Utsunuke Essay Manga About Depression Gets Live-action Show

A live-action series adaptation of Keiichi Tanaka's "Utsunuke" Utsu Tunnel o Nuketa Hito-tachi (People Who Got Through the Depression Tunnel) manga has been green-lit for streaming this fall on an unspecified service. Naoki Tanaka (seen right in picture below), a member of comedy duo Kokoriko, plays author Keiichi Tanaka in the series. Suzuka Ohgo (left) plays Tanaka's assistant Kaneko. Keisuke Kuroyanagi is directing the series.




Keiichi Tanaka also drew an illustration to commemorate the announcement of the series.



Keiichi Tanaka's non-fiction essay manga describes his own battle with depression (which he calls the "utsu tunnel" or depression tunnel) and how he copes with it. He interviews people who are also dealing with depression. Each episode of the series will deal with a different character's story, from salarymen, housewives, and part-time workers.

Kadokawa published the manga in January 2017. It was nominated for the 22nd Annual Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize earlier this year. The manga has 330,000 copies in print.

Tanaka's Doctor Chichibuyama previously inspired a 1988 television anime.