AKB48 in HanaKimi

Previously announced on the blog, AKB48's face Maeda Atsuko will be taking the lead role in the remake of the hit drama HanaKimi. The full title of the new drama is [Hanazakari no Kimitachi e〜 Ikemen☆ Paradise〜] (花ざかりの君たちへ〜イケメン☆パラダイス〜), changing the male symbol ♂ into a star to differentiate the two.

Official HanaKimi website: http://www.fujitv.co.jp/hanakimi/index.html

Acchan will be playing Ashiya Mizuki, a girl raised in Calfornia who returns to Japan because the guy she idolises, Sano Izumi, got hurt in an accident. Sano was a top high jumper but because of the accident, he quit high jumping. As Ashiya wants him to return to the sport she disguises herself as a boy, with short hair, flattened chest and lowered voice, and joins his all-male boarding school to convince him to fly again.

Kashiwagi Yuki will also be joining the drama as Juri Kishinosato, Ashiya's love rival for Sano. Juri is a student in St. Blossom Academy, a prestigious female high school. Juri is one of the girls of Hibari 4.

But that's not the end yet, Ichikawa Miori, Oba Mina and Nagao Mariya are also added into the cast as Komari Imaike, Kanna Amagasaki and Erica Abeno respectively, also part of St. Blossom's High School's Hibari 4 group.

There's still more! The main theme song for HanaKimi will be AKB48's 22nd Single Flying Get. With so much AKB48 in the show, it's starting to look like an AKB drama starring others already! Oh and about Flying Get, I think I've deciphered the meaning of it. Sano's sport is high jump right? Throughout the course of the show he gets over his fear of jumping and succeeds. The word for "jump" in Japanese is "tobi" (飛び), which also means "flying". Now it all makes sense.

HanaKimi will air weekly every Sunday starting 10 July, on Fuji TV. It will be on the golden timeslot of 9:00PM.

Personally, Acchan seems like a weird choice for the lead role of Ashiya as she doesn't seem like the type. But who can say for sure? Acchan is a mysterious girl. Yukirin is a good choice though to play the girls of Hibari 4, but I can't say about Miorin, Minarun or Mariyagi as I haven't seen either of the 3 act before.