Casting is complete and filming underway for the upcoming Japanese movie adaptation of popular shoujo manga Itazura na Kiss. The movie is called Itazura na Kiss The Movie ~Haisukuru hen~ (Mischievous Kiss The Movie: High School version) and stars two newbies in the lead roles of cold smart male lead Irie Naoki and bumbling one-track minded Aihara Kotoko. Hitting all the requirements of young, tall, and handsome, 19 year old young actor Sato Kanto will need to give his own interpretation of Naoki, while pretty 21 year old Visa Reina will have to do her best to convince us of her dim and kindhearted personality. I’ve liked all the ItaKiss iterations to varying degrees, and firmly believe which version works the best is judged on a personal connection level. The last version was out of Japan in the 2013 J-dorama Itazura na Kiss: Love in Tokyo, which was quite popular among the younger crowd but never connected with me. But it’s revival of this story in Japan does make it good timing for the movie version coming out in 2016. Continue reading →