Hikari Mitsushima goes all diva in ‘Pride’

After playing Light Yagami’s little sister in two Death Note movies and landing a role in Shaolin Girl that was so tiny you had to squint to see her, Hikari Mitsushima‘s acting career seems to finally be taking off at the ripe old age of 23. With major roles in two movies coming out in January, Sion Sono’s “Love Exposure” and Shusuke Kaneko’s Pride, chances are we’ll be seeing a lot of her impossibly heart-shaped face over the next few years.

“Pride” is a live-action adaptation of Yukari Ichijo’s manga about two rival opera singers whose lives seem to always become entangled. Mitsushima plays Moe Midorikawa, an aspiring singer who grew up poor and was raised by her single mother. Her eventual rival, Shio Asami (Stephanie), grew up in a wealthy family and is naturally talented, but when her father’s company goes bankrupt she’s forced to give up her singing aspirations. When a record company represented by Jinno Takashi (Mitsuhiro Oikawa) sponsors a contest between the two, Moe manages to win by pulling a fast one on her opponent. To earn money, Shio is forced to get a job singing at a club in Ginza where her university acquaintance Ranmaru (Hiroshi Watanabe) plays piano. However, it just so happens that Moe works at the same place.

The trailer just came out today. You’ll find it below, along with a few production stills.

Trailer:

Production stills:

“Pride” opens in Japan on January 17, 2009.

Official website

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Tags: hikari mitsushima, hiroshi watanabe, mitsuhiro oikawa, reiko takashima, shusuke kaneko, stephanie