The taiga drama "Tenchijin," which currently airs on Sunday nights on NHK, is being turned into a manga for mobile phones. This is the second time that a taiga drama has been adapted as a comic, after "Yoshitsune" in 2005, but it will be the first distributed in digital form.

However, the manga will have a fairly different feel from the drama series. With several good-looking actors in the show, including the star Satoshi Tsumabuki, it was decided that the manga will have a "boys-love" (BL) flavor, with the main character of Naoe Kanetsugu (played by Tsumabuki in the drama) more closely resembling a boy from a shoujo manga. The artist in charge is Kairi Shimotsuki, who has previously done both BL titles and mainstream titles, including the comic adaptation of the popular "Sengoku Basara" video game series.

The "Tenchijin" manga is being aimed at women in their teens and twenties. Sony Digital Entertainment is handling production and distribution, making installments available on the Zenryoku Shoten site at a price of 50 yen per story (about 12-14 pages). Distribution will begin on May 27.

There will be three arcs, each focusing on a different pairing with Kanetsugu. The first deals with Uesugi Kagekatsu (Kazuki Kitamura in the drama), while the subsequent two involve Ishida Mitsunari (Shun Oguri) and Sanada Yukimura (Yu Shirota), respectively.

Based on the fan response, there is a possibility that the manga will later be sold in book form.