Maeda Atsuko of AKB48 is due to star in a new movie titled [Moshidora] (もしドラ), short for [Moshi Koukou Yakyuno Joshi Manager ga Drucker no 'Management' wo Yondara] and otherwise known in Japanese as [もし高校野球の女子マネージャーがドラッカーの『マネジメント』を読んだら]. Long ass name indeed. A translation of the title to English would be [What if the female manager of a highschool baseball team reads Drucker's "Management"]. She will also be joined by fellow AKB48 member Minegeshi Minami. Seto Koji, Ikematsu Sosuke, Kawaguchi Haruna, and Oizumi Yo, will also be taking part in this movie. AKB48's producer Yasushi Akimoto is serving as general producer for the film. Theatrical release is scheduled for June 2011.
This is a story that revolves around a female character named Kawashima Minami, played by Maeda, who becomes a Highschool baseball team manager. Wanting to improve her management skills, she mistakenly buys the book "Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices” by the late management expert Peter Drucker and uses it to reform the baseball team with the goal of reaching Koshien.
The movie is based on the novel of the same name. It's author, Iwasaki Natsumi, happened to be a producer of AKB48 and used to be an assistant to Akimoto Yasushi. The book is a very famous novel inspiring many and is currently the best selling bestseller in the ORICON book sales ranking. Although it started quietly in December 2008, word-of-mouth quickly raised it's popularity and it reached the #1 in June 2010 and currently has sales of above 1.8 million copies, surpassing "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows". Apart from getting a movie, this novel is getting both a run in the form of a manga adaptation and an anime in March 2011.
The firm's original lead character was supposed to be played by Minegeshi, however she was replaced by Maeda and given another role as a kouhai to Kawashima. Maeda was given the role due to her popularity and also since she has more acting experience, just fresh from filming for the drama Q10 which she starred at. She also has Majisuka Gakuen and Ryomaden under her belt.
The movie Moshidora looks to be an interesting movie to watch out for. Maeda Atsuko seems to be pushed into quite a few acting jobs these days and hope she does well and takes care of herself.
I think it is sad that miichan is missing out on a big staring role, but i uderstand that the makers of the film would want to have a lead with a more reliable and bigger fan base.
ReplyDeleteBut it still makes me a little irratated though. i love aachan so i guess it isn't so bad.....