'The Anthem of the Heart' Live Action Movie with Kento Nakajima Coming July 2017

The September 2015 anime movie The Anthem of the Heart (Kokoro ga Sakebitagatterunda, or KokoSake for short) will be getting a live action theatrical version to be released in cinemas all over Japan on 22 July 2017. The main cast includes Kento Nakajima, Kyoko Yoshine, Anna Ishii and Kanichiro. The same team that set loose the Anohana phenomenon with the movie Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day, also brought us the original anime movie, KokoSake.

At the center of the story is a girl who has lost her ability to talk, but is cast as the main character of a musical. It shows that even in their youth, everybody has their own experiences and feelings, as well as shows us the importance of words and the wonder of music. The anime movie was a big success with over 1.1 billion yen final box office sales.

Kento Nakajima, member of the male idol group Sexy Zone, will play one of the main characters. This movie will be his 4th one in a starring role. He will be portraying Takumi Sakagami, who can’t express his true intentions and feelings well. It is a change from the characters he has played until now, who were bright and positive.

There is also the heroine, Jun Naruse played by Kyoko Yoshine, who feels a pain in her stomach as soon as she tries to talk because of an incident in her childhood. Yoshine is known for starring in the current morning drama Beppinsan, which ends on 1 April 2017. This will be her first movie role.

The character Natsuki Nito, who once dated Takumi and regrets hurting him with her words until this day, will be portrayed by Anna Ishii, who is a member of E-Girls and is also active as an actress.

And finally, Kanichiro will play Daiki Tasaki, who had high hopes of becoming a famous baseball pitcher but broke his elbow once and failed to tell his teammates, causing them to lose. Kanichiro’s debut as an actor was decided only recently, and his distinctive charisma gives everybody high expectations.

'The Anthem of the Heart' Live Action Movie

The one who has been holding the megaphone since the production of the movie started in Chichibu on 14 March 2017, is Naoto Kumazawa, who gained attention through his original script Letters from Kanai Nirai and after that for his work on the live action movies adaptations Kin Kyori Renai and Kimi ni Todoke. Kumazawa commented, ‘This is a work that includes many themes like music, friendship, youth, love… I will try to give the story a unique live action atmosphere but at the same time do my best to make the message of the original anime reach at least one viewer: “Words are important.”’