Seiri-chan is making the leap from manga protagonist to the movie screen, and in a live-action adaptation.

There’s an unprecedented boom going on in the number of anime and manga series that are getting live-action adaptions. In recent years, Japanese filmmakers have brought the characters of Attack on Titan, Rurouni Kenshin, and Kiki’s Delivery Service to life, and the trend has even been picking up steam overseas, with foreign-produced live-action versions of Ghost in the Shell, Your Name, and Cowboy Bebop either released or in the works.

In that environment, it might not seem too surprising that an upcoming live-action movie of Ken Koyama’s manga Seiri-chan has been announced. After all, Seiri-chan is a solid hit, having started out as a web manga before moving into physical-print serialization in major publisher Kadokawa’s Monthly Comic Beam in December. But what is surprising is that the titular Seiri-chan isn’t a schoolgirl, mecha pilot, or an other sort of traditional anime/manga heroine. Nope – Seiri-chan is a giant anthropomorphized menstrual cycle.

▼ “It’s me, Seiri.”

“…Seiri-chan…has it already been a month since last time?”

It’s not exactly clear whether Seiri-chan (whose name literally translates means “Period-chan”) is supposed to be an incarnation of the physical aspects of menstrual flow, or simply an abstract representation of the period process. Either way, she makes monthly visits to the manga’s secondary female characters to administer the painful process of draining a large measure of their blood, leaving them in pain and low on energy.

▼ Though Seiri-chan does at least say “I’m sorry” when she’s done.

Again, we have to emphasize that while the original Seiri-chan source material is an illustrated manga, the movie is not going to be animated. There are going to be actual Japanese actresses interacting with the Seiri-chan character onscreen, which should make for a very surreal viewing experience.

Kadokawa is being cagey regarding details of how Seiri-chan herself will appear in the film. “Will Seiri-chan be CG?” reads the movie’s announcement, which was printed in the March issue of Comic Bean, which went on sale this Tuesday. “Will the movie be in the zombie action genre?! We’re sure you have many questions, but because the movie is still in the middle of production, please look forward to further announcements.”

The image of Seiri-chan battling hordes of the undead (who are perhaps drawn to her because of her ample blood supplies) seems bizarre, but then again, so dos any narrative that involves a giant heart-shaped menstrual cycle as its protagonist.

▼ Though Seiri-chan has shown herself to be a fierce fighter.

All we can do now is wait for the producers to give us more details, but in the meantime, if you’re keen to catch up on Seiri-chan’s story so far, the first collected issue of the manga can be purchased through Amazon Japan here.

Source: Cinema Today via Jin

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Insert images: Amazon/小山健, SoraNews24