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Cai Chang Opens Umibe no Étranger Boys-Love Anime Film in Taiwan in November
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
Taiwanese film distributor Cai Chang Asia announced on Sunday that it will open the anime film of Kanna Kii's Umibe no Étranger (L'étranger du Plage or The Stranger on the Beach) manga in Taiwan on November 13.
The film opened in Japan on September 11.
The story centers on Mio, a high school boy who lost his parents at an early age. Shun, a gay aspiring novelist living near Mio's house on a remote island in Okinawa, noticed Mio sitting for hours at a bench on the beach. They grew closer to each other, but Mio had to leave Okinawa. Three years later, Mio returns to face his feelings.
Taishi Murata plays Shin Hashimoto in the film, while Yoshitsugu Matsuoka plays Mio Chibana. Yu Shimamura plays Sakurako.
Akiyo Ohashi (Land of the Lustrous manga's 2013 promotional video, Sakura Capsule) directed the anime at Studio Hibari, and also served as scriptwriter and storyboarder. Kii, a former animator, supervised the film, and also designed the film's characters. Mayumi Watanabe was the chief animation director, while Takashi Hashimoto was the effects animation director. Composer and musician Mina Kubota (Aria the Animation, Macross Delta, A Whisker Away) composed the film's music. The band MONO NO AWARE are performing the film's theme song "Zokkon" (From the Bottom of My Heart). The band wrote the song specifically for the film.
Umibe no Étranger is Kii's debut work as a manga creator, and it ran in Shodensha's On Blue magazine in 2013. Kii launched a sequel manga titled Harukaze no Étranger (L'étranger du zéphyr or The Stranger of the Spring Breeze) in On Blue in July 2014. Shodensha published the manga's third compiled book volume in July 2017.
