Hirate Yurina IS Hibiki

Hirate Yurina stars as Akui Hibiki in the film Hibiki. The author of the original manga recommended her, so we know she is a bit like Hibiki. But now she has posed as Hibiki in reproductions of cover illustrations from the manga, and it is now certain: Techi IS Hibiki.

Mangaka Yanagimoto Mitsuharu was thrilled at how well Hirate portrayed Hibiki in the photos, which were published by Nikkan Sports. He said that the moment he saw them, he felt a burst of happiness. He was impressed by how well she portrayed Hibiki, even down to small details. Click photos to enlarge.

At first, all I saw were the slight differences. But the more I looked, the more I saw Hirate embodying Hibiki's feelings and attitude.

"It was surprisingly difficult to get the subtle aspects right," said Hirate. "I'm sure people will have various opinions about the pictures. But I'll be happy if they take a look."

The film will be released in Japan on September 20. The manga won the award for top manga of 2017. Hibiki is a 15-year-old high school girl who is a genius novelist. We follow her as she is discovered and has her first novel published (that is as far as I have read in the manga). She herself is a difficult person, with strong opinions she does not hesitate to give. And she can be violent when she is crossed. She and the daughter of a famous novelist go to the same school, and the daughter becomes Hibiki's first real friend.

The photos were produced with the help of ANIMAREAL, a company that works in 3DCG to produce images that merge the real and the world of anime and manga.