Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora's real-life movie adaptation

The real-life movie adaptation of "Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora" will be shown in spring next year. Kutsuna Shiori who gained fame through her appearance in the Pocky CMs will be starring as the lead character, Rika who is hospitalised due to a heart ailment and meets Yuuichi played by Ikematsu Sousuke. The story is based on the same-titled novel by Hashimoto Tsumugu. Other cast members include Ooizumi who plays a doctor in the hospital while the theme song, "15 no Kotoba" is sung by Abe Mao.

Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora Ep 02: Tada Collection no Souzoku

Tsukasa and Akiko rush to the hilltop and finds Yuuichi unconscious as Rika asks them for help. As a result of the trip to the hilltop, Yuuichi's condition worsens and has to extend his stay in the hospital. Akiko threatens Yuuichi not to sneak out again or she will "kill" him.

As Yuuichi slowly fall asleep, he remembers Tada telling him to pursue the girl he likes instead of regretting like what he did after dragging the matter for too long. Tada felt that someone who gives up without trying would be the biggest fool and reminded Yuuichi not to follow in his footsteps.

It is nearing Christmas but Yuuichi still has to stay in the hospital. As he is feeling better, he sneaks out to visit Rika who scolds him for being an idiot at the first sight of him. Rika then makes him lie on her bed since Yuuichi has yet to recover fully. Yuuichi tries to explain that he's recovering but Rika refuses to let him get up and sits by the bed to read a book.

Yuuichi tells Rika that he did not bring her to the hill because of his father as he did that for her sake. When Rika asks Yuuichi if he remembered what he had told her on the hilltop, he doesn't understand what she is saying. Upon recollecting what he said, Rika starts to blush but Yuuichi still hasn't got a clue to what he had said. Before he can find out further from Rika, Akiko comes to look for Yuuichi and brings him back to his ward. Akiko even puts a long bench before Yuuichi's door so as to prevent him from sneaking out.

New Year arrives and Yuuichi is still in the hospital. He sneaks out to look for Rika again and is surprised to hear that he shouldn't associate with her. Rika has no idea how long she would live thus it would do Yuuichi no good to be in her company. However, Yuuichi says that he doesn't mind. Rika informs Yuuichi that she is planning to undergo the operation soon which makes him worried since it is said to have a low success rate. Although there is the risk of failure, Rika is prepared for the consequences since the operation has a chance of helping her to get better instead of letting the condition worsen over time.

Yamanishi comes to visit Yuuichi who points out that he's just here for the pornographic magazines from Tada's collection. As the boys pore over the pictures, Rika happens to catch them in the act and finds out about the huge number of pornographic magazines under Yuuichi's bed. Although Rika walks away with a smile, Yuuichi knows that this is all an act and gets angry at Yamanishi for causing the misunderstanding.

Yuuichi goes to Rika's ward to explain the issue but she throws him out angrily. When he tries to wait for Rika on the rooftop despite the freezing cold, she walks away and even locks the exit thus letting Yuuichi be exposed to the snowy weather. He is only spared from the torture when the security guard goes on his patrol at night.

Yuuichi reveals to Akiko what happened and the latter laughs heartily instead of being sympathetic. Just when Akiko is telling Yuuichi that he's better off dead after antagonizing Rika, Natsume, a doctor who had just returned from leave enters Yuuichi's ward to check on him.

The next day, Yuuichi is standing on the rooftop when he meets Natsume again. However, Yuuichi fails to recognise him at first since Natsume has shaven off his beard. Natsume reveals that he was in the mountain region for the past 2 months so he just got his haircut and a shave today. When Natsume talks about Yuuichi getting into the bad books of Rika, Yuuichi is surprised as to why Natsume knows about this. Yuuichi comes to find out that Natsume is Rika's doctor while Natsume is surprised that she told Yuuichi about her conditon voluntarily. Natsume has been treating Rika for 6 years but she has never told anyone about her illness so he feels that Yuuichi can be a good friend to Rika. Upon hearing this, Yuuichi feels very uncomfortable because it appears as if Natsume doesn't want anything besides friendship to develop between them.

Yuuichi is studying on the rooftop when Akiko comes to take a puff. She teases him for being studious while he reminds her not to smoke too much and earns a "kick" on his back. Akiko asks Yuuichi if he hasn't reconciled with Rika and remarks that she might be feeling down of late. Even though Akiko mentions that Rika is the type who doesn't show her emotions, Yuuichi thinks otherwise since she smiles and throws a tantrum easily before him. Akiko then drops a bombshell that she has asked Rika to come to the rooftop and tells Yuuichi to patch up with her quickly.

When Yuuichi goes down on his knees to apologise, he is surprised to see Natsume instead of Rika. Natsume then gives a foreign pornographic magazine to Yuuichi as a gift before leaving the rooftop. Just when Yuuichi is flipping through it, Rika happens to catch him and locks Yuuichi in the rooftop again. Unknown to them, Natsume is laughing at what has happened. Rika goes back to her ward and throws a tantrum again while Natsume stays at the staircase landing, leaving Yuuichi to bear the blistering cold.

Natsume is mumbling to himself that he's still carrying a lighter even though he said he would quit smoking when Akiko comes to the rooftop to smoke. Natsume asks if Akiko dislikes him and she replies in the affirmative. This is because she detests the way that Natsume asks such questions directly in her face and smiling when they talk about serious issues. Akiko tells Natsume to stop driving a wedge between Rika and Yuuichi since they don't have much time left together. However, Natsume is unrepentant and says that he enjoys doing this. When Akiko kicks him for the sarcasm, Natsume then tells Akiko to help them patch up.

Yuuichi is alone on the rooftop and Rika suddenly appears from behind. He cannot say anything as Rika blames him for what has happened but he still apologises in the end. When they see a plane, Yuuichi remarks that it would be good if the plane is heading overseas. Rika doesn't understand the logic of this since Yuuichi is not on that plane anyway. Yuuichi decides to ask Rika why she forgave him all of a sudden and feels unhappy when he knows that Natsume was the one who persuaded Rika to do so. As Rika goes on singing Natsume's praises, Yuuichi flares up and gets into an argument with her. In a fit of anger, Rika throws her book at Yuuichi and it falls onto the ledge of the building. Rika is upset over this because the book was given by her late father...

The appearance of Natsume is a bad sign for Yuuichi since he's obviously up to some mischief to stop Yuuichi and Rika from getting together. At this stage, it's hard to tell why he would do such a thing but he's definitely a troublemaker. Too bad for Yuuichi that Rika places a lot of trust on Natsume and it would take a lot for her to view Yuuichi favourably now that she lost her favourite book as a result of their argument. Akiko has obviously seen through Natsume's antics but it remains to be seen if she will step in to help Yuuichi.

And Akiko's statement about Yuuichi and Rika having little time left, I assume she's referring to Rika's condition being life-threatening. Does it suggest that the ending of this anime will head towards tragedy?

From the next episode's trailer, it appears that Yuuichi and Rika will patch up so I guess the scriptwriter can't afford to let the argument drag on since there are only 6 episodes in this series.

Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora Ep 01: Akiko-san to Shoujo to Akutagawa Ryuunosuke

Ezaki Yuuichi, a 17-year-old senior high school student is going back to Wakaba Hospital before dawn as he had sneaked out in the night without permission. Just as he thinks that he can get off scott-free, he is caught red-handed by a nurse, Tanizaki Akiko who uses a slipper to hit Yuuichi on his head. Akiko lectures Yuuichi for not obeying instructions to stay in his ward but he tries to get off the hook by saying that he was only out for a stroll. However, Akiko exposes Yuuichi's lies as he had been out once the lights were off last night instead of a short while as what he claimed. Akiko reminds Yuuichi that he should not sneak out just because his condition has improved recently since he might have to extend his stay in the hospital in the event of any changes to his health. As such, Akiko threatens to make Yuuichi do a striptease dance if he dares to sneak out again. Just then, an elderly patient, Tada touches Akiko's bum deliberately and pretends that it was accidental. As Akiko is scolding Tada, Yuuichi seizes the opportunity to return to his room.

Later, Yuuichi's friends Sekoguchi Tsukasa and Yamanishi Tamotsu come to visit him and have a good laugh after hearing what happened. Tsukasa comments that there's nothing to be afraid of but Yuuichi says that Akiko will do as what she threatens. As Tamotsu munches on the snacks they brought for Yuuichi, he jokes that there's no harm doing a striptease in this cold weather since the latter's condition can be cured if he rests well which leads Yuuichi to grumble at Tamotsu for finishing his food. Actually, Yuuichi is suffering from acute hepatitis which can be cured after a few months of rest. As he has been feeling better after one month of hospitalisation, that is why he gets so bored that he has to sneak out to do something.

As Yuuichi is walking along the corridor, he spots a girl in a ward located at the eastern wing. When Akiko comes to give Yuuichi an injection, she tells him that the girl is Akiba Rika who is of the same age as him and she was transferred here from another hospital. Yuuichi asks if Rika's condition is not optimistic (the eastern wing is meant for terminally-ill patients)but Akiko says that it's not serious and does not go into details.

That night, Yuuichi tries to sneak out again but sees Akiko outside his ward with a long bench put at his door. Yuuichi realises that Akiko is serious about thwarting his attempts to go out and gives up in resignation.

In the day, Yuuichi goes to Rika's ward and wants to make friends with her but turns back at the last minute. As he is staring into blank space at the rooftop, Akiko goes there to take a puff and remarks that Ise is such a small town. She asks Yuuichi what he intends to do after senior high school graduation. Yuuichi has plans to go to an university in Tokyo or Nagoya as he can't wait to leave here. Akiko says that she would love to do the same but in reality, it is hard for her to do so. Akiko suddenly asks Yuuichi if he is willing to be Rika's friend in exchange for removing the bench outside his ward and passes a book of Akutagawa Ryuunosuke to him because Rika likes his works.

Yuuichi decides to back out of his deal with Akiko since he's not a fan of Akutagawa as what she told Rika and he's not sure of how to make friends with Rika. However, he accidentally slips and bangs against the door whereby Rika comes to know that someone is outside her ward. As such, Yuuichi summons his courage to enter the room and meets Rika who asks him about Akutagawa's works. Yuuichi cannot answer Rika's question which leads her to find out that he has lied to her. He tries to liven up the atmosphere by talking about the town. When he talks about the cannon base mountain, this finally gets Rika's attention. She then tells him that she's willing to forgive him if he agrees to do something for her.

Rika orders Yuuichi to borrow a book of Akutagawa for her at the town library but he brings back the wrong book. She flares up and tells Yuuichi to get the correct book even though he is coughing badly due to the cold weather. Even though Rika has noticed this, she still forces Yuuichi to do her bidding. Yuuichi has no choice and goes back to get the book she wants. As Yuuichi goes back to his ward, he meets Tada who offers to share his collection of pornographic books with him. Yuuichi declines his kind gesture upon seeing the huge amount of books in Tada's ward.

Since then, Rika would play pranks on Yuuichi and make him do what she orders. She forces Yuuichi to go with him to the operating theatre and they are almost caught by Akiko. When they go to the rooftop to chat, Rika asks Yuuichi why he has never tried to find out what illness she is suffering from. Yuuichi comments that those staying in the east wing are seriously ill so he assumes that Rika is like them. She reveals that the valve in her heart is faulty and the only way to recover is through a heart transplant. However, her body is weak thus increasing the possibility of failure during the operation. Rika's father had also suffered from the illness and died in the midst of surgery.

Rika says that her father brought her to the cannon base mountain before his operation which could be the reason why he made up his mind to have the transplant. As such, Yuuichi realises that Rika keeps looking out of the window because she wants to see the mountain. Rika wishes to go there again before she could make up her mind on the surgery.

Yuuichi sneaks out to play TV games at Tsukasa's house and returns to the hospital before dawn to find that Tada had passed away suddenly. Before he died, he told Akiko to give his collection of pornographic books to Yuuichi. As Yuuichi lies on his bed while looking at the collection, he makes up his mind to do something and calls Tsukasa for help.

Yuuichi goes to Rika's room and offers to bring her to the mountain. They are spotted by Akiko but Tsukasa appears in time to stop her from chasing after them. Yuuichi and Rika take the scooter which Tsukasa prepared but they fall on the mountain trail and have to walk to the peak.

They finally make it to the top as Rika tells Yuuichi that she's prepared to die if the operation fails. Upon hearing this, Yuuichi gets a shock as Rika hugs him while she sobs. She asks Yuuichi why he wants to help her and he tells her about his drunkard father who died long ago. This makes Rika misunderstand that Yuuichi is doing this out of sympathy but he tries to deny it. As he gets too agitated while trying to explain himself, he suddenly collapses and mutters something which makes Rika blush...

Although character-design and graphics are not that good, the reason why I'm watching this is because of the storyline. At the end of the ED, there is a shot of Yuuichi and Rika getting married so I'm quite interested to know how their relationship will develop over the course of 6 episodes only. I guess the emphasis will be very much on them while the rest of the characters could have mysteries to be unresolved or vaguely explained by the end of the run due to the limited timeframe.

The OP is a mid-tempo number while the ED is a sentimental song. As I've only listened to them for a few times, it may take a while before I can say how I feel about the songs but the vocals by nobuko were OK in my opinion.

The only familiar voice to me would be Takahashi Mikako who played Yamada Ayumi in Hachikuro and Ryuuzaki Sakuno in Tenipuri. Well, I loved her potrayal of Yamada but I don't feel as strongly for Rika in this anime though. Maybe it's because I have an issue with characters with hair too long and eyes so big that they take up half of the face. On the other hand, I like the voice of Yuuichi whose seiyuu is Suzumura Kenichi. I find his voice familiar so I might have to do a search to see where I've heard him before.

On the whole, I'm quite satisfied with this anime and will probably continue to watch this barring unforseen circumstances.

Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora trailer

Saw the trailer for Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora which is due to begin on 12 Jan. From the looks of it, this anime is said to be a pure love story between Yuichi and Rika. However, it seems like it's probably going to head towards a sad outcome since Rika has been down with an illness since young and I don't think it will be possible for her to be cured suddenly within the run of the anime. And that means Yuichi may have to bear with the pain of losing someone he loves. I'm still not sure whether this anime is going to last for 6 episodes only as announced on a number of websites. If that's the case, my concern is how they are going to squeeze the content from 5 volumes of manga into just 6 episodes and not compromise on the quality of the story. The animation standard looks quite good to me based on the trailer though. Personally, I think this is one of the more promising new animes for the latest season so I have a certain degree of faith in it. Nevertheless, I'll save my judgement until I see the first episode next Thursday.