NHK announced on Tuesday that Tomohiro Hata will perform the theme song “Fragments” for the live-action series of Yūki Kodama‘s Ao no Hana, Utsuwa no Mori (Blue Flower, Forest of Vessels) manga. NHK also unveiled a new visual for the series:

The manga takes place in Hasami, a town in Nagasaki prefecture famed for its pottery, and centers on Aoko, who is a ceramics painter, and her romance with a young man named Tatsuki who visits her studio.

Former SKE48 and Nogizaka46 idol Rena Matsui (Ultimate Otaku Teacher) will star in the series as Aoko Baba. Hayate Ichinose (Kishiryū Sentai Ryusoulger) plays the male lead Tatsuki Manabe.

The series will debut on NHK‘s “Yorudora” programming block on October 26. 

The manga launched in Shogakukan‘s Flowers magazine in March 2018, and ended in March 2022. Shogakukan published the manga’s 10th and final compiled book volume in August 2022.

Kodama (Tsukikage Baby, Chiisako no Niwa) launched her nine-volume Sakamichi no Apollon (Kids on the Slope) manga in Flowers in 2007, and ended the series in March 2012. Shogakukan published a one-volume spinoff manga titled Sakamichi no Apollon: Bonus Track in November 2012. 

The Kids on the Slope manga inspired a television anime on Fuji TV‘s late-night Noitamina programming block in April 2012. Crunchyroll streamed the anime as it aired under the title Kids on the Slope, and Sentai Filmworks released the series on home video in 2013. 

The Kids on the Slope manga also inspired a live-action film that opened in Japan in March 2018.

Kodama launched the Wolf’s Daughter: A Werewolf’s Tale (Ōkami no Musume) manga in Flowers in October 2022, and it is still ongoing. Shogakukan published the manga’s 10th volume on April 10. Seven Seas is releasing the manga in English, and it released the third volume on April 14.

Sources: NHK, Comic Natalie

Viz Media announced on Monday that the Naruto franchise will have a new television anime “limited” series. The “NARUTO: What’s Next?” panel at New York Comic Con will announce details about the new anime on October 10 at 5:00 p.m. EDT (2:00 p.m. PDT or  October 11 at 6:00 a.m. JST) . The panel will have a live stream worldwide at the below YouTube link:

Junko Takeuchi and Noriaki Sugiyama, the voice of Naruto and Sasuke in the anime, will appear at the panel, along with Pierrot Films executive producer Yoshihiro Tominaga.

Kishimoto launched the Naruto ninja manga in Shueisha‘s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine in 1999, and ended the series in November 2014. The manga has spawned the Naruto and Naruto Shippūden television anime series, original video anime (OVA) projects, several anime films, spinoff manga, the Boruto sequel manga and anime series, a series of novels, stage plays, and video games.

Lionsgate is producing a Hollywood live-action film adaptation of the manga. The official website for the Naruto franchise announced on July 10 that the live-action film project had begun a global casting search for the main characters Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura, with casting for other characters to come at a later date. Charles Melton (Riverdale, Beef) is “in final negotiations” to play the mentoring ninja Kakashi Hatake in the film. Destin Daniel Cretton (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Spider-Man: Brand New Day) is directing the film, and is also producing the film through his company Hisako alongside Jeyun Munford. Arad Productions‘ Avi Arad, Ari Arad, and Emmy Yu as well as Jeremy Latcham are listed as producers.

Source: Press release