From Truant to Anime Screenwriter: My Path to “ anohana ” and “ The Anthem of the Heart ” (Gakkō e Ikenakatta Watashi ga anohana Kokosake o Kaku Made) — the autobiography of prolific anime scriptwriter Mari Okada — is inspiring a live-action television special. The Gakkō e Ikenakatta Watashi ga anohana Kokosake o Kaku Made special will run on the public broadcaster NHK 's BS Premium channel on September 1 from 10:00 p.m. to 11:29 p.m.

Former AKB48 idol group member Atsuko Maeda will star in the role of Mari Okada , and Okada herself wrote the screenplay for the special. The special is a collage of both live-action sequences and footage from anime works.

The other cast members include Shunsuke Daitō, Kenta Hamano , Mijika Nagai, Youichi Nukumizu , Tōru Nomaguchi, Yoji Tanaka , Hirotaro Honda , and Yasuko Tomita . Hideki Fujinami is directing the special, and Yukari Hashimoto ( March comes in like a lion , Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun ) is composing the music.

In the original book, Okada describes her strained relationship with her mother and her life as a shut-in who could not make herself attend school. She managed to graduate high school by exchanging essays with her teacher, and debuted as a screenwriter for direct-to-video films in 1997.

Okada's anime screenwriting credits include anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day , Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans , Hanasaku Iroha - Blossoms for Tomorrow , AKB0048 , A Lull in the Sea , The Anthem of the Heart , and Kiznaiver . She recently made her directorial debut with the Maquia - When the Promised Flower Blooms film, which opened in Japan in February 24.

Bungeishunjū published the memoir in April 2017. Masayoshi Tanaka , the character designer of anohana and Anthem of the Heart , illustrated the cover. J-Novel Club released the book in English this month.

Source: Comic Natalie