Hana-Kimi Receives Anime Adaptation

The hugely popular shoujo series Hana-Kimi has announced it will be adapted into an anime.

This is the first time Hana-Kimi will get an anime adaptation. The series has been adapted into numerous live-action series including a a Chinese series, two Japanese series, and one Korean series. Information regarding the staff, studio, and release date have not yet been revealed. Crunchyroll will stream the anime when it premieres.

As translated by Crunchyroll, the editorial department for the manga series wrote a congratulatory message:

Hana-Kimi is becoming an anime!

This is a project that’s been discussed for a while with Hisaya Nakajo-sensei as we moved things forward. Nakajo-sensei had been watching over the rough drafts of the characters and the scenario, and she was looking forward to seeing the world of “Hana-Kimi” presented in a different way than the manga.

It’s very unfortunate that we weren’t able to see the completed product along with Sensei, but because of the passionate support of the readers, “Hana-Kimi” is coming back again in the form of an anime right around the 20th anniversary of when the manga ended, and we are truly grateful for that fact.

Hana to Yume editorial department and the production staff have been working together so that we can live up to the expectations of Nakajo-sensei and the readers, so please look forward to the broadcast!

Created by Hisaya Nakajo, Hana-Kimi launched in the shōjo manga magazine Hana to Yume in September 1996 and ran until August 2004. The story follows Mizuki Ashiya who wants to instill hope in a high jumper named Izumi Sano, whose career she has followed for years, after she hears that he wants to quit the sport. Unfortunately, Izumi is all the way in Japan and attending an all-boys school. Therefore, Mizuki decides to chop off all her hair and disguises herself as a boy in the hopes that Izumi won’t give up on his dream.

Since then, the series has received a tremendous amount of love and notoriety and received numerous live-action adaptations beginning in 2006. S.H.E.’s Ella Chen, Fahrenheit’s Wu Chun and Jiro Wang starred in the Chinese television series. The series then was adapted into a Japanese television series in 2007 and 2011 with Maki Horikita, Shun Oguri, and Toma Ikuta as the trio in 2007 and AKB48’s Atsuko Mada, Aoi Nakamura, and Shohei Miura in the 2011 series. Hana-Kimi received yet another live-action adaptation in 2012, this time in Korean, starring f(x)’s Sulli, SHINee’s Choi Minho, and Lee Hyunwoo.

Nakajo sadly passed away on Oct. 12, 2023 at 50 years old due to a heart condition.

Source: X, formerly known as Twitter, and Crunchyroll