is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by

Akimi Yoshida is a Japanese manga artist and a graduate of Musashino Art University. She made her professional debut in 1977 with the short story , published in '' Bessatsu Shōjo Comic'' magazine. Yoshida is best known for the crime thriller series '' Bana ...

. It was serialized from 1985 to 1986 in

Hakusensha is a Japanese publishing company. It is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. The company mainly publishes manga magazines and is involved in series' productions in their games, original video animation, music, and their animated TV series. The c ...

's manga magazine

LaLa Lala may refer to: Geography * Lala language (disambiguation) Places * Lala (Naples Metro), an underground metro station in Naples, Italy * Lala, Assam, a town in Assam, India * Lala, Ilam, a village in Ilam Province, Iran * Lala, Lanao del ...

. The story focuses on individuals from a drama club that are putting on Anton Chekhov's 1904 play ''

The Cherry Orchard ''The Cherry Orchard'' (russian: Вишнёвый сад, translit=Vishnyovyi sad) is the last play by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. Written in 1903, it was first published by '' Znaniye'' (Book Two, 1904), and came out as a separate editio ...

''. The manga was adapted into a film in 1990 by Shun Nakahara, and a remake was released in November 2008. Theatrical stage productions debuted at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space in 1994 and at the Aoyama Round Theatre in 2007 and 2009.

Plot

The drama club of Oka Academy an all-girls high school put on the play ''

'' by Anton Chekhov for the anniversary of the school's founding. Each chapter follows the life of one of the club members while the preparations for the play go on.

Characters

; :Atsuko is dating Shinichi Sakata, a boy on the rugby team at another high school, and worries about progressing their relationship. ; :A girl who did not want to come to an all-girls high school, Noriko becomes friends with Yuko after she stood up to fellow clubs members spreading rumours about her. ; :The president of the drama club, is seen by other members as having it together and is always addressed using polite Japanese because of it. Due to being teased when she was younger Yuko has a dislike for men. ; :A close friend of Atsuko, Kurata is troubled by her height and femininity. She is popular with the girls at school for playing the role of a male character the year before. ; :Atsuko's boyfriend, plays rugby for another high school.

Media

Live-action films

The manga was adapted into a film in 1990 by Shun Nakahara (English title ''The Cherry Orchard''). A remake was announced in 2007 by the same director and was released in November 2008. The plot is similar to the original manga, in which a modern-day all-girls high school traditionally celebrates its anniversary by staging Chekov's play, but the faculty consider canceling the play because Noriko, a senior, was seen smoking in a coffee shop with students from a rival school. The 1990 film uses a recording of ''Variations on a Theme of Chopin'' by

Mari Kumamoto Mari Kumamoto (熊本マリ, born October 15, 1964) is a Japanese-born professional pianist known for her recordings of Spanish and Japanese composers. Early life Born in Tokyo, Japan, Kumamoto began piano studies at age five. At age ten, sh ...

as the soundtrack throughout the film.

Theatre series

Two stage productions have been adapted, one at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space in 1994 and another at the Aoyama Round Theatre in 2007 and 2009.

Reception

James Welker thinks the manga "could be included in the lesbian manga canon." Yukari Fujimoto notes the Class S-like setting of ''Sakura no Sono''. The 1990 film won the Best Film awards at the 15th

Hochi Film Award The are film-specific prizes awarded by the ''Hochi Shimbun , previously known as , is a Japanese-language daily sports newspaper. In 2002, it had a circulation of a million copies a day. It is an affiliate newspaper of ''Yomiuri Shimbun''. ...

and at the 12th Yokohama Film Festival and it was nominated for Best Film at the 14th Japan Academy Prize.

References

External links

* *
Stage Aoyama Round Theatre
* {{Navboxes , title = Awards , list = {{Hochi Film Award for Best Film {{Kinema Junpo Award for Best Film {{Yokohama Film Festival Best Film 1985 manga Akimi Yoshida Best Film Kinema Junpo Award winners Hakusensha franchises Hakusensha manga Live-action films based on manga Manga adapted into films Yuri (genre) anime and manga Art in anime and manga Theatre in anime and manga Japanese drama films