Adding a new animated feature film to their library, North American anime publisher Sentai has this week confirmed they hold the rights to Happy-Go-Lucky Days. A compilation of vignettes based on the original works of Takako Shimura (Best known for Wandering Son), this sets out to be “a frank exploration of love, yearning and hidden desire”.
Happy-Go-Lucky Days follows three unique stories of young people in Japan from very different backgrounds but who all must grapple with changes, in mind, body and soul, on their bittersweet journey from adolescence. From a forbidden crush, to the wedding of a former lover, to the burgeoning feelings for a childhood friend, each scenario may differ, but they have one thing in common: These are universally frank stories of humanity that will touch the hearts of audiences everywhere.
Produced by LIDENFILMS (Love and Lies, The Heroic Legend of Arsland), Happy-Go-Lucky Days is directed by Takuya Sato (Kase-san and Morning Glories, Strawberry Marshmallow), who also penned the film’s screenplay alongside Yasunori Ide (We Never Learn: BOKUBEN) and Yoriko Tomita (Real Girl, Blood Blockade Battlefront & Beyond).
The voice cast includes Kana Hanazawa (The Garden of Words, Senryu Girl) as Ecchan, Mikako Komatsu (Blue Spring Ride, My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU) as Aya-san, Takahiro Sakurai (Hatsukoi Limited, The Fruit of Grisaia) as Mr. Sawa, Seiichiro Yamashita (Girls Beyond the Wasteland, Orange) as Yagasaki-kun, Ibuki Kido (RE-KAN!, Blade Dance of the Elementalers) as Shin-chan, Kaori Ishihara (Waiting in the Summer, Kokoro Connect) as Mika-chan, Ai Fairouzi (Kandagawa Jet Girls, Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon) as Sayoko, Saori Hayami (Glasslip, anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day) as Yuri, Mutsumi Tamura (Tada Never Falls in Love, MADE IN ABYSS) as Yoriko-san and Nobunaga Shimazaki (My Love Story!!, Parasyte -the maxim-) as Tanabe-kun.
Sentai has received rights to Happy-Go-Lucky Days in multiple regions including North America, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, South Africa, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Netherlands, Greenland, Faroe and Aland Islands, Scandinavia, Spain, Portugal, Central America and South America. It will launch first on the anime streaming platform HIDIVE from 10 December 2020, with a home video release to follow at an unspecified date.
