Tetsuko Kuroyanagi‘s autobiographical memoir Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window will receive an anime film adaptation. The anime film is scheduled for release in Japan sometime later in 2023. 

The main production staff for Totto-Chan includes Shinnosuke Yakuwa (Eiga Doraemon: Nobita no Getsumen Tansaki) as director and co-screenwriter, Yousuke Suzuki (Komi Can’t Communicate planning assistant) as co-screenwriter, and Shizue Kaneko (How Not to Summon a Demon Lord Omega) as character designer. Shin-Ei Animation will be handling the film’s animation production. 

Kuroyanagi originally published Totto-chan as a series of articles in Kodansha’s Young Woman magazine from February 1979 through December 1980. The articles were then collected into a book, which sold more than five million copies before the end of 1982. 

An English edition of Kuroyanagi’s memoir was translated by Dorothy Britton and published in America in 1984. The book has also been translated and released in many different languages around the world. 

In recognition of the success of her book and charitable works, Kuroyanagi was appointed a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 1984, becoming the first Asian to hold this position. In 1999, Kuroyanagi released another book titled Totto-Chan’s Children: A Goodwill Journey to the Children of the World, which documents her international travels and humanitarian mission. 

Kodansha USA releases the Kuroyanagi’s memoir in English and describes the book as:

This engaging series of childhood recollections tells about an ideal school in Tokyo during World War II that combined learning with fun, freedom, and love. This unusual school had old railroad cars for classrooms, and it was run by an extraordinary man-its founder and headmaster, Sosaku Kobayashi–who was a firm believer in freedom of expression and activity.

In real life, the Totto-chan of the book has become one of Japan’s most popular television personalities — Tetsuko Kuroyanagi. She attributes her success in life to this wonderful school and its headmaster.

The charm of this account has won the hearts of millions of people of all ages and made this book a runaway bestseller in Japan, with sales hitting the 4.5 million mark in its first year.

More updates on the Totto-chan anime film will be posted on the production team’s Twitter account later on. 

Source: Comic Natalie