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Warner Bros. Japan Plans U.S. Theatrical Release for Haikara-san ga Tooru Films
posted on by Karen Ressler
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Warner Bros. Japan announced at its Anime Expo panel on Monday that it is planning to release the upcoming the anime film adaptations of Waki Yamato's Haikara-san ga Tooru manga in United States theaters with English subtitles. The company confirmed its plans with ANN but noted that no release date has been set, as the release dates have not yet been confirmed in Japan.
The first film, titled Gekijōban Haikara-san ga Tōru Zenpen - Benio, Hana no 17-sai, was slated to open in Japan on November 11, but the website now lists just "2017" and Warner Bros. Japan said it is slated for fall 2017. The second film, titled Gekijōban Haikara-san ga Tōru Kōhen - Tokyo Dai Roman, is slated for spring 2018. Both films were previously slated to open this year.
Kazuhiro Furuhashi (Rurouni Kenshin, Hunter x Hunter) is directing and penning the script, but only for the first film. Mitsuko Kase (Ristorante Paradiso, Young Black Jack) is directing the second film. Terumi Nishii (Penguindrum, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable) is designing the characters, and Kentarō Akiyama (ReLIFE, Magic-kyun! Renaissance, Selector Infected Wixoss) is in charge of both background design and art direction. Kunio Tsujita (INTERSTELLA 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem, Penguindrum) is the color designer. Takeo Ogiwara (Chain Chronicle: The Light of Haecceitas, Yuri Kuma Arashi) is the director of photography at Graphinica. Kazuhiro Wakabayashi (Eureka Seven, Kuromukuro) is the sound director, and Michiru Oshima (Sound of the Sky, Little Witch Academia) is composing the music. Nippon Animation is in charge of animation production.
The story is set in Tokyo in the Taishō era (1912-1926). The story follows Benio "Haikara-san" Hanamura, who lost her mother when she was very young and has been raised by her father, a high-ranking official in the Japanese army. As a result, she has grown into a tomboy — contrary to traditional Japanese notions of femininity, she studies kendo, drinks sake, dresses in often outlandish-looking Western fashions instead of the traditional kimono, and is not as interested in housework as she is in literature. She also rejects the idea of arranged marriages and believes in a woman's right to a career and to marry for love.
Haikara-san's best friends are the beautiful Tamaki, who is much more feminine than Haikara-san but equally interested in women's rights, and Ranmaru, a young man who was raised to play female roles in the kabuki theater and as a result has acquired very effeminate mannerisms. Haikara-san's betrothed is Shinobu Ijūin, a second lieutenant in the army.
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