Tenipuri OVA and real-life movie

Well, this was the headlines on the cover of Vol 30 which I bought today. Although I'm terribly excited at the OVA which means the return of my favourite seiyuus and getting to see the characters again, I can't say the same for the real-life movie. According to Konomi-sensei, the OVA should be on the Nationals arc so we might get to see the new opponents instead of the existing rival schools. Besides, an OVA does not allow too much content so some of the matches might be summarised while others get more attention. Of course, being the lead character, Echizen is probably going to take up most of the airtime but I still hope for very interesting line-ups against the various opponents. I guess the decision to make the OVA was due to fans' requests as many of us would want to see the Nationals arc being made into the anime format so that's why this was confirmed in just 6 months after the anime series finished in March. The issue of concern now is when this will be shown and of course which are the characters involved. Rikkai might not be involved, even if Hyotei is shown, I think Atobe would do most of the talking. I am still thinking of the dream match between Atobe and Tezuka or Sanada vs Tezuka, Yukimura vs Tezuka...

By the way, I happened to read the latest issue of Shonen Jump today in Kinokuniya where Tezuka is in Singles 2 with Kabaji. Why wouldn't Konomi-sensei let Atobe and Tezuka have a repeat match and give Tezuka a chance to take revenge? Well, the chapter I read was about how Tezuka was having trouble with Kabaji who even imitated his Tezuka-zone to perfection. Wow, that's kind of tricky for Tezuka-bucchou since Kabaji is very good at observing and then using the same tactics against the opponent. It's as if fighting against yourself. However, Tezuka seems to have something up his sleeve and in the next chapter, we find out what went on during his stay in Kyushu when he met a little girl.

Talking about the real-life movie, the reason why I'm not too enthusiastic about this would be the problem of casting. How do you find suitable actors to play Tezuka, Sanada, Atobe or even Echizen? Bear in mind, these characters are only junior high students so it doesn't make sense to get adult actors to play them. It just won't be convincing. Changing the age or setting of the movie just won't do too. I really hate to spoil the image of my beloved characters through this real-life movie and I can already anticipate myself comparing and criticising the movie as well as the actors well before it has been made. Call me pessimistic if you want but this kind of bishonen sports manga/anime just doesn't seem too suitable for a real-life movie. For example, it's hard to imagine Fullmetal Alchemist being made into a real-life movie but Hachikuro can be achieved. The only person whom I can think of to play a Tenipuri character would probably Matsuoka Masahiro as Momoshiro. They look pretty similar (with the spiky hair combed upwards) and their mannerisms seem almost the same. However, he's already in his late 20s and I simply cannot associate him as a junior high kid. On the other hand, it's hard to find a credible and well-known cast of actors in their teens to play the characters since you definitely need stars who can pull crowds into the cinemas. That is why I still feel that watching the anime movie is much much better than having a real-life one since you get to see the characters as they are and hear the wonderful voices of the seiyuus. I crave for originality and don't like such surprises which may turn out to be shocks in the end.

Actually, there were rumours about a real-life movie long ago but I had been praying hard that it would not come true. Give me any amount of the OVAs or anime version movies and I'll be very excited to support it at full cost but I simply do not want to see real-life characters. Please don't destroy my wonderful image of the anime and the characters! However, given that the announcement has been made, I can only keep my fingers crossed and hope that Konomi-sensei can take an active role in the casting so as to ensure that the actors chosen will fit the characters he has created.