Kodansha announced on Wednesday an anime movie of the historical shoujo manga Haikara-san ga Tooru. Waki Yamato, who is celebrating 50 years since her mangaka debut this year, drew the series between 1975 and 1977 in Kodansha's Shoujo Friend magazine.

An official website has opened with the first teaser visual for the movie, which is scheduled to open in theaters in Japan in 2017. The visual features the heroine Benio Hanamura, whose upbringing in a military family has turned her into a tomboy, taking up kendo and other activities which contradict the traditional notion of Japanese femininity. The original series is set in the Taisho era of Japanese history and includes events such as the Siberian Intervention and the Great Kanto Earthquake.

Haikara-san ga Tooru was originally compiled into eight manga volumes, and Kodansha has also released a four-volume bunko edition. The series is a winner of the first Kodansha Manga Award in the shoujo category, alongside Yumiko Igarashi's Candy Candy.

A television anime series by Nippon Animation was originally scheduled for a yearlong broadcast from 1978 to 1979, but the series ended prematurely at 42 episodes. A nationwide survey conducted by TV Asahi in 2005 ranks Haikara-san ga Tooru 95th in a list of top 100 anime series of all time. Live-action television drama adaptations aired in 1979 on Kansai TV, in 1985 on Fuji TV, and in 2002 on TBS. A live-action film was also released by Toei in 1987.

Official site: http://www.haikarasan.net/
Official Twitter: @haikara_anime

Source: Anime! Anime!

Haikara-san ga Tooru Movie on MAL