Biopics must be a curious thing for their subjects. To see oneself on screen - your past, your hardships, your journey - surely carries a strange existentialism with it.
Celebrated mangaka Akiko Higashimura, also known as ACCO (Princess Jellyfish, Tokyo Tarareba Girls) has a more layered relationship with this experience than most. Kazuaki Seki's delightful new feature film Kakukaku Shikajika is adapted from Higashimura's autobiographical manga (Blank Canvas: My So-Called Artist's Journey).
The manga tells the story of Akiko (in the film played by rising star Mei Nagano), an aspiring manga artist who hones her skills under unconventional art teacher Hidaka (Yo Oizumi). Learning through practice far from manga, the two reshape each other's perspectives on art and life.
Ahead of the film's North American premiere at Fantasia International Film Festival, Screen Anarchy had the immense pleasure of speaking with Higashimura-sensei and Nagano-san about their work on the film, and what it means to project your own self through another person.
Screen Anarchy: Higashimura-sensei, you adapted your own manga to screenplay here, which is unusual to see. In turning the manga into a screenplay, did you find yourself turning to what you'd previously put to page, or did you equally revisit your own memories?
Akiko Higashimura: I think it's the first time that a mangaka directly worked on the screenplay for their own adaptation actually. It's somewhat commonplace in anime, but not in live-action.
In this case, it's a movie about me - sort of autobiographical. So I thought that it would make for a more realistic product if I got involved myself.
How involved were you on the set of the film? It's one thing making a manga out of your own life, but it must be quite surreal to see a cast and crew put together a live-action reconstruction of it.
AH: We filmed it at my grandmother's house. We renovated it to turn it into an atelier - a drawing room. I feel like that decision really gave it the right atmosphere.
The film preserves the tempo of the source manga's humor remarkably well. Do you perceive your manga as being particularly cinematic in its panelling and structure?
AH: I watch a lot of movies, actually. Whenever I draw manga, I always see it through somewhat of a movie lens. I'll draw scenes or poses that I think could be adapted well into a movie.
Did you pick out the costumes and wardrobe in this film yourself?
AH: There was a stylist on set and I was there during the fitting phases - we thought about the costumes and wardrobe together.
Tell me about casting. How did you know that you'd found the right person to essentially play yourself, and how did you work with Nagano-san to develop her performance?
AH: I'm a very big fan of Nagano-san. I think that her acting is of a very high quality. She was already famous prior to this role.
Nagano-san, what was it like to take on the role of Akiko? Was it intimidating to take on an autobiographical role?
Mei Nagano: I definitely felt a lot of pressure. However, Higashimura-sensei kept telling me, "Mei-chan, you will be just fine!" over and over, which gave me great confidence. As for preparing for the role, I started by reading the original manga repeatedly to understand the expressions and atmosphere, frame by frame. But the most important part was observing Akiko Higashimura-sensei herself, who was on set with us every day. Listening to her stories about that time in her life helped me gradually build the character.
This film's narrative is about striving hard to achieve your dreams and perfect your craft. Did its message resonate for you yourself as a young, rising acting talent?
MN: Yes, absolutely. As I've been fortunate enough to be involved in many different projects and creative endeavors as an actress, I've discovered new dreams and found new goals both as part of a team and individually. Working on this film reminded me of how important it is to keep refining my craft and aiming higher. Also, even when you're doing something you love or achieving your dreams, there are still struggles and challenges. Through this story, I was reminded that it's crucial not to lose the sense of joy within those hardships.
Higashimura-sensei, what has it done for you personally to have gone back and examined your own origin story? Did making this adaptation teach you anything about the manga that you based it on, or anything about your own self that you hadn't previously realized?
AH: I did have a lot of regrets regarding Hidaka-sensei. Through the filmmaking process, I was able to examine this regret more closely, and I think I overcame them.
Nagano-san, did making this film teach you anything in particular about yourself or your craft?
MN: It may not be something entirely new, but I was once again reminded of how much I truly love acting. And I realized how much I love being on set.
What impact do you each hope this film will have on the audiences that watch it?
AH: In Japanese theaters, there were a lot of people that cried their faces away. They were crying so hard that they couldn't even stand up anymore - even the old people, no matter their age, were really bawling their eyes out.
MN: I think chasing a dream can often feel painful and difficult. But there's also something powerful and beautiful about continuing to run toward it. Through Akiko's journey in this film, I hope the audience can feel the greatness of having a dream--and also the beauty of those who support and cheer you on in various ways.
Kakukaku Shikajika enjoyed its North American premiere at Fantasia International Film Festival 2025.
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All images ©Akiko Higashimura/SHUEISHA ©2025 FUJI TELEVISION NETWORK, INC./ Warner Bros. Japan LLC/ S・D・P/ H IGASHIMURA PRODUCTION All rights reserved.