NHK revealed on Friday more cast members for Anpan, the newest entry in its six-decade-long Renzoku Terebi Shōsetsu (Serialized TV Novel, also known as “Asadora” or Morning Drama) franchise. The new live-action weekday morning series is inspired by the life story of Anpanman manga creator Takashi Yanase and his wife Nobuo Komatsu.
Nanako Matsushima will play Takashi’s mother, Tomoko Yanai.
Kazunari Ninomiya will play Takashi’s father, Kiyoshi Yanai.
Motoki Nakazawa will play Takashi’s brother, Chihiro Yanai.
Himari Hitomi will play the Yanai family’s maid, Shin Uto.
Naho Toda will play Takashi’s aunt, Chiyoko Yanai.
Yutaka Takenouchi will play Takashi’s uncle, Hiroshi Yanai.
The series will star Takumi Kitamura as Takashi Yanai and Mio Imada as Nobu Asada.
The series will follow the childhood of Takashi and Nobu, and follow them through the creation of Anpanman.
Miho Nakazono will be the scriptwriter for the series, and Ken Kurasaki is the chief producer. The series will premiere in spring 2025.
Froebel-kan Co., Ltd. previously produced a television biographical anime special about Yanase in February 2019 titled Yūki no Hana ga Hiraku Toki: Yanase Takashi to Anpanman no Monogatari (When the Flower of Courage Blooms – The Story of Takashi Yanase and Anpanman), based on Kumiko Kakehashi’s novel of the same name.
Yanase was best known for his Soreike! Anpanman manga, which inspired a television anime that has been ongoing since 1988. The manga has also inspired 35 anime films to date. Soreike! Anpanman: Baikinman to Ehon no Lulun, the 35th film, opened in Japan on June 28. The character is well-known not only in Japan, but also overseas. Yanase died on October 13, 2013.
The Renzoku TV Shōsetsu franchise previously aired the Natsuzora story about the early Japanese animation industry from April to September 2019 for 156 episodes. The series is loosely based on the life of animator Reiko Okuyama. Each series in the franchise usually run for 15 minutes every weekday morning for half a year, for a total runtime of over 30 hours.
Sources: NHK, Eiga Natalie
