When it was announced this summer that Ai Yazawa’s popular fashion manga Paradise Kiss was going to be made into a live action movie adaptation, I was psyched! I’ve read all of Ai Yazawa’s work, and Paradise Kiss is one of the classics that I’ve always loved, along with NANA, Tenshi nanka ja nai, and Gokinjo Monogatari.
There’s always a part of me that worries that live action adaptations of manga and books won’t do the original piece justice, but I was immediately won over when I heard that Kitagawa Keiko and Mukai Osamu were going to be playing the leads. Kitagawa Keiko is one of my favorite actresses, and I think she fits the image of the main character Yukari pretty well. And Mukai Osamu is my latest obsession… seeing that sweet smile of his makes me swoon every time! He’s really come into his own the past couple of years, even though he really hasn’t been in the business very long.
The first teaser for the movie was released yesterday! It’s only 45 seconds long and doesn’t really show a whole lot, but I’m already excited. The movie doesn’t come out in theaters until May 2011 in Japan, and I’ll likely not be able to see it until even later, when it’s available on DVD. Hopefully they’ll keep us on our toes with more trailers and sneak peeks in the coming months!