The award-winning novel/live-action film The Great Passage (2013) is getting an anime adaptation which is due to air in October this year as part of Fuji TV’s Noitamina. It is being animated by Zexcs (Aku no Hana) and directed by Toshimasa Kuroyanagi (director on Say “I love you.”) and the series scripts are being overseen/written by Takuya Sato (writer/director on NieA_7 and Strawberry Marshmallow and storyboard artist on And Yet the Town Moves and Kino’s Journey). The big name for a lot of anime fans isn’t necessarily the writer/director but the character designer/manga author Haruko Kumota who won fans for her series Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu.
My review was super positive on how good the movie is and that went on to clean up at the Japan Academy Awards 2014. The anime looks classy and mature so I’m hoping to enjoy it as my re-entry into the world of anime after three months off.
The Great Passage 
舟を編む「Fune wo Amu」
Airing Date: October 2016
Episodes: N/A
Director: Toshimasa Kuroyanagi
Writer: Takuya Sato (Series Composition), Shion Miura (Original Novel),
Studio: Zexcs
Starring: Takahiro Sakurai (Mitsuya Majime), Hiroshi Kamiya (Masashi Nishioka), Maaya Sakamoto (Kaguya Hayashi),
Synopsis: The Genbu Shobō publishing company will launch a new dictionary titled The Great Passage (Daitokai). Araki, who is a veteran editor for the dictionary department, is looking for a successor now that he’s approaching retirement age and he finds one in Mitsuya Majime — a salesman who loves work but who is also a poor talker. Fortunately, much like the meaning of his name Majime (dedication) he perseveres and by meeting new co-workers like Masashi Nishioka — a good talker, sociable fellow, and frivolous person who doesn’t really care about dictionaries – Majime begins to grow as a person and express himself better. This happens just in time because his land-lady’s daughter Kaguya Hayashi, a sushi chef, might be interested in him and he has fallen head over heels for her…
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I didn’t see this coming. I’m assuming it will have a lot more humour to it than the film did, plus it will be able to convey more through internal monologues which the film had to act out explicitly.
It’s a surprise to me to but the book is very popular. I really liked the film. I haven’t watched it since its UK premiere at the London Film Festival a few years ago but there are a few scenes that stick with me to this day and they make me smile.