A new theatrical anime adaptation of Japanese media personality Tetsuko Kuroyanagi’s autobiography Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window will hit the big screen in Japan after decades of attempts to produce either an animated or live-action adaptation.

The autobiography was first published in Japan in 1981, sourced from a series of magazine articles written by Kuroyanagi years earlier about her experiences and struggles in attending school as a child during World War II-era Japan. The book was ostensibly published during a time when media coverage of Japanese children refusing to attend school was at an all-time high and Kuroyanagi felt the book would convince students to stay in school.

The book saw its first English edition published in 1984 through the former Kodansha International publishing imprint, best known for publishing bilingual editions of popular Japanese novels and manga.

The theatrical anime adaptation features Shinnosuke Yakuwa, best known for directing many Doraemon theatrical film adaptations, directing and writing the screenplay alongside Yosuke Suzuki, also known for writing the screenplays to many children’s anime film adaptations. Shizue Kaneko, best known for the character designs in multiple Pokémon movies, will contribute character designs for the film while Shin-Ei Douga will handle animation production.

The film is currently in production and is slated for a Winter 2023 release in Japanese theaters.

Source: Comic Natalie