Actress Nanami Sakuraba (16) will be playing the lead in NHK's upcoming drama series "Futatsu no Spica." The show is based on Ko Yaginuma's manga of the same name, also known in English as "Twin Spica." The comic was previously turned into an anime series in 2003, but this will be its first live-action treatment.

The sci-fi series is set in the near future at a space academy, where a group of youngsters are training to become astronauts. Sakuraba plays Asumi Kamogawa, a student whose father is a rocket engineer (Masahiro Takashima). Her mother died due to a injury caused by a fallen rocket, but despite that and her father's objections, she chose to pursue the path of an astronaut.

The show is being produced with the help of JAXA, Japan's national aerospace agency. NHK will broadcast the series on Thursday nights at 8:00pm, starting on June 11. Sakuraba's supporting cast includes Yuichi Nakamura, Shunsuke Daito, Rika Adachi, and Yuko Takayama.