As Japanese entertainment reporters, we often get to write about manga or light novels getting anime adaptations, but it’s rare that we write about other forms of media getting the anime treatment. Today just happens to be one of those days, however, so lucky us!
According to a report on Comic Natalie, the illustration book series Dounika Naru Hibi (Happy-Go-Lucky Days), created by Takako Shimura, will jump to the big screen in Japan in the summer of 2020 with a movie adaptation. The adaptation will be presented as a series of short stories about everyday love and life, with the central theme being ordinary people experiencing sweetness and sorrow when it comes to falling in love.
We don’t currently know who any of the voice actors attached to the Dounika Naru Hibi movie project are, but they have made the staff list public. The supervising director will be Takuya Satō (who is also one-third of the writing staff). He will work with Kouji Aritomi to bring this title to life. Meanwhile, along with the previously mentioned Satō, the rest of the writing duties are being split between Yasunori Ide and Yoriko Tomita. Character designs will be provided by Haruka Sagawa, and, finally, the animation will be produced by LIDEN FILMS.
The illustration books of Dounika Naru Hibi were originally serialized in the adult magazine Manga Erotics F before being released over two volumes from 2002 to 2004. The author eventually created other manga about sensitive topics such as growing up transgender in Hourou Musuko (Wandering Son) and coming to terms with being a gay teenager in Japan in Aoi Hana (Sweet Blue Flowers), both of which have earned high praise from fans and critics alike and were turned into television anime in 2011 and 2009 respectively.
