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Chūgaku Sei Nikki Live-Action Series Posts Prequel 'Spinoff Movie'

The official website for the live-action series adaptation of Junko Kawakami's Chūgaku Sei Nikki manga began streaming a short "spinoff movie" for the series on Tuesday. The short, seen below, centers on Akira Kuroiwa (Kenshi Okada) and his group of friends in middle school before Akira meets Hijiri in the main story.

Award-winning 20-year-old director Kana Matsumoto directed the short. The short also features the series' theme song "Prologue" by Uru. The cast includes Kenshi Okada as Akira Kuroiwa, Rina Ono as Runa Iwasaki, Jiei Wakabayashi as Junichirō Kokonoe, and Marin Nishimoto as Atsuki Shiraishi.

The previously announced cast members are as follows (Note: Character name romanizations are not official.):

Top row, left to right, in image above

• Yui Natsukawa as AIKO Kuroiwa, Akira's mother, who takes care of him as a single mother
• Kasumi Arimura as Hijiri Suenaga, the protagonist
• Keita Machida as Shōtarō Kawai, an elite businessman, and Hijiri's fiance
• Yō Yoshida as Ritsu Haraguchi, Shōtarō's senior at work, and who later develops feelings for him

Bottom row, left to right, in image above

• Makita Sports as Tsutomu Kamiho, an original character, a subordinate of AIKO at her import business
• Mari Natsuki as Michio Shiotani, the vice principal at Hijiri's school
• Tomochika as Chizuru Niwa, an original character, and Hijiri's confidant

Kenshi Okada (seen below) plays the male lead character Akira Kuroiwa, a student who is in love with Hijiri, his homeroom teacher. He is a mysterious but pure boy who acts on his feelings despite knowing that Hijiri is engaged. The role is Okada's debut role.

Rina Ono (seen below) plays Runa Iwasaki, a student of Hijiri, and an old friend of Akira. She has a wholehearted crush on Akira and sees Hijiri as an enemy.

Ayuko Tsukahara, Kentarō Takemura, and Toshio Tsuboi are directing the series. Arisa Kaneko is penning the script. The series will premiere on TBS on October 9 at 10:00 p.m.

The manga is a love story between Akira Kuroiwa, a 14-year-old boy who knows nothing of love, and Hijiri Suenaga, his new 25-year-old homeroom teacher. One fated summer, Akira begins to realize he has feelings for Hijiri, but Hijiri has a long distance fiance. The story follows the pair over the course of several years.

Kawakami (It's your world, Galaxy Girl, Panda Boy) launched the manga in June 2013, although the first volume did not ship until July 2016. The fourth volume shipped on July 19. The manga won the seventh anan Manga Awards in 2016.

Source: Chūgaku Hijiri Nikki series' official website, Comic Natalie