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Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop Romance Anime Film Casts Kikuko Inoue

The official Twitter account for Flying Dog's original anime film Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop (Cider no Yō ni Kotoba ga Wakiagaru) revealed on Monday that Kikuko Inoue will play the character Tsubasa Fujiyama in the film. The character is the daughter of Fujiyama, Cherry's haiku teacher.

Inoue is well-known for jokingly claiming that she is "forever 17 years old." Inoue commented about her casting in the film about "17-year-olds who worries about a lot of things." She added that the movie is about "boys and girls who shine at the prime of their youth," and that it portrays the characters' "painful, bittersweet everyday lives. It will make you laugh, and cry... everyone is 17 years old in their hearts!"

Kabuki actor and first-time voice actor Ichikawa Somegorō VIII will voice Cherry (left in visual below), and actress Hana Sugisaki (When Marnie Was There, live-action Bleach) will voice Smile (right).

Other cast members include (left to right in image above, character name romanizations not official):

• Kōichi Yamadera as Fujiyama, Cherry's haiku teacher
• Megumi Han as Bieber, Cherry's friend
• Natsuki Hanae as Japan, Cherry's friend and an idol otaku
• Yuichiro Umehara as Toughboy, Cherry's acquaintance
• Megumi Nakajima as Julie, Smile's big sister
• Sumire Morohoshi as Marie, Smile's little sister

The visual features the tagline, "I met you in my 17th summer ..." The "boy-meets-girl" story depicts how words and music bridge the gap between Cherry, a boy who is terrible at communicating with other people, and Smile, a girl who hides behind a mask. They meet in a mundane suburban shopping mall in a provincial city.

Cherry always wears headphones and puts the feelings he cannot utter into his hobby, Japanese haiku poems. Smile always wears a mask to conceal her large front teeth, for which she has dental braces. As a popular video star, she streams a video about seeking "cuteness."

The film will open on May 15.

The original film commemorates the 10th anniversary of Victor Entertainment's animation and music production subsidiary Flying Dog. Kyōhei Ishiguro (Your Lie in April, Occultic;Nine) is directing the anime at Signal.MD and Sublimation. Dai Sato (Eureka Seven, Wolf's Rain, Samurai Champloo, Cowboy Bebop) is writing the screenplay, and Yukiko Aikei (Your Lie in April, Accel World) is designing the characters. Composer kensuke ushio (DEVILMAN crybaby, Space Dandy, A Silent Voice) is scoring the music.

Ōnoimo (Astoria Activate) launched a manga adaptation in Kadokawa's Monthly Comic Alive magazine on November 27.

Source: Cider no Yō ni Kotoba ga Wakiagaru film's Twitter account, Comic Natalie