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Gempak Starz Licenses 'Fireworks' Novel, Manga in Malaysia

Malaysian publisher Gempak Starz announced on Saturday that it has licensed the manga and novel adaptations of Uchiage Hanabi, Shita Kara Miru ka? Yoko Kara Miru ka? (Fireworks, Should We See It From the Side or the Bottom?), the anime film adaptation of director Shunji Iwai's 1993 live-action drama of the same name. The company will release the novels and manga with the title Bunga Api, Lihat dari Bawah atau Sisi?.

Makoto Fugetsu (Granblue Fantasy manga) launched the manga adaptation of the anime film in the July issue of Kadokawa's Young Ace magazine on June 2. Kadokawa published the manga's first compiled book volume on August 4.

Kadokawa published the novel adaptation written by Hitoshi Ōne, the film's scriptwriter, in three versions with different cover illustrations from its Kadokawa Bunko, Kadokawa Tsubasa Bunko, and Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko labels on June 17, July 15, and August 1, respectively. Shown right is the cover for the Kadokawa Bunko version.

Kadokawa also published a novel with a different treatment by Iwai titled Shōnen-tachi wa Hanabi o Yoko kara Mitakatta (They Wanted to See the Fireworks From the Side). The novel is named after and based on the initial version of the script that Iwai wrote for the If: Moshimo program from which the original 1993 drama originated. The program eventually revised the story and re-titled it into the current title. Kadokawa published two versions of the novel with different covers from its Kadokawa Bunko and Kadokawa Tsubasa Bunko labels on June 17 and August 15, respectively.

Purple Plan opened the film in Malaysia last Thursday.

Ōne's script added modern elements to Iwai's original story. The film is set on one day during summer vacation, and follows a group of boys who try to view a fireworks display from the town lighthouse to see if they look round or flat when viewed from the side. Meanwhile, one of the boys, Norimichi, receives an invitation from his crush Nazuna to run away with her.

The film opened in Japan on August 18, and earned 170 million yen (about US$1.56 million) on its opening day to rank #3 in the Japanese box office in its opening weekend. The film has earned a cumulative total of 1.6 billion yen (US$14,192,000).

The original 45-minute television drama premiered in Japan in August 1993 as part of the If: Moshimo series, and it won Iwai the New Directors Award from the Directors Guild of Japan that year. The film starred Megumi Okina and Yuta Yamazaki.