This year is going crazy for LGBTQ+ content. Not only did we have the lesbian anime movie Cosmic Princess Kaguya and The Boyfriend’s second season on Netflix, but we’ve also got the upcoming This Is I, about the life of transgender icon Ai Haruna.
But This Is I is not the only Ai Haruna project this year: she will also be appearing in the upcoming Tonari no Trans Shojo-chan, translated into English as My Neighbor, the Trans Girl (TBD). What is this film about? Who is in it? And when can you see it?
Premise
Affectionately called “TonaTora,” the film is based on the manga of the same name by Tora-Syo, we follow the protagonist, Yuta, who lives with his single mother in relative poverty. He is enjoying his time as a middle school student, but is becoming increasingly aware that there is something a little off, and is perhaps not totally comfortable with his gender identity.
Then, one day, a transgender woman moves in next door. Their new neighbor, Yuka, is eager to speak to Yuta, because as it turns out: she is Yuta, from ten years in the future, and has come back in time to convince them to begin living their authentic life earlier than she did. “The longer you wait, the more you will be in hell,” she implores.
Yuta, a rebellious youngster, tries to push back against Yuka’s pleas, and enjoy his life as a middle school boy. But after a sudden shock on his 14th birthday, he now has to make a choice that will affect his future. What will he decide?
Cast
As mentioned, Ai Haruna has been cast as Yuta’s mother. During a time when transgender rights across the world are under threat, the director, Shôji Tsuyoshi, has made it a priority on this film to highlight transgender talent, including the casting of Haruna, one of the longest-serving transgender icons in Japan, as a cisgender mother.
“I’m excited and excited to be playing the role of a mother to a transgender child,” Haruna says. “By experiencing the parent-child relationship through acting, I’ll once again wonder what my mother was thinking when I was young. I hope to experience that through this film.”
The role of Yuka, the trans woman from the future, will be played by Miyu Nakagawa, a transgender actor who has previously starred in 2025’s Blue Boy Trial, which depicted the legal challenges around transgender people in the 1960s.
“I love the story of Tora-Sho, and there are many parts I can relate to,” she says. “I’ve never seen a comedy film with a transgender protagonist before. I’ll do my best to make viewers smile!”
Development
The film is truly a labor of love, and has been created using crowd-funding to finance its production. Tsuyoshi, a bisexual man who has previously directed critically acclaimed films like Old Narcissus and The Fish with One Sleeve (which was the first film in Japan to have an open call for transgender actors) is making the film with the goal of making people think about the life of transgender people, while also making them laugh.
“In these days of severe discrimination against transgender people raging around the world, films that sincerely address this issue are of course important,” he says. “But I strongly feel that, precisely because of the current situation, we also need films that allow queer people (including myself) to laugh and cheer us up.
“Unfortunately, there are no foundations or organizations in Japan that provide financial support for queer filmmaking. Therefore, we have no choice but to create and promote our films ourselves.”
Can’t Wait
The filming for Tonari no Trans Shojo-chan was completed in January 2026, and it is expected to be released in November or December of this year. We think it will definitely be worth the wait: a heartfelt transgender comedy with a little sci-fi twist, starring iconic transgender actors, and directed by an award-winning queer director? If only we could travel through time, like Yuka, and see it now.
