It has been announced that the TV anime "Kowloon Generic Romance", based on the latest work by Mayuzuki Jun, known for the popular manga "Love is Like After the Rain", will begin airing on TV Tokyo and other networks from April 5th. A key visual has been released, featuring the main characters, including Kowloon Walled City Reiko and Kudo Hatsu, gathered together. The visual is accompanied by the copy "Love will unravel the secret...". The second promotional video has also been released on YouTube, depicting Reiko, who is aware of her feelings for Kudo, but is shaken by the existence of another version of herself, and the daily lives of Reiko and Kudo.
The second PV also features Yuuron, a researcher who is working with Hebinuma to uncover the mysteries of Kowloon, and it was revealed that Kengo Kawanishi will play Yuuron. Information on the theme songs was also announced, with the music unit Wednesday Campanella performing the opening theme "Summertime Ghost" and singer-songwriter mekakushe performing the ending theme "Retronym of Love."
Kawanishi, who plays Yulong, said, "I had never read the original work before I was approached about the role, so I read it later. It's very mysterious and people's intentions intersect, so it's never boring to watch. I wanted to predict what would happen next, but I was worried that knowing too much would affect my acting...it was frustrating. Yulong, who I will be playing, is a character with a Kansai accent and a lovable personality, but he also has a mysterious aura about him, so I hope you will enjoy it. I will do my best to make it enjoyable for both fans of the original work and those who are new to the anime, so I hope you will look forward to it."
Wednesday Campanella commented, "We are very happy to be in charge of the theme song for "Kowloon Generic Romance". We were captivated by the detailed character descriptions and nostalgic city backdrops in the original work, and as we read the manga we had a mixture of emotions, wondering, 'I wonder how the story will go next!' The song "Summertime Ghost" was produced during the hot summer days, and we wrote the lyrics while seeking coolness in the form of the iced coffee and electric fans that appear in the work. We hope that it will become a song that is loved by fans just like the original work and anime. We appreciate your support."
Mekakushe said, "I wrote this song hoping to incorporate the Hong Kong-style worldview of the work into the sound and capture the moment when love begins to move. Every day, my feelings for you are born and grow, and I want to give them new names over and over again. I hope you will enjoy the feelings I put into 'Retronym of Love' along with the work."
The series is a mystery love romance that has been serialized in Weekly Young Jump (Shueisha) since November 2019. Kujirai Reiko, who works at a real estate agency in the nostalgic city of Kowloon, has a slight crush on her senior at work, Kudo Hatsu. When she happens to find a photo, she learns that Kudo once had a fiance who looks just like her... As the past, present, and future intertwine, with lost memories, the true identity of another self, and a huge secret hidden in the city of Kowloon, love will unravel the secrets. The series has sold over 1.2 million copies in total.
The anime will feature Haruka Shiraishi as Reiko Kujirai and Tomokazu Sugita as Hatsu Kudo. It is also being talked about as being adapted into a live-action movie in the summer of 2025, starring Riho Yoshioka and Koji Mizukami.
◇Staff (titles omitted)
Director: Iwasaki Yoshiaki▽Series composition and script: Tanaka Jin▽Character design: Shibata Yuka▽Chief animation director: Takemoto Yoshiko, Nakatani Yukiko▽Art director: Kaneko Yuji▽Art design: Hirasawa Akihiro▽Prop design: Iwanaga Yoshiyoshi▽Color design: Matsuyama Aiko▽Director of photography: Imaizumi Hideki▽Editing: Yoshitake Masato▽Sound director: Aketagawa Jin▽Music: Takataka Ryohei (Hifumi, inc.)▽Animation production: Arbo Animation
◇Cast (titles omitted)
Reiko Kujirai: Haruka Shiraishi: ▽Hatsu Kudo: Tomokazu Sugita ▽Miyuki Hebinuma: Ryotaro Okiayu ▽Thao Nguyen: Taito Ban ▽Yang Ming: Aoi Koga ▽Oguro: Sayumi Suzushiro ▽Yuuron: Kengo Kawanishi
