L'étranger series

Shun Hashimoto is a gay novelist living in Okinawa who meets Mio Chibana, an orphaned high school student living with his relatives after his mother's death. However, Mio's reaction towards Shun reaching out to him reminds him of the estrangement from his parents after they discovered his sexual orientation. As Shun and Mio grow closer, Mio confesses that he is moving to the city, but promises to keep in contact once there.

Three years later, Mio suddenly moves back and confesses he is in love with Shun, but Shun is overcome with guilt from depriving him of a "normal" life. Meanwhile, Shun's childhood friend and ex-fiancée, Sakurako, arrives at the island to persuade him to return to Hokkaido due to his father's poor health. Shun is adamant on staying with Mio, but Mio urges him to return to reconcile with his family. Realizing Mio is genuinely in love with him and sensing the truth in his words, Shun decides to return to Hokkaido and asks Mio to accompany him.

With Mio accompanying him, Shun visits his parents' house in Hokkaido and discovers Fumi, his younger brother adopted during his absence, and Sakurako had tricked him into reconciling with his father. Shun and Mio move in with the Hashimotos, with Shun's father and Fumi struggling to fully accept them as a couple.[4] During Parents' Observation Day at Fumi's school, Shun unexpectedly runs into Wada, his classmate and first, albeit unrequited love.[5] In the spring, Shun publishes his first novel and instantly gains media attention in spite of his anonymity due to being branded as a gay novelist. Five years later, Shun has taken a break from writing novels, while Fumi has become rebellious and resents him for rejecting Sakurako.

L'étranger de la Plage is written and illustrated by Kanna Kii, and it is her debut manga work.[1] It was serialized in the bimonthy manga anthology On BLUE from 2013 to 2014. The chapters were later released in one bound volume by Shodensha under the Feel Comics On BLUE imprint. The manga is distributed in English by Renta! under the title The Stranger by the Beach.[8] In December 2020, Seven Seas Entertainment announced that it had acquired the license to the series for release in July 2021 under the title Seaside Stranger.[9]

The manga was followed up with a sequel series titled L'étranger du Zéphyr, which began publication in vol. 14 of On BLUE that was released on July 25, 2014.[10] The chapters were later released in bound volumes by Shodensha under the On BLUE Comics imprint.

L'étranger de la Plage was adapted into a drama CD starring Taishi Murata as Shun and Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as Mio and was released on August 26, 2016.[11] An exclusive talk CD was included at a bonus for a limited time at Animate.[4] A drama CD adaptation of volume 1 of L'étranger du Zéphyr was released on October 27, 2017.[6][12]

On October 25, 2019, Fuji TV announced that they were producing an anime film adaptation of L'étranger de la Plage as part of its Blue Lynx boys' love anime label, set for a theatrical release on September 11, 2020.[1][17] The film will be animated by Studio Hibari and directed by Akiyo Ohashi.[1] Kii, who had previously been an animator, will be supervising the film and is in charge of the character designs.[1] The film will be distributed by Shochiku.[1] Mina Kubota will compose the music for the film, while the band Mono no Aware will perform the film's theme song, "Zokkon" (From the Bottom of My Heart).[18]