| Little Love Song | |
|---|---|
 Movie poster | |
| Japanese | 小さな恋のうた |
| Directed by | Kojiro Hashimoto [ja] |
| Screenplay by | Kenya Hirata |
| Based on | Chiisana Koi no Uta byMongol800 |
| Produced by |
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| Starring |
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| Edited by | Mitsuo Nishio |
| Music by | Yosuke Miyauchi |
| Distributed by | Toei |
Release date |
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Running time | 123 minutes |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
Little Love Song (Japanese:小さな恋のうた,Hepburn:Chiisana Koi no Uta) is a 2019 Japanesemusicalcoming-of-age film directed byKojiro Hashimoto [ja] and starringHayato Sano [ja] as Ryota Maeshiro. It is based on the 2001 song of thesame name by Japanese punk rock bandMongol800. The film was released on 21 May 2019.
In a small town in Okinawa where a US military base is located, a high school band is gaining popularity. The members try to convey their feelings to their friends, family, and loved ones, such as a girl of the same age who lives on a US military base just across the fence, through their band activities. With the ability to sing their own songs and drive the audience wild, the band is scouted by a label in Tokyo and decides to make their professional debut. However, just as they are about to celebrate, a tragedy occurs and the band loses track of their destination. Then, a demo tape of one song and a girl living on the US military base appear.
Chiisana Koi no Uta is a song by theOkinawan bandMongol800 from their second albumMessage. Since its release in 2001, the song has become very popular as akaraoke song in Japan. In the DAM ranking compiled byDaiichi Kosho Company, the song ranked first in the category of the most-sung songs by a male artist as well as ranking second for the most popular karaoke song on DAM Heisei Karaoke Ranking, behind "Hanabi" by Mr. Chicken.[2] The song placed in top 30 forOricon's Year End Karaoke charts for eight years straight.[3]
On 19 May 2018, the first day of their "GO ON AS YOU ARE" tour, Mongol 800 announced that heir song "Chiisana Koi no Uta" would receive a film adaptation. The film started production later that month.[4] Kenya Hirata, who worked on the film's screenplay, wrote a novel based on the song, which in turn served as the film's script. The novel was released on 15 March 2019.[5][6] The film was directed by Kojiro Hashimoto, while Kenya Hirata was in charge of the script, produced by Teru Morii and Masaki Koide, and Mitsuo Nishio was in charge of the editing.[1]
Miyauchi Yosuke, a support member of Mongol800, was in charge of arranging the music and songs for the film. He also taught the actors how to play their instruments.[7]
Little Love Song premiered in Japanese cinemas on 24 May 2019. The film was distributed byToei.[1]