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Ryo Ikuemi's Itoshi no Nina Manga Gets Live-Action TV Series
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
Fuji TV revealed on Thursday that it is producing a live-action series adaptation of Ryo Ikuemi's Itoshi no Nina (Nina, My Love) manga that will debut on its Fuji TV On Demand (FOD) service this spring. The eight-episode series will star Kenshi Okada as the protagonist Atsushi, a high school boy.
The manga's story begins when Masa tells his best friend Atsushi that he has kidnapped Nina, a girl that Atsushi has a crush on. Atsushi becomes Nina's bodyguard. Even though Atsushi fears Ushijima, the mastermind of the kidnapping, he still wants to help Nina, who herself carries a burden in her heart.
Rei Narakino and Hiroyuki Nakata are directing the series, with scripts by Tomoko Akutsu and Iyo Nishikōri. Tsugi Shikanai is credited for production, and Sumi Asano and Yū Gōda are credited as producers.
Ikuemi serialized the manga in Gentosha's Web Spica manga website from 2005 to 2010, and Gentosha published four compiled book volumes for the manga. Gentosha recently recompiled the manga into two omnibus volumes last August. Tokyopop had once licensed the manga, but did not release it before it shut down its North American publishing operations in 2011.
Ikuemi's Pops manga inspired an original video anime in 1993, her Kiyoku Yawaku manga inspired a live-action film in 2013, and her Anata no Koto wa Sorehodo manga inspired a live-action television series in 2017. Ikuemi's Principal manga then inspired a live-action film that opened in Japan in March 2018. JManga digitally distributed Ikuemi's Cousin manga in English before closing its doors.
Ikuemi ended her Taiyō ga Miteiru (Kamoshirenai Kara) manga in May 2018. She launched the series in Cookie in March 2014. Shueisha published the manga's eighth and final volume in July 2018.
Ikuemi launched the Eine Kleine Nachtmusik manga, based on the novel by Kōtarō Isaka, on Gentosha's Comic Boost manga website in January 2019. Ikuemi also launched a new manga titled 1-nichi 2-kai last September.
Source: Comic Natalie
