Shusuke Kaneko
"The Heart of Thomas" was loosely adapted into the 1988 live-action film "Summer Vacation 1999", directed by Shusuke Kaneko and written by Rio Kishida. The film follows four boys who live alone in an isolated and seemingly frozen-in-time boarding school; the film utilizes a retrofuturistic style, with Kaneko stating that as the original series is not a wholly realist story, he chose to reject realism for its adaptation. The four principal characters are portrayed by female actors in breeches roles, who are dubbed over by voice actors performing in male voices. The film was adapted into a novel by Kishida, which was published in 1992 by Kadokawa Shoten.