Shopping Guide
With the anime adaptation and now a live-action movie in the works, Io Sakisaka’s original work Ao Haru Ride has suddenly been bathed in attention. Because the spirit of the work is the charm of its characters, fans have been especially curious to see who will play them. To that end, fans were surely convinced when Tsubasa Honda and Masahiro Higashide were announced for the roles of Futaba and Kou, respectively, just the other day. A huge buzz was caused when these names were announced.
On April 12, new cast members were announced in addition to these two: Mitsuki Takahata as Yui Narumi and Yudai Chiba as Touma Kikuchi. Yui has feelings for Kou and Yudai has feelings for Futaba. To put it another way, they are each the main characters’ love rivals. A rival’s role in a movie is to make things harder for the main character. Vividly portraying this is the key to a movie’s success. Due to this, Mitsuki and Yudai will likely have big roles in the movie.
Yui Narumi is a young woman who has had feelings for Kou since they were in middle school. Mitsuki, the actress playing Yui, is 22 years old this year. She has six years of experience playing a main character in the Peter Pan stage play from 2007. She is a young actress who has not just acting ability, but singing ability as well.
On the other hand, Touma Kikuchi, being played by Yudai, is a classmate who is attracted to the upfront and honest Futaba. Yudai has become popular as a model belonging to Choki Choki and for starring in Tensou Sentai Goseiger. He too is a fresh talent at 25 years old.
Ao Haru Ride is a popular shoujo manga that is currently serializing in Bessatsu Margaret (Shueisha). It began serialization in 2011, and has already become a big hit with nine volumes published and over 4.7 million copies in print. It is expected to become even more popular this year. In addition to Mitsuki Takahata and Yudai Chiba, Tsubasa Honda, Masahiro Higashide, Yua Shinkawa, Ryo Yoshizawa, Izumi Fujimoto, and Yu Koyanagi have all been announced as members of the cast.
Comment from Mitsuki Takahata (Yui Narumi):
As the story goes on, I naturally want to root for Futaba and Kou. Along the way, Yui Narumi’s presence may be an obstacle. But I think that Futaba, Kou, and Yui all have their own thoughts and beliefs. I’ve been able to jump on board the shining Ao Haru along with other actors of my same generation, and I will try my best to bring out a compassionate Yui!
Comment from Yudai Chiba (Touma Kikuchi):
I’m Yudai Chiba, and I have the pleasure of being able to play Touma Kikuchi. I think that adolescence means something different to everyone, but now that I have gone through my student days, I get nostalgic and red in the face when look back on it and I wonder what that time was all about. I want to pass that time in Ao Haru Ride with all I have as Touma. Please look forward to it.
Source: animeanime
© 2014 Ao Haru Ride Production Committee
© Io Sakisaka / Shueisha Inc.
