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Live-Action Blade of the Immortal Film's Character Trailers Streamed
posted on by Karen Ressler
Warner Brothers Japan began streaming five character trailers for the live-action film of Hiroaki Samura's Blade of the Immortal "neo period drama" manga on Friday. The trailer featuring the lead characters Manji and Rin is available on the film's website, and the other trailers are below.
Kagehisa Anotsu:
Shira and Hyakurin:
Makie Otono-Tachibana:
Yaobikuni, Kagimura Habaki, and Kensui Ibane:
The manga follows Manji's journey of revenge as the yōjinbō (bodyguard) of Rin, a young woman who swears vengeance against a group of sword fighters who murdered her parents.
The film's lead actors include Takuya Kimura (seen above) and Hana Sugisaki (seen right). Kimura (Howl's Moving Castle, Redline, live-action Space Battleship Yamato) plays the lead character Manji, a rōnin warrior cursed with an immortal body. Sugisaki (When Marnie Was There, live-action Humanoid Monster Bem, Tsukuroi Tatsu Hito) plays both the heroine Rin Asano and Manji's sister Machi.
Prolific filmmaker Takashi Miike (Ichi the Killer, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Yatterman, As the Gods Will, Crows) is directing the film. Filming took place in Kyoto in extremely cold weather, and the climax of Manji and Rin versus 300 enemies took about 15 days to shoot. The film will open in Japan on April 29.
Guitarist MIYAVI performs film's theme song "Live to Die Another Day ~Sonzai Shōmei~" (Live to Die Another Day ~Proof of Existence~).
The additional cast members include:
(Top row, from left to right):
- Sōta Fukushi as Kagehisa Anotsu
- Hayato Ichihara as Shira
- Erika Toda as Makie Otono-Tachibana
- Kazuki Kitamura as Sabato Kuroi
- Chiaki Kuriyama as Hyakurin
- Shinnosuke Mitsushima as Taito Magatsu
- Ichikawa Ebizō XI as Eiku Shizuma
- Min Tanaka as Kagimura Habaki
- Tsutomu Yamazaki as Kensui Ibane
In addition, Ken Kaneko plays Hishiyasu Shido and Yōko Yamamoto plays Yaobikuni.
Samura launched the Blade of the Immortal manga in Kodansha's Monthly Afternoon magazine in December of 1993, and he completed the series in 2012. The manga's 30 volumes have 5 million copies in print, and the series has been published in 22 countries and territories. The manga earned an Excellence Prize in the manga category of the 1st Japan Media Arts Festival Awards in 1997, and it won the Eisner Award for Best U.S. Edition of Foreign Material in 2000. The manga is getting a reprint in Japan with new covers.
Dark Horse Comics published the Blade of the Immortal manga in North America, and is rereleasing it in omnibus form. The first omnibus volume shipped in January. The manga already inspired a television anime in 2008, and Media Blasters released it in English. The manga also inspired a stage play that starred Tomokazu Seki, who reprised his role from the anime as Manji.
Source: Comic Natalie
