News

Live-Action I''s Series' Opening, Ending Videos Preview Theme Songs

The official YouTube account for SKY PerfecTV!'s Skyper! channel began streaming opening and ending videos for the live-action series adaptation of Masakazu Katsura's I''s manga on Wednesday. The videos preview Migiwa Takezawa's opening song "yesterdays" and Mrs. Green Apple's ending song "Coffee."

Previously announced cast members include:

Amane Okayama (live-action Lychee Light Club's Jacob) as Ichitaka Seto

Sei Shiraishi as Iori Yoshizuki

Kyōka Shibata as Itsuki Akiba, Ichitaka's younger childhood friend

Ku Ijima as Yasumasa Teratani

Yūki Ogoe as Jun Koshinae

Keisuke Tomita as Mokichi Kida

Atomu Mizuishi as Samejima

Takashi Ukaji as Hiromi Hanazono

Minori Hagiwara as Izumi Isozaki

Konatsu Katō as Aiko Asō, a native of Akita prefecture and Ichitaka's neighbor in the apartment building

Haruka as Nami, a strong-minded tomboy, Ichitaka's classmate, and Iori's friend

Kanoko Sudō as Yuka Morisaki, a normal girl who is Ichitaka's classmate and Iori's friend

Eri Fuse as Ichitaka's mother

Makoto Araki as Ichitaka's father

Usa Makino as Miyoko Kawasaki, Ichitaka's first love from grade school. Ichitaka has some bad memories from what Miyoko told him.

Tatsuya Nakayama as the president of the "Wandako" drama club, and an upperclassman whom Iori considers reliable

Terunosuke Takezai as Takashi Takezawa, a modeling mentor for Itsuki, and a temporary art teacher for Wanda High School

Shōdai Fukuyama as Kensuke Tamura, Izumi's ex-boyfriend, and a member of Wanda High School's soccer team

Yumi Adachi as Rie Furukawa, Iori's manager, affiliated with the entertainment company Isai Production

Atsushi Arai as Sango Ishikawa, an actor affiliated with Isai Production

Keisuke Horibe as Isai Kaminogi, the CEO of Isai Production, and a stage actor whom Iori greatly respects and admires

The 13-episode series will premiere on December 21 at 9:00 p.m. and air on SKY PerfecTV!'s BS Skyper! channel and Skyper! on Demand service. A special behind-the-scenes program aired first on December 14.

Both Keisuke Toyoshima and Mari Asato are directing the series, and Takashi Watanabe is composing the music.

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 original manga has 10 million copies in print. 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.

Sources: SKY PerfecTV!'s Skyper! YouTube channel (link 2), Anime! Anime! (MoA)