Koizora (恋空 lit. Sky of Love) is a Japanese romance film and a drama series based on a "mobile phone novel" (ケータイ小説 keitai shosetsu) written by a young woman named Mika (美嘉). The author has noted that Koizora is completely non-fiction, but has recently admitted that it was a made-up story.[citation needed]
Overview
The cell phone short story Koizora: Setsunai Koi Monogatari (恋空～切ナイ恋物語) was written by Mika, with 25 million readers by the end of the serialization. It was later published as a novel which sold approximately 2 million copies. The film adaptation was released in November 2007, with a gross revenue of 3.9 billion yen, with 3.14 million people attending the theater.[2] The DVD was released on April 25, 2008.
The short story was also adapted into a TV drama series, which aired from August 2 until September 2008, with a total of six episodes. From March until June 2008, auditions were held to choose the actor and actress for the two starring roles.[2] Erena Mizusawa was chosen to play Mika, and Koji Seto as Hiro; there were a total of more than a thousand applicants.[3] TBS broadcast the serial drama in prime-time, and the first audience rating was 5.6%.The story has recently been adapted into a manga series.
The short story was also adapted into a TV drama series, which aired from August 2 until September 2008, with a total of six episodes. From March until June 2008, auditions were held to choose the actor and actress for the two starring roles.[2] Erena Mizusawa was chosen to play Mika, and Koji Seto as Hiro; there were a total of more than a thousand applicants.[3] TBS broadcast the serial drama in prime-time, and the first audience rating was 5.6%.The story has recently been adapted into a manga series.
Plot
Although some aspects of the plot differ between the film and the drama, the main story line is the same. Koizora tells the story of Mika, living a simple schoolgirl's life and the dramatic transformation that it undergoes when she meets Hiro, a student also at her school who is keen to call her his own. Throughout both adaptations, the unlikely couple struggles to deal with jealous vendetta's from Hiro's ex-girlfriend, Saki, disapproving parents and an unplanned pregnancy. Shortly afterwards, Hiro discovers that his health is deteriorating and makes the painful decision to break up with Mika to keep his terminal illness from causing her pain. As Mika goes on with her life Hiro continues to follow her whereabouts through his highschool friend, Nozumu. Enough times passes that Mika decides to find the courage to move on and to forget Hiro with the help of Yuu, her pleading love interest. Through a chance meeting, Hiro's condition is revealed to Mika and she must make a difficult decision to leave Yuu to go to his bedside. Having Mika back, Hiro is determined to fight his disease and begins to improve. But during a routine checkup, Hiro's condition makes a turn for the worst and he exchanges goodbyes with Mika and his family for the last time. Mika, though forever changed by Hiro's sudden passing, continues to live on in remembrance of his love.
Synopsis
Tahara Mika is an ordinary high school girl. One day, out of the blue, one of her classmates kisses her. His name is Sakurai Hiroki also known as Hiro. Hiro stands out because of his bleached hair and piercing. Apparently he is also dating someone. Mika is shocked and hurt that her first kiss had to happen this way. She desperately tries to forget about it. Then, her friend tells her that she should find somebody else and suggests Tatsuya, another boy in their class. However, before she even realizes it, Mika is already in love... --TBS
Title: 恋空
Title (romaji): Koizora
Format: Renzoku
Genre: Romance drama
Episodes: 6
Viewership rating: 6.4 (Kanto)
Broadcast network: TBS
Broadcast period: 2008-Aug-02 to 2008-Sep-13
Air time: Saturday 20:00
Theme song: Ai no Uta by Fukui Mai
