News
Masakazu Katsura's I''s Manga Gets 2018 Live-Action Series Starring Amane Okayama
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
The SKY PerfecTV! channel announced on Monday that a live-action series adaptation of Masakazu Katsura's I''s manga has been green-lit. Amane Okayama (pictured below, live-action Lychee Light Club's Jacob) will star in the lead role as Ichitaka Seto. The series will premiere in 2018 on SKY PerfecTV!'s BS Skyper! channel and Skyper! on Demand service, and will also be streamed. The staff will reveal more cast for the series in spring 2018.
The original manga has 10 million copies in print.
Viz Media published all 15 volumes of Katsura's original manga, and it describes the story:
Shy Ichitaka has a crush on his high school classmate Iori, but ever since she posed for semi-provocative swimsuit photos in a magazine, she's had a lot of sleazy guys hitting on her. Ichitaka's afraid to make his feelings known in case she thinks he's just another creep.Torn between his physical feelings for Iori and his desire for real love, Ichitaka's life gets more complicated when his childhood friend Itsuki moves back from America and ends up living in his house!
Itsuki's no longer the young girl Ichitaka remembers - she's a babe who is open with her feelings and not shy about walking around in a towel!
The manga ran in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine from 1997 to 2000. The series inspired a two-part OVA in 2002, and a six-part OVA titled I''s Pure in 2006. Viz Media released both OVAs in one DVD box set in 2009.
Many of Katsura's manga series have inspired anime and live-action adaptations, including Video Girl Ai, DNA², Wingman, and Zetman. He has also provided character designs for such anime as Iria - Zeiram the Animation, Tiger & Bunny, and Garo: Crimson Moon.
Sources: Comic Natalie, The Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web
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