: Eternal Fantasy) is directing the film, which features an adapted screenplay by Kei Kunii (The Princess Blade live action film), along with character designs and animation direction by Hisashi Mori (Samurai 7). Takaaki Yamashita (Saint Seiya, Summer Wars) is contributing to visual art, and Seiki Tamura (K-ON!, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya) is serving as art director. Masataka Matsutoya (Sonic X) is composing the music.
Based on Masayuki Kawaguchi's 2007 novel, the film revolves around a sixth grade boy named Yūta on his summer vacation. His father passed away one year ago in a traffic accident, and Yūta now goes alone to visit a place where he and his father once shared memories. The two had gone often to an unused dam deep in the mountains to collect the rhinoceros beetles nearby. Yūta suddenly receives a shock in a thunderstorm, loses his footing, and gets knocked out. When he wakes up, he sees a small girl and a village — except this village is the one that should be submerged below the dam. Yūta realizes that he slipped back time to over thirty years ago, before the dam was completed. Another summer vacation, and another chance for Yūta to reclaim what cannot be reclaimed, begins.
The film opens in theaters in Japan on May 19.
Sources: Oricon, Ota-suke, Cinema Today
