Natsuzora

Natsuzora (なつぞら) is a Japanese television drama series and the 100th Memorial Asadora series, following Manpuku. It premiered on April 1, 2019, and concluded on September 28, 2019. The story is loosely based on the life of animator Reiko Okuyama.

Natsuzora
Original title	なつぞら
Genre	Drama
Written by	Sumio Ōmori
Directed by	Takafumi Kimura Tadashi Tanaka Tetsuya Watanabe Kenji Tanaka Daisuke Futami Kuniome Hashizume Makoto Yabe
Starring	Suzu Hirose Nanako Matsushima Naohito Fujiki Masaki Okada Asuka Kudoh Ken Yasuda Ryo Yoshizawa Taishi Nakagawa Yūki Yamada Arata Iura Shihori Kanjiya Atsuko Takahata Masao Kusakari
Narrated by	Teruyoshi Uchimura
Opening theme	"Yasashii ano Ko" by Spitz
Composer	Yukari Hashimoto
Country of origin	Japan
Original language	Japanese
No. of episodes	156
Production
Executive producers	Tomoaki Iso Toshitake Fukuoka
Producer	Shunpei Murayama
Running time	15 minutes
Production company	NHK
Original release
Network	NHK
Release	April 1 (2019-04-01) – September 28, 2019 (2019-09-28)

Plot

As Natsu's parents were dead, she was raised by her father's old friend Takeo Shibata in Tokachi Hokkaido.^[1] At first Natsu was not recognized as a member of the Shibata family, but gradually gains Taijū Shibata's trust by her efforts.^[2][3] Natsu learns a lot from him and he has a great influence on her life.^[4]

But Natsu decides to go to Tokyo to be an animator.^[5]

Cast

Natsu's family

• Suzu Hirose as Natsu Okuhara (based on Reiko Okuyama)
  • Sari Awano as young Natsu
• Masaki Okada as Saitarō Okuhara, Natsu's brother
  • Ao Watanabe as young Saitarō
• Kaya Kiyohara as Chiharu Okuhara, Natsu's sister
  • Noa Tanaka as young Chiharu
• Naho Toda^[6] as Natsu's mother (cameo)
• Teruyoshi Uchimura as Natsu's father (cameo)

Hokkaido and Tokachi people

Shibata ranch

• Masao Kusakari as Taijū Shibata, Shibata Ranch owner
• Nanako Matsushima^[7] as Fujiko Shibata, Natsu's foster mother
• Naohito Fujiki as Takeo Shibata, Natsu's foster father
• Shō Kiyohara as Teruo Shibata, Takeo's son
  • Ryōtarō Okajima as young Teruo
• Momoko Fukuchi as Yumiko Shibata, Teruo's eldest daughter
  • Rian Arakawa as young Yumiko
• Nanaka Hirao as Akemi Shibata, Teruo's youngest daughter
  • Moeka Yoshida as young Akemi
• Takashi Kobayashi as Yūkichi Tomura, Shibata Ranch's employee
• Takuma Oto'o (TEAM-NACS) as Kikusuke Tomura, Yūkichi's son

Setsugetsu pastry shop

• Ken Yasuda (TEAM-NACS) as Yukinosuke Obata, the pastry's shopkeeper
• Atsuko Takahata as Toyo Obata, Yukinosuke's mother
• Nobuko Sendō as Taeko Obata, Yukinosuke's wife
• Yūki Yamada as Yukijirō Obata, Yukinosuke and Taeko's son

Yamada family

• Ryo Yoshizawa as Ten'yō Yamada, Natsu's friend (based on Kanda Nissho)
• Shigeyuki Totsugi (TEAM-NACS) as Seiji Yamada, Ten'yō's father
• Ayako Kobayashi^[8] as Tami Yamada, Ten'yō's mother
• Sakurako Ohara as Yasue Yamada, Ten'yō's wife
• Atsuhiro Inukai as Yōhei Yamada, Ten'yō's brother

Tōyō Animation

• Shihori Kanjiya^[9] as Mako Ōsawa
• Arata Iura as Tsutomu Naka (based on Yasuji Mori)
• Shōta Sometani as Kōya Kamiji (based on Hayao Miyazaki)
• Taishi Nakagawa as Kazuhisa Sakaba (based on Isao Takahata), Natsu's husband
• Akira Kawashima (Kirin) as Katsumi Shimoyama
• Mayu Watanabe as Akane Mimura
• Houka Kinoshita as Shigehiko Tsuyuki
• Rikka Ihara as Momoyo Morita
• Shinya Kote as Noboru Idohara
• Takuzō Kadono as Mitsuru Ōsugi (based on Hiroshi Ōkawa)

Others

• Takeo Nakahara as Yaichirō Agawa
• Kie Kitano as Sara Agawa, Yoichirō's daughter
• Miu Tomita as Yoshiko Imura, Natsu's classmate
• Tasuku Emoto as Ryūichi Kurata, Natsu's high school teacher
• Manami Higa^[10] as Kōko Maejima
• Hiromi Iwasaki^[11] (cameo)
• Sanae Kitabayashi^[12] (cameo)
• Tomoko Yamaguchi^[13] as Ayami Kishikawa
• Kōichi Yamadera as Yūsei Toyotomi (based on Hisaya Morishige)
• Anju Suzuki as Ranko Kameyama (based on Mariko Miyagi)
• Hideko Hara^[14] as Nahoko Mitsuyama
• Hiroyuki Morisaki (TEAM-NACS) as Hiroshi Ōshimizu
• Kaho Mizutani as Sachiko Mihashi
• Tsutomu Sekine as Kazunao Sakaba, Kazuhisa's father
• Mihoko Fujita^[15] as Sato Sakaba, Kazuhisa's mother
• Mana Mikura^[16] as Michiko Sasaoka
• Yūko Tanaka^[17] as Dr. Takahashi (cameo)
• Ema Fujisawa^[18] as a pregnant woman (cameo)
• Mayumi Tanaka as Murakawa, and the voice of Ushiwakamaru
• Miki Narahashi as the voice of Annie
• Mitsuaki Madono as the voice of Kick Jaguar
• Miyuki Sawashiro as Chikako Shiramoto (based on Kazuko Sugiyama)
• Sakura Ando^[19] as the narrator of Sora, the Prairie Girl
• Yōko Asaji^[20] as Masako Sugiyama
• Yo Oizumi (TEAM-NACS) as Hiroshi Matsutake (cameo)