PONY CANYON

INTERNATIONAL LICENSING

Threads of Destiny

Original Title

赤い糸
Akai ito

INTRODUCTION

It exemplified the immense power of new media - a serialized novel distributed over the Internet and subsequently read by tens of millions… on their cell phones! Now the cultural sensation that was "Akai Ito" prepares to make its traditional media debut, but not before setting a new precedent as a feature film and TV series collaboration!

"Akai Ito" became the most visited site on the popular cell phone portal, "Magic Library", resonating through the hearts and minds of millions of wired-in teens in 2006. The online story initially garnered over 16 million unique views. But that swelled a mind-boggling 36 million soon after the announcement of the feature film and television project. The print version of "Akai Ito", meanwhile, has sold over 1.8 million copies since its release in 2007.

"Akai Ito" is a teen romance that deals with the universal innocence and burgeoning idealism of post-pubescence along with the confusion, disillusion and struggle that accompanies the transition from teen to young adult. But it also serves as a window into contemporary teenage life in Japan, filtered through lives of Mei and Atsushi, middle school classmates who find each other in their search for relationships that are meant to be no matter how much the world tries to intervene. Imparting extra emotional weight to the story's themes is the love ballad, "366 Days," written and performed by popular Japanese "indie" band, HY.

A Cross-Media Project Unlike Any Other!

"Akai Ito" brings to the world a new collaborative form of entertainment, with the simultaneous release of both a feature film and television drama that harnesses the strengths of both media and integrates them so they are compatible down to the last detail. With the same cast and production crew on both projects, the story centers on the love interests of its two young protagonists while providing an evocative portrayal of contemporary teenage lives in Tokyo. By weaving together the dynamism and expressive power of cinema with the carefully measured plot and character development of a serial drama, "Akai Ito" seeks to build two unique yet mutually-informing viewpoints of a single narrative. Audiences and fans of the novella are sure to delight in the combined rendering, which is designed to provide them with a richer and more rewarding entertainment experience. This winter, cinema, television, music and the Internet join forces like never before!

STORY

Mei has been in love with Yuya all her life. They've grown up together. But when they reach their second year of middle school, Yuya suddenly professes his love for her older sister, Haruna.
Struggling to rebound from her decade-long crush, Mei finds comfort in the close camaraderie of her school friends, Taka, Mia, Yuri, Natsu, Mitsu and Sara and then meets a reticent and gentle-natured boy named Atsushi. The two begin to realize that they share many things in common that seem to transcend mere coincidence: the same birthday (February 29th, 1992) and a previous encounter when they were both 8. Feeling a bond of fate, they grow closer.
But destiny can have a dark side to it, too, and a shocking revelation from both of their pasts compels Atsushi to pull away from Mei. The devastating separation then unleashes a wave of misfortune upon Mei: the death of a loved one, drug addiction and domestic violence. As circumstances seek to take control of her life, Mei struggles to maintain her faith in the tenuous thread of destiny that will reunite her with her true love.