by Mnl48 Philippines

The popular manga series “Seikimatsu Blue” of Wani Books in Japan will turn into a live-action Japanese film starring Philippines’ idol group member, MNL48 Abby, in her first international acting project as announced today, May 30, 2019.

The film adaptation of the hit manga series will be directed by Japanese director, Tetsuya Hashi, whose works include “Tadouryoku the Movie” and MNL48’s second music video “Talulot Ng Sakura”.

The production of the movie will take place in Japan beginning this June and is expected to be completed in September as the film is scheduled to be exhibited as one of the entries in an independent film festival in the Philippines in December 2019.

Playing the main character, MNL48 Abby is beyond ecstatic to land her first leading role in a Japanese film. She has been preparing for her character and will be flying soon to Japan to start filming for the movie. “Bukod po sa singing and dancing, forte ko po talaga ang acting kaya sobrang natutuwa po ako. Sobrang laking blessing siya, kaya mas china-challenge ko po ‘yung sarili ko kasi we’re representing the group, kailangan namin gawin talaga ang best namin.”

Although she already had experiences in acting, Abby admitted that “Seikimatsu Blue” will be more challenging since they need to speak in fluent Japanese language or Nihongo. “Kasi sobrang hirap po talaga ‘yung accent ng Japanese, nakakahiya naman kapag hindi mo nagawa ng maayos, lalo na ako ‘yung lead character, so everyday po talaga ako nag-aaral ng Japanese, and naga-act in front of camera.”

A casting audition and screening was held early this year where MNL48 members were given a chance to audition for the film’s leads, aside from Abby, MNL48 Brei and Coleen will also be part of the film playing supporting roles as Abby’s sisters while MNL48 Kay will be part of the casts

MNL48 Coleen said that she’s happy to share this milestone with her fellow members but still felt nervous when she found out that she will be part of the film. “Kinabahan po talaga ako, kailangan daw po kasi magaling sa Japanese. Naisip ko rin po na baka mahirapan ako makipag-interact sa kanila sa shoot kasi may language barrier and dapat po talaga magawa namin ng maayos ‘yung roles namin.”

“Pero of course po super excited, lalo na makatrabaho ‘yung mga tao dun kasi first time ko po gagawa ng movie tapos international film pa, kaya sobrang saya po, nag-aaral po ako and nanunuod ng Japanese movies para ma-familiarize po,” Coleen added.

Moreover, although Brei is into Japanese songs, being part of the film was unexpected for her. “Sobrang hindi ko po ine-expect siguro po nakita nila ‘yung pronunciation ko okay kasi mahilig ako sa mga Japanese songs, na kahit papaano maaaral naman, sobrang saya lang po,” she said describing her audition experience in the film.

Based from the original creation of the manga artist, Hirota Shintaro, Seikimatsu Blue’s story will begin with a girl named Kousaka, a normal student and her encounter with a strange-shaped monster called “Daiou” after helping her classmate, Toumine who was being bullied which led to the destruction of the world in July 1999.

Meanwhile, popular Japanese idol groups are expected to gather in one stage on September 14, 2019 at Shinjuku Alta Key Studio in Japan in celebration for the film’s completion. Some of the performers include MNL48, Fairytails, Himekoi Eden, Wi-Fi-5, 1-Girls, GracoRex NEO, Reverse Tokyo, Sokubakukanojyo, Tsubasa Hazuki, and Chie Yamanaka. An audition for the film’s performers will also be held this May to June; additional idols that will take part during the live event will be announced soon.

For more details and update about the upcoming film, you may visit Seikimatsu Blue’s official website at http://seikimatsu.blue/ or follow the MNL48 official social media pages and website or download the MNL48 Fan Club app to get the latest MNL48 updates.

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