AnimeJapan2017] A carefully spun tale of ordinary love between ordinary junior high school students; TV anime "Tsuki ga Kirei" special stage report just before its release.

A special stage was held at the BLUE Stage at AnimeJapan 2017 on March 25, 2017, just prior to the broadcast of the TV anime "Tsuki ga Kirei," which will begin airing in April.

Introduced by moderator Ken Washizaki, the stage was graced by six performers. On stage that day were Shoya Chiba playing Kotaro Azumi, Yoshimi Obara playing Akane Mizuno, Atsushi Tamaru playing Takumi Hira, Rie Murakawa playing Chinatsu Nishio, Director Seiji Kishi, and Producer Ken Minami. In contrast to the refreshing cast members, Mr. Washizaki suddenly made a comment that Director Kishi and Producer Minami looked scary. The event opened in a relaxed atmosphere, filled with laughter.

Tsuki ga Kirei" is an original anime that depicts the school life and fresh romance of ordinary junior high school students. The story follows Kotaro Azumi, a boy of literature, and Akane Mizuno, a member of the track club, who are in the same class in the third year of junior high school, and how the two grow up while being pursued by change and anxiety. The director was first asked about the background of the film's production.

He said that his specialty is unrealistic films in which the characters save the world or use magic, but he wanted to try something different. Even in works in his specialty, what is depicted is the drama of the characters. So I wanted to make something that focused only on that. I thought about a variety of subjects for that purpose, but I thought that a love story would be a theme that could be widely enjoyed by many people," he said.

The cast members then introduced the characters they play. Chiba-san, who plays Kotaro, the main character, said that he played the role of an ordinary boy by "remembering my junior high school days and comparing them with my own. When asked if it was difficult for him to express something so close to his everyday life, he replied, "I try to be careful with small differences such as my breathing, and I try to act as I normally would rather than acting.

Since the characters are in junior high school, the conversation then turned to the junior high school days of the speakers. Mr. Obara said, "There were times when I was surprised to see people going home together in unexpected combinations and wondered if they were dating. However, Chiba, Tamaru, and the other male participants were somewhat sad, saying that there was nothing noteworthy about their junior high school days. Mr. Murakawa insisted that he had no concept of age, and the audience laughed at this exchange.

The theme songs were also introduced on stage. A video message from Nao Higashiyama, who sings the opening and ending themes, was shown to introduce the songs, and she spoke passionately about the songs and her thoughts on the work. Ms. Higashiyama also plays the role of Ryoko Sonoda, a teacher in the film.

Toward the end of the event, each of the speakers expressed their enthusiasm for the film, and Director Kishi revealed that the film is set in Kawagoe City, Saitama Prefecture, also known as Koedo. The film depicts the real life of junior high school students in this historic city, and tells a story of love and adolescence. The special event came to a close with high expectations for the film.

(Reporting and writing by Tomomi Seto at TRAP)