The live action adaptation of Ore Monogatari, aka My Love Story!!, had a teaser a while ago as production got underway, but now it’s going full-on with its first full trailer. It definitely takes things up a bit more and I think will win over more folks who had some issues with the casting while also trying to keep some things within reality as to how close you can get sometimes. Either way it’s already looking like a film I hope some domestic distributor picks up on quickly and aligns with the anime adaptation.
The film is set for an October 31st, 2015 premiere and will be directed by Hayato Kawai and a screenplay by Akiko Nogi. The cast for the main trio has been announced with Ryohei Suzuki as Takeo Goda, Mei Nagano as Rinko Yamato and Kentaro Sakaguchi as Makoto Sunakawa.
The anime series is currently scheduled for twenty-four episodes and is being directed by Morio Asaka at Madhouse with Natsuko Takahashi handling the scripts. Character designs are being done by Kunihiko Hamada.
That series stars Takuya Eguchi as Takeo Gōda, Megumi Han as Rinko Yamato, Nobunaga Shimazaki as Makoto Sunakawa, Kikuko Inoue as Ai Sunakawa, Daisuke Namikawa as Hayato Oda, Kazuyo Aoki as Yuriko Gouda, Tesshou Genda as Yutaka Gouda, Osamu Kurihara as Junya Enoki, Rina Kitagawa as Nanako, Rena Maeda as Mariya Saijo and Ai Kayano as Yukika Amami.
The manga series comes from writer Kazune Kawahara and artist Aruko which began in 2011 with seven volumes in print so far. Viz Media began releasing the series last summer digitally and in print with the fourth volume released this past April.
Plot concept: In MY LOVE STORY!!, Takeo Goda is a giant guy with a giant heart. Too bad the girls don’t want him! (They always go for his good-looking best friend, Sunakawa.) Used to being on the sidelines, Takeo simply stands tall and accepts his fate. But one day when he saves a girl named Yamato from a harasser on the train, his (love!) life suddenly takes an incredible turn! Takeo can hardly believe it when he crosses paths with Yamato again, and he finds himself falling in love with her… But with handsome Sunakawa around, does Takeo even stand a chance.
Ha. They include the plastic wrap scene! Long in a line of slightly campy romantic movies from Japan, but it’s an original and solid source, and one that’s already supporting a darn fine anime version. (I’m surprised how much I like the live action effect on the story, alongside what animation can do. The absurdity of a guy like Takeo is more fun live, oddly enough.)
Takuya Eguchi really pulls it off!