Interest
More Live-Action Rurouni Kenshin Castmembers Announced
posted on by Jennifer Sherman
Three new castmembers for the 2012 live-action adaptation of Nobuhiro Watsuki's Rurouni Kenshin samurai manga were announced on Tuesday. Keishi Ōtomo is directing the samurai film starring 22-year-old actor Takeru Satoh (Kamen Rider Den-O, Rookies, Beck, Ryōmaden) as the titular character.
The new cast members are:
- Kouji Kikkawa (Let's Dance With Papa; pictured right) as Jine Udō
- Yōsuke Eguchi (Shōnan Bakusōzoku, Tokyo Love Story; pictured left) as Hajime Saitō
- Teruyuki Kagawa (From Up On Poppy Hill, 20th Century Boys) as Kanryū Takeda
The 17-year-old actress Emi Takei will play the heroine Kaoru Kamiya in next year's film. In August, the The October issue of Shueisha's Jump Square magazine announced Yū Aoi (Hana and Alice, Honey and Clover) as Megumi Takani, Munetaka Aoki (The Last Message Umizaru, live-action The Girl Who Leapt Through Time) as Sanosuke Sagara, and Taketo Tanaka as Yahiko Myōjin. The film's staff held an open casting call for volunteer extras in the film last July.
The Sankei Sports newspaper reported that the staff aims to release the film internationally and eventually make a series. This will be the first live-action adaptation of the manga. Warner Brothers Pictures Japan is producing the film with its president William Ireton, and shooting began in July. Studio Swan (Paradise Kiss) is in charge of the actual film production. Hisashi Sasaki, deputy director of Shueisha's Shonen Manga group, posted four photographs from the set of the film in August.
Watsuki's original 1994-1999 manga ran in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine and the resulting 28 compiled books volumes have 50 million copies in print. The manga inspired a television anime series that is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year. Viz Media published the manga in North America, and Media Blasters' AnimeWorks label released the television anime.
ADV Films released two later original video anime projects and a film on DVD, and Aniplex is releasing these three titles on Blu-ray Disc this year. in April, Shueisha announced that a new Rurouni Kenshin anime project has been green-lit.
Update: More information added.
Update 2: More cast and background information added.
Source: Comic Natalie
this article has been modified since it was originally posted; see change history