Cell phone novel "Tenshi no koi" makes its way to the big screen

by Chris MaGee

While I have yet to cave in and set up a Twitter account I do have to say that the literary potential of text messages is something I find utterly fascinating, and now it looks like one of many "cell phone novels" that have come out of Japan in the past few years is making its way to the big screen. Written by an author referring to themselves simply as "sin" the novel "Tenshi no koi (Angel of Love)" was written on a cell phone and then posted online and it soon became a national craze amongst Japanese youth. Referred to by its young fans as the "teen love Bible" the novel follows a 17-year-old girl named Rio whose mind and heart are opened up after meeting a 35-year-old University professor. Seems a little like jail bait to me, but the novel apparently isn't all stars and roses with themes of rape, abortion and enjo kosai, or "subsidized dating" running throughout its pages... or texts... or whatever.

The big screen adaptation of "Tenshi no koi" will be directed by 25-year-old Shunji Iwai protege Yuri Kanchiku and star 21-year-old model Nozomi Sasaki (above) as Rio. This marks the feature directorial debut for Kanchiku and only the second on screen role for Sasaki who only made her acting debut last year with a small part in Tsutomu Hanabusa's comedy "Handsome Suit". Tenshi no Koi" is scheduled to hit Japanese theatres this winter. Thanks to Tokyograph for the details on this story.