"Orange" Live-Action Film Casts Revealed

07.20.2015 17:33

Orange (TAKANO Ichigo) Manga
http://www.mangahere.co/manga/orange_takano_ichigo/

The cast of live-action film of Ichigo Takano's manga series Orange recently was revealed. Actress Tao Tsuchiya stars as the heroine Naho Takamiya and Actor Kento Yamazaki stars as the hero Kakeru Naruse, a transfer student with a deep emotional wound due to a tragedy with his mother. Tao Tsuchiya and Kento Yamazaki worked together previously in the ongoing NHK live-action television series Mare.

The story:

Everyone has regrets in life. So who wouldn't take the chance to change the past if given the opportunity? When sixteen-year-old Takamiya Naho receives a mysterious letter, claiming to be from her twenty-seven-year-old self, her life is suddenly thrown into flux. The letter tells her that a new transfer student by the name of Naruse Kakeru will be joining her class, and to keep her eye on him. But why? Naho must decide what to make of the letter and its cryptic warning, and what it means not only for her future, but for Kakeru's as well.

Tsuchiya once played Misao Makimachi of live-action Rurouni Kenshin films, Maki/Satsuki Nagase of the live-action Arcana film, and Marie Nakazawa of the upcoming live-action Library Wars television special sequel and film sequel. She mentioned that she read the original Orange manga when she was in high school, and it made her feel "such emotions as deep sadness, the importance of living, and the sparkling emotions of high school life." She also added that when she received the offer that she would star in the film, she thought of Kento, "Wouldn't Kento make a good Kakeru?" When Yamazaki did eventually earn the role of Kakeru she was delighted.

Yamazaki played Koichi of the live-action film Another, Nishiki of the live-action Kyō, Koi wo Hajimemasu film, Rita Terasaka of the live-action Heroine Shikkaku film, and Shūsei of the live-action L DK film. In the ongoing live-action Death Note television series, he is playing L. He mentioned that he also read the Orange manga, imagining to receive a letter from future himself. Thinking about the strong bonds between Naho, Kakeru, and other friends, it was his favorite story, even some parts were a little bit sad and painful.

Mitsujirō Hashimoto is director of the film. Due to his Suzuki Sensei series, he received The Japan Commercial Broadcasters Association's top live-action series award, the Galaxy Awards, and other honors. Orange is his first film as a director.

The other cast members include:

Ryō Ryūsei (Zyūden Sentai Kyoryuger) as Haruto Suwa, the soccer player who has feelings for Naho even as he supports her relationship with Kakeru

Haruna Yamazaki (Takashi Miike's live-action As the Gods Will) as Takako Chino, the cool, big-sister-type classmate

Dōri Sakurada (The Prince of Tennis musicals' Ryōma) as Saku Hagita, the strange, geeky classmate

Kurumi Shimizu (The Kirishima Thing) as Azusa Murasaka, the moodmaker of the group

Arisa Kaneko was in charge of the scripts, with music by Yoshihide Otomo. The film will be shooting at Nagano Prefecture's Matsumoto City from late August to early October, which is the real-life setting of the original manga.

The film will be finished in mid-November, and it will air at December 12 in Japan.

Ichigo Takano's Orange was first serialized in 2012 in Shueisha's Bessatsu Margaret manga magazine and later in Futabasha's Monthly Action. Futabasha published the fourth volume of the manga on February 20. It has been compiled into 5 volumes so far. The series has more than 1.6 million copies in print.

The manga will end in August.