TV Tokyo's official website for "Denei Shoujo ~VIDEO GIRL AI 2018~," the upcoming live-action TV drama sequel to Masakazu Katsura's Denei Shoujo/Video Girl Ai manga, announced today on November 14 that its main heroine Ai Amano is played by Nanase Nishino, a 23-year-old member of Japanese girl idol group Nogizaka46. She is the same age with Shuhei Nomura, who is cast as the high school boy protagonist Shou Moteuchi.

Nishino made her professional idol debut in February 2012 when Nogizaka46 released their 1st single "Guru Guru Curtain," and recently starred in the live-action film adaptation of Ai Kozaki's naginata-featured sport manga Asahinagu released in September of this year. To play the video girl Ai, who is known for her iconic short hair, Nishino cut her hair short about 20 cm for the first time in her life.

"Denei Shoujo ~VIDEO GIRL AI 2018~" is scheduled to premiere in TV Tokyo's 30-minute midnight

programming block "Saturday Drama 24" in January 2018. And it is also confirmed that Amazon Prime

Video will exclusivley stream the episodes one week early in Japan.

Nanase Nishino as Ai Amano

"Denei Shoujo ~VIDEO GIRL AI 2018~" will be told as a sequel story to the original manga, featuring the

original protagonist Youta Moteuchi's nephew Shou. The story is set in 2018, 25 years after the original

manga's "Video Girl Ai" arc ("Video Girl Len" arc was set seven years after the first arc). After his parents'

divorce, the new protagonist Shou Moteuchi has lived in his uncle Youta Moteuchi's house. He has secretly

fell in love with his bishoujo classmate girl Nanami. However, she has good feelings toward Shou's best

friend Tomoaki, so the future of his romance is seemingly hopeless. One day, he finds a video tape. When

playing it with a VCR coated with dust, a "Video Girl," who was sealed 25 years ago, pops out through the

screen. Then Shou and the video girl "Ai" start a strange joint life for three months.

Manga bunko edition 1st and 2nd volume covers

Source: TV Tokyo

© "Denei Shoujo ~VIDEO GIRL AI 2018~" Production Committee

© Masakazu Katsura/Shueisha