It has been announced that the novel "Daisy's Life (Hinagiku no Jinsei)" (Gentosha), written by Banana Yoshimoto and illustrated by Yoshitomo Nara, will be adapted into an animated feature film and released in 2026. This is the first time that Yoshimoto's novel has been adapted into an anime. The film will be directed by Masaaki Yuasa, known for his Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! Oh. This will be the first film produced by ame pippin, the animation production studio that Director Yuasa founded in February this year, and will be co-produced with French studio Miyu Productions. The film has been selected for the Work in Progress category at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival 2025.
"Daisy's Life" is a collaborative work in which Nara drew images that were evoked by reading Yoshimoto's novel, and Yoshimoto then wrote the story while imagining the power of those images.The work was serialized in the monthly magazine "CUT" (Rockin' On) from the November 1998 issue to the January 2001 issue.
This story depicts the life of Hinagiku, who lost her mother, her only family, in an accident when she was young. The only person who supported Hinagiku was her best friend Dahlia, but more than ten years later, Hinagiku, now an adult, lives with her aunt and uncle, making yakisoba noodles at a restaurant run by her. One day during the rainy season, in the pouring rain just like the night she lost her mother, a letter arrives from Brazil. The letter describes the mysterious connection between two lonely souls who were far apart and would never meet again... This is the story.
The anime will be written by Sachiko Tanaka, who has worked on films such as "The Walking Invader" and "Asleep or Awake". This is Tanaka's first time writing an anime script. The childhood characters that appear in the anime will be created based on Nara's original illustrations.
Yoshimoto commented, "It was my dream to be filmed by Director Yuasa, who always makes me feel like I'm looking at the same thing! Director Yuasa is someone who can truly express 'movement.' I'm happy to have been able to see the moments when the inner thoughts of each of the characters became movement."
Tanaka, who is writing the script, said, "Director Yuasa and Banana's original work, and Nara's characters! I am very honored to be involved in this project. I tried my best to embrace the director's overflowing imagination, and to capture the kindness, sensitivity, and strength of human beings, the protagonist's emotional movements...there are so many things I wanted to keep in mind."
Director Yuasa said, "Banana's novel evokes images from beginning to end. There are some vivid and scary parts, but the final passage was very pleasing, like something I had dreamed of in the past. I wanted to portray the life of a local yakisoba restaurant owner within a 100-meter radius on a cosmic scale."
