The live-action drama adaptation of Asumiko Nakamura’s seinen psychological romance manga, Utsubora: The Story of a Novelist, has unveiled a 60-second trailer showcasing the main cast members. The drama series will premiere on March 24 in Japan on Wowow.
Atsuko Maeda plays the lead roles, Aki and Sakura. The promotional visual is a tribute to the cover illustration of the first and second volumes of the original manga, with the phrase in the center: “The woman has the same face as the woman who died”.
Yukiya Kitamura will play Shun Mizorogi, a famous novelist who succumbs to the temptation of plagiarism when a beauty who seems to have stepped out of the pages of his latest novel comes into his life to seduce and torment him.
The cast list also includes Kisetsu Fujiwara as Makoto Tsuji, Shun’s editor, Yuna Taira as Koyomi Mizorogi, Shun’s niece, Hajime Okayama as Tsuyoshi Mochizuki, a detective investigating Aki’s mysterious death, Kouhei Takeda as Yoshitsugu Kaiba, Mochizuki’s subordinate, Akiko Hinagata as Ai Nomiya, and Ikkei Watanabe as Osamu Yatabe, Shun’s friends from college and fellow writers.
▍Utsubora Live-Action Drama PV
▍About Utsubora: The Story of a Novelist
The manga, written and illustrated by Asumiko Nakamura, was serialized in Manga Erotics F and published in two volumes from 2008 until 2012. It was published in English as Utsubora: The Story of a Novelist by Vertical Inc. on June 18, 2013.
Utsubora is a psycho-suspense story centered on a beautiful woman named Aki, who mysteriously died one day, Sakura, who claims to be Aki’s twin sister and appears to replace her.
Popular novelist Shun Mizorogi, who has been plagiarizing Aki’s novel “Utsubora”, is approached by Sakura, who has the original manuscript of the novel, with a proposal, which leads Mizorogi into deep darkness. Meanwhile, the detectives search for the truth behind Aki’s death…
▍Utsubora Live-Action Drama Staff & Production
Original work: Utsubora by Asumiko Nakamura (published by Ohta Publishing’s Manga Erotics F)
Screenplay: Kazuhisa Kodera, Kiko Inoue
Music: Yuji Iwamoto, Emi Maeda
Director: Hiroto Hara
Production: WOWOW, The icon
▍Utsubora Live-Action Drama Cast
■ Atsuko Maeda as Aki Fujino / Sakura Miki
■ Yukiya Kitamura as Shun Mizorogi
■ Kisetsu Fujiwara as Makoto Tsuji
■ Yuna Taira as Koyomi Mizorogi
■ Hajime Okayama as Tsuyoshi Mochizuki
■ Kouhei Takeda as Yoshitsugu Kaiba
■ Akiko Hinagata as Ai Nomiya
■ Ikkei Watanabe as Osamu Yatabe