20th Century boys movie


Cast: Toshiaki Karasawa (Kenji Endo) , Etsushi Toyokawa (Occho), Takako Tokiwa (Yukiji), Hitomi Kuroki, Naoto Takenaka, Renji Ishibashi, Kenichi Endo, Arata, Chizuru Ikewaki, Ken Mitsuishi, Teruyuki Kagawa, Hiroyuki Miyasako, Fumiyo Kohinata, Nana Katase, Kuranosuke Sasaki, Mirai Moriyama, Katsuo Nakamura, Takashi Fujii...
(check http://www.20thboys.com/cast_main.html for actos pics vs manga character pics)


Moriyama plays Kakuta ( info about his character, it might contain spoilers )

HERE is a post with the pics from the official site cast and their role, in English.

extended trailer

This year's 10th issue (released on February 4) of Shogakukan's Weekly Big Comic Spirits magazine has confirmed the main cast of the live-action adaptation of Naoki Urasawa's 20th Century Boys psychological suspense manga. The magazine also confirmed the adaptation will now be a trilogy of films. The Sankei Sports newspaper has posted a never-before-published poster image for the film trilogy.

Toshiaki Karasawa (Casshern's Brayking Boss) will star as Kenji, a man who must look back upon his childhood memories to uncover the secrets of a cult known only as "Friend." The "Friend" cult is linked to several deaths already and may cause multitudes more throughout the world. Karasawa said that he still remembers to this day the impact the books made when he first read them, and that he is honored to play the lead. Etsushi Toyokawa (Hula Girls) and Takako Tokiwa (Brave Story) will star as Kenji's childhood friends Otcho and Yukiji, respectively. Toyokawa promised to not let down Urasawa's fans, while Tokiwa expressed surprise and excitement over becoming Yukiji.

The first chapter will open in Japan on August 30. The entire trilogy is budgeted at 6 billion yen (about US$60 million), and the crew will film on location in 7 countries, including Japan, Thailand, America, England, and China. The simultaneous shooting of the first two chapters will last from January 3 until the end of June, and the third chapter's filming will last from the middle of August until the end of October. 42 companies have made offers to distribute this film in 34 countries and regions. Urasawa, who contributed on the script, said he was excited about the film project. In particular, the English rock band T.Rex has agreed to have its "20th Century Boy" song play as the trilogy's theme song. This 1973 song helped inspired the motif of Urasawa's original manga.

Viz Media was planning to release the manga version in North America in 2005, but the release was delayed by Urasawa's request to have his earlier Monster manga published first. Viz will publish the 16th of 18 Monster volumes on August 19. 20 million copies of the 20th Century Boys manga have been sold in Japan.

from animenewsnetwork.com

The latest film starring everyone’s favorite (or just about everyone’s favorite) actress, Yu Aoi, has set an opening date. The film “One Million Yen and the Nigamushi Woman” will premiere in Japan on Saturday July 19th. Mark your calendars for that one if you live in Japan. “One Million Yen and the Nigamushi Woman” is also helmed by up and coming director Yuki Tanada, who has already worked with Yui Aoi in the 2008 Japanese television show “Camouflage.”

In “One Million Yen and the Nigamushi Woman,” Yu Aoi plays a 21 year old loner without a job or friends (hard to believe but we’ll go along with the premise). Then misfortune strikes Yui Aoi when she gets arrested (and if you’ve watched “I Just Didn’t Do It” - you know by now) she is found guilty. Consequently, Yu Aoi makes out like a bandit and flees town. She then roams from town to town, working odd end end up jobs until she can acquire the 1,000,000 Yen ($9,367.67 USD) needed to pay her fees.

from lunapark 6

Actor Mirai Moriyama has been given the lead in an upcoming Japanese production of the Broadway musical "Rent," winning the part through an audition of roughly 8,000 people. While double casting for long productions is common, Moriyama will be performing for the show's entire two-month run.

The musical is being directed by Erica Schmidt. Performances will take place between November 7 and December 30 at the Theatre Creation in Hibiya, Tokyo.

-Tokyograph.com

Takuya Ohashi (of the pop duo Sukima Switch) will release his second solo single on April 2. Titled "Arigatou," it will serve as the theme song for the NHK Saturday drama "Keiji no Genba." This is the first drama theme sung by Sukima Switch, either as a group or as solo artists.

"Keiji no Genba" stars Akira Terao as a veteran detective and Mirai Moriyama as a rookie. The series will run for 4 episodes, starting on March 1.

Actor Mirai Moriyama and actress Reina Asami are reportedly dating. According to sources close to the two, they first met in mid-March. From May to June, they appeared together in the play "Blood Wedding" ("Bodas de Sangre"), which starred Moriyama and Sonim.

Their relationship began professionally as Moriyama sought acting advice from the older Asami, but it gradually developed into romance.

Moriyama's agency has not yet commented on the matter, while Asami's management says that the two are good friends.

SCHOOL DAZE CAPTURES





HERE

Actress Yu Aoi will star in a new film directed and written by Yuki Tanada, titled "Hyakumanen to Nigamushi Onna."

Her character this time is a 21-year-old junior college graduate with no job and no friends. One day, an incident leads to her getting arrested and found guilty, leaving her with a criminal record. As a result, she flees from home and begins moving from town to town, briefly working part-time jobs as she works towards saving up one million yen.

Mirai Moriyama will co-star. Principal photography begins on the 15th. The movie will open in 2008.