Mao Inoue goes from "Hana yori Dango" to a boyfriend with a heart condition

by Chris MaGee

Now that the "Boys over Flowers" TV program and series of films have finally ended (they didn't call this year's last big screen installment "Hana yori Dango: Final" for nothing!) Mao Inoue, the young star of the series, is looking for another job, and it looks like she's found it in another shojo manga adaptation. Inoue will go from playing impoverished Eitoku University student Tsukushi Makino to Mayu Taneda, daughter of a respected cardiologist and main female character in Kotomi Aoki's "Boku no Hatsukoi wo Kimi ni Sasagu". It turns out that Mayu's childhood sweetheart, Takuma, has a heart condition, one that her Dad says will kill him before he turns 20. Mayu is left to decide whether she should go through with the promise the two teens made to each other when they were 8-years-old and marry Takuma before he shuffles off this mortal coil. I can hear you weeping out there already.

"Boku no Hatsukoi wo Kimi ni Sasagu" will start shooting in March and is slated for a fall 2009 release. Thanks to Tokyograph and Anime News Network for the details on this.