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Nihonjin no Shiranai Nihongo Essay Manga Gets TV Show (Updated)
posted on by Egan Loo
20-year-old actress Riisa Naka (The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Kami no Shizuku, Yankee-kun to Megane-chan) will play her first lead character in a live-action Japanese television series when Nihonjin no Shiranai Nihongo premieres on July 15. The NTV network series adapts Hebi-Zou and Nagiko Umino's essay manga of the same name. The manga's "human culture comedy" centers around a new teacher named Haruko at a Japanese language school with many foreign students. The television series will begin filming in late June.
The many colorful students at the school will be played by foreign actors chosen through auditions. The manga's characters include Louis, a French otaku of anime, manga, and games. Louis is later joined by Steve, an American otaku.
The original manga's two book volumes has sold 1.25 million copies in Japan.
Sources: Sports Hochi, Oricon
Update: The main character is named Nagiko (after the author) in the manga, but she is named Haruko in the television series. Thanks, hyojodoji.
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