Threads of Destiny

Threads of Destiny (赤い糸) is a 2006 cell phone novel series written by Mei. Akai Ito was first published on the website Mahō no Toshōkan, where it became the #1 ranked story within the first month of publication. The popularity of Akai Ito has been associated with the boom of cell phone novels in the mid-2000s in Japan. The novel was later published as a series of five books, which sold a consecutive total of 1.8 million physical copies.

The success of Akai Ito has led to a manga adaptation by Cocco Kashiwaya, a television and film project released under the title Threads of Destiny, and two video game adaptations.

Plot
Middle school student Mei Takemiya has a crush on her childhood friend Yūya, but after he confesses to her older sister, Haruna, she withdraws to the company of her circle of friends: Riku, Mia, Yuri, Natsuki, Mitsuru, Asami, and Sara. One day, she becomes acquainted with her classmate, Atsushi Nishino, and the two realize they have a lot in common, including sharing the same birthday and encountering each other when they were young. As Mei and Atsushi become closer, they fall in love and believe to be each other's soulmate.

However, when Atsushi's troubled home life catches up to him, he distances himself from Mei. Mei begins dating Riku, who becomes increasingly abusive, while their circle of friends encounter situations involving drugs, rape, and attempted suicide. In spite of this, Mei struggles to hold onto her belief that she will overcome her obstacles, and the red string of fate will eventually lead her to her true love.

Main characters

 * Mei Takemiya (竹宮芽衣)
 * Portrayed by: Nao Minamisawa
 * Mei is a gentle and kind middle school student who believes in destiny.


 * Atsushi Nishino (西野敦史)
 * Portrayed by: Junpei Mizobata;
 * Atsushi is a quiet boy in Mei's class who is nicknamed Akkun (アッくん). His mother is a drug addict, and he spends his time taking care of her.

Supporting characters

 * Riku Takahashi (高橋陸)
 * Portrayed by: Ryo Kimura;
 * Riku is one of Mei's friends and is nicknamed Taka-chan (たかチャン). He has been secretly in love with her and they decide to date after Mei and Atsushi break up. However, in spite of his cheerful personality, he starts growing possessive of Mei and eventually starts becoming abusive towards her.


 * Natsuki Fujiwara (藤原夏樹)
 * Portrayed by: Tomo Yanagishita;


 * Yuri Nakanishi (中西優梨)
 * Portrayed by: Kasumi Suzuki;


 * Mitsuru Kamiya (神谷充)
 * Portrayed by: Ryo Tajima;


 * Mia Yamagishi (山岸美亜)
 * Portrayed by: Rei Okamoto;


 * Asami Tadokoro (田所麻美)
 * Portrayed by: Anna Ishibashi;


 * Sara Nakagawa (中川沙良)
 * Portrayed by: Nanami Sakuraba;
 * Sara is one of Mei's friends and is in love with Riku. Upon discovering he is in love with Mei, she attempts suicide but survives the incident with amnesia.


 * Yūya Shinozaki (篠崎悠哉)
 * Portrayed by: Hiroshi Yazaki;
 * Yūya is Mei and Haruna's childhood friend, and Mei has been in love with him since childhood. However, he is in love with Haruna and confesses to her.


 * Haruna Takemiya (竹宮春菜)
 * Portrayed by: Sayuri Iwata;
 * Haruna is Mei's older sister.

Minor characters

 * Miyabi Kawaguchi (川口ミヤビ)
 * Portrayed by: Kaoru Hirata


 * Shu Yasuda (安田愁)
 * Portrayed by: Ryuya Wakaba


 * Koichi Murakoshi (村越浩市)
 * Portrayed by: Kenji Matsuda


 * Natsumi Nishino (西野夏実)
 * Portrayed by: Mirai Yamamoto


 * Takamichi Morisaki (森崎孝道)
 * Portrayed by: Shigemitsu Ogi


 * Sachiko Takemiya (竹宮幸子)
 * Portrayed by: Noriko Watanabe

Novels
Akai Ito is written by Mei and was posted on the website Mahō no Toshōkan in 2006. Throughout its run, 3.3 million readers were subscribed to the story, and it was consistently ranked at #1 on the website. Media referenced Akai Ito as one of the leaders of the "cell phone novel" phenomenon in the mid-2000s along with Koizora. Akai Ito had over 16 million views by 2008. The chapters were later compiled and released as bound volumes by Goma Books. The consecutive sales of all books sold more than 1.8 million copies.

Re-releases
Goma Books re-released the Akai Ito series under the Goma Bunko imprint, with stories divided into 3 books, on April 28, 2009.

Manga
A manga adaptation illustrated by Cocco Kashiwaya was released from 2008 to 2009 in bound volumes published by Goma Books under the Orion Comics imprint.

Television series
A live-action television drama series and a film adaptation was announced in April 2008 and produced simultaneously. Production for both adaptations completed on November 20, 2008. The television broadcast aired on Fuji TV from December 6, 2008 to February 28, 2009, for a total of 11 episodes. Both the television series and the film's theme song is "366 Days" (366日) by HY. A DVD box set for the television series was released on July 15, 2009, and it charted at #68 on the Oricon Weekly DVD Charts.

Film
A continuation of the first half of the television broadcast was released as a theatrical film on December 20, 2008 and concluded with a "To be continued" intertitle for the second half of the television series. The film was produced simultaneously with the television series and concluded production in November 2008. The film was released on DVD in standard and special editions on May 29, 2009, charting at #29 on the Oricon Weekly DVD Charts. Russell Edwards from Variety called some of the secondary plot points "ridiculous", but found the actors likeable.

Video games
A video game adaptation titled Akai Ito DS (赤い糸DS) was produced by Alchemist released on the Nintendo DS on December 25, 2008. The game was first announced on October 14, 2008 and is a visual novel dating simulation where the player takes control of Mei's choices while navigating through the story.

A sequel, titled Akai Ito Destiny DS, was released on the Nintendo DS on March 26, 2009. The limited edition sold by Animate came with a drama CD featuring Jun Fukuyama, Hiroki Takahashi, and Tomokazu Sugita, the voice actors of Atsushi, Natsuki, and Kaito.