Happy-Go-Lucky Days (どうにかなる日々, Dōnika Naru Hibi) is a Japanese manga series by Takako Shimura. It was serialized in Ohta Publishing's manga magazine Manga Erotics F from 2002 to 2004 and was collected in two large-sized tankōbon volumes. The manga is a collection of short episodes that depict slightly eccentric love stories and mundane daily life in a matter-of-fact manner with a unique tempo and delicate psychological descriptions. Most of the episodes in the collection have direct sexual depictions, although they are drawn in a light-hearted way. The manga's title comes from the book Herahera Botchan by Kō Machida.
| Happy-Go-Lucky Days | |
 Cover of Happy-Go-Lucky Days volume 1 by Ohta Publishing | |
| どうにかなる日々 (Dōnika Naru Hibi) | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Romance[1] |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Takako Shimura |
| Published by | Ohta Publishing |
| Magazine | Manga Erotics F |
| Original run | 2002 – 2004 |
| Volumes | 2 |
| Anime film | |
| Directed by | Takuya Satō |
| Produced by | Yūsuke Terada Rie Miyai Takefumi Kanari Masahito Nakatomi Keisuke Satō |
| Written by | Takuya Satō Yoriko Tomita Yasunori Ide |
| Music by | CreepHyp |
| Studio | Liden Films Kyoto Studio |
| Licensed by | Sentai Filmworks |
| Released | October 23, 2020 |
| Runtime | 54 minutes |
An anime film adaptation produced by Liden Films Kyoto Studio and directed by Takuya Satō premiered on October 23, 2020.
Characters
edit- Ecchan (えっちゃん)
- Voiced by: Kana Hanazawa[2]
- Aya (あやさん, Aya-san)
- Voiced by: Mikako Komatsu[2]
- Mr. Sawa (澤先生, Sawa-sensei)
- Voiced by: Takahiro Sakurai[2]
- Yagasaki (矢ヶ崎くん, Yagasaki-kun)
- Voiced by: Seiichirō Yamashita[2]
- Shin (しんちゃん, Shin-chan)
- Voiced by: Ibuki Kido[2]
- Mika (みかちゃん, Mika-chan)
- Voiced by: Kaori Ishihara[2]
- Sayoko (小夜子)
- Voiced by: Fairouz Ai[2]
- Yuri (百合)
- Voiced by: Saori Hayami[3]
- Tanabe (田辺くん, Tanabe-kun)
- Voiced by: Nobunaga Shimazaki[3]
- Yoriko (ヨリコさん, Yoriko-san)
- Voiced by: Mutsumi Tamura[3]
- Shin's father (しんちゃん父, Shin-chan Chichi)
- Voiced by: Kōhei Amasaki[3]
- Shin's mother (しんちゃん母, Shin-chan Haha)
- Voiced by: Ryoko Shiraishi[3]
Media
editAnime
editAn anime film adaptation was announced on November 20, 2019. The film is animated by Liden Films Kyoto Studio, distributed by Pony Canyon and directed by Takuya Satō, with Satō, Yasunori Ide, and Yoriko Tomita writing the scripts and Haruka Sagawa designing the characters.[1] It was originally scheduled to premiere on May 8, 2020,[2] but has been delayed to October 23, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[4][5] Asian Pop-up Cinema Festival streamed the film from September 15 to September 19, 2020.[6] It has also been licensed by Sentai Filmworks.[7]
Production
editAlthough it has been almost 20 years since the manga's serialization, producer Yūsuke Terada thought that the "flat perspective on human relationships and love" of Shimura's work would be unique to today's age and planned the anime adaptation. In selecting the episodes, since the maximum length of the movie was decided in advance, the concept was set to "a story that reminds us of someone who is no longer around us, but who was once close to us." The four episodes that fit this concept were "Ecchan and Aya", "Mr. Sawa and Yagasaki", "Shin and Sayoko", and "Mika and Shin".[8] In selecting the episodes, Shimura, the author of the original story, was consulted, but she had no objections because she liked the chosen episodes.[9]
The main cast was chosen through a large audition, but Takahiro Sakurai and Seiichirō Yamashita were recommended by the director, Satō, who also served as sound director for the film. He demanded restrained acting and instructed the actors not to sigh.[8] Mikako Komatsu, who played the role of Aya, said, "I was conscious of speaking clearly, but also of acting with realistic tension."[10] Shimura also witnessed some of the recording process.[11]
The theme song and the musical accompaniment was provided by the rock band CreepHyp. Initially, CreepHyp was only offered to compose background music for the film, but after reading the manga, Sekaikan Ozaki asked Terada if he could write a theme song as well. Shimura also knew CreepHyp from before and liked some of their songs.[8] In addition, the theme song Monomane written for this film is a sequel to CreepHyp's previous song Boys END Girls.[12] In creating the musical accompaniment, Ozaki did not decide on a scene and then write a song, but rather "just picked up a guitar and wrote songs that sounded like Happy-Go-Lucky Days, and then adjusted the scale of the finished songs to fit the necessary scenes." Terada said that this was a completely different way of creating the musical accompaniment to If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budokan, I Would Die, for which he had been the music producer prior to Happy-Go-Lucky Days.[8]
References
edit- ^ a b "Takako Shimura's Happy-Go-Lucky Days Romance Manga Gets Anime Film Early Next Summer". Anime News Network. November 20, 2019. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Happy-Go-Lucky Days Anime Film Unveils Cast, May 8 Opening". Anime News Network. February 14, 2020. Retrieved February 14, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e "Happy-Go-Lucky Days Anime Film's New Trailer Reveals More Cast, Theme Song". Anime News Network. March 16, 2020. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
- ^ "Happy-Go-Lucky Days Anime Film Delayed". Anime News Network. April 9, 2020. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
- ^ "Happy-Go-Lucky Days Anime Film Opens on October 23 After COVID-19 Delay". Anime News Network. August 18, 2020. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
- ^ "Asian Pop-up Cinema Festival Premieres Happy-Go-Lucky Days Anime Film Online in September". 25 October 2023.
- ^ "The Happy-Go-Lucky Days Movie Arrives on HIDIVE!". HIDIVE. December 3, 2020. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
- ^ a b c d "「どうにかなる日々」プロデューサーインタビュー きゃにめ". Retrieved 2020-12-11.
- ^ "甘くてちょっぴり痛い恋愛群像劇「どうにかなる日々」が劇場アニメ化！ 原作者・志村貴子インタビュー フジテレビュー!!編集部". 15 October 2020. Retrieved 2020-12-11.
- ^ どうにかなる日々：小松未可子、石原夏織が目指した“リアル” 普通に会話しているように. MANTANWEB. 18 October 2020. Retrieved 2020-12-11.
- ^ "「どうにかなる日々」恥ずかしさも楽しむ群像劇 Rooftop". Archived from the original on 2021-02-25. Retrieved 2020-12-11.
- ^ 映画『どうにかなる日々』主題歌！“モノマネ”をテーマに描いたロックナンバー！. Uta-Net. Retrieved 2020-12-11.
External links
edit- Official anime website (in Japanese)
- Happy-Go-Lucky Days on Twitter
- Happy-Go-Lucky Days (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia