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Tsukasa Hojo's Angel Sign Film Reveals Omnibus Format, International Cast, Directors

The official website for Angel Sign, City Hunter manga creator Tsukasa Hojo's debut live-action film, revealed new cast members, a new visual, and the film's November 15 opening date on Wednesday. The site also revealed that the film will be an omnibus film with multiple stories.

Hojo will only direct the "Prologue" and "Epilogue" stories, while a different director will handle each of the other stories, which include "Wakare to Hajimari" (Beginning and Farewell), "Sora e" (SKY SKY), "30-pun 30-byō" (Thirty and a Half Minutes), "Chichi no Okurimono" (Father's Gift), and "Furusato e" (Back Home). All the stories will have no spoken lines, and will only have video and music.

The "Wakare to Hajimari" (Beginning and Farewell) story stars Naoto Ogata as the husband, while Momoko Kikuchi plays the wife. Ken Ochiai is directing the story based on Vincent Lange's original "Andfang und Abschied" story.

The "Chichi no Okurimono" (Father's Gift) story stars Jiro Sato as the father, Sayaka Sakai and Neennara Boonbithipaisit as two daughters, while the MechatroWeGo toy is also credited as a cast member for the story. Masatsugu Asahi is directing the story based on Ichirou's original story.

The "Sora e" (SKY SKY) story stars Praewpun Parnyim as the daughter, and Phiphob Kamolketsophon as the father. Thai director Nonzee Nimibutr is directing the story based on Prema-ja's original story.

The "30-pun 30-byō" (Thirty and a Half Minutes) story stars Ngo Quang Tuan as the husband, and Xuan Van as the wife. Vietnamese director Ham Tran is directing the story based on Snippy MJ's original story.

The "Furusato e" (Back Home) story stars Teuku Rifnu Wikana as the father, and Mikako Yoshida and Abigail as two daughters. Indonesian director Kamila Andini is directing the story based on Vu Dinh Lan's original story.

Hojo's "Prologue" and "Epilogue" stories are based on his original work, and as previously revealed, will star Nao Matsushita as cellist Aika and Dean Fujioka as pianist Takaya. The story centers around two musicians and lovers who share a dream of one day moving the world with their music. Takaya composes pieces while doing part-time jobs, and Aika watches over him. But one day, after composing the "Angel Sign" piano-cello duet piece, Takaya never came home. Aika continues to play the piece alone, and eventually, the piece will spread throughout the world.

All the stories except for Hojo's are based on submissions to North Star Pictures' Monthly Comic Zenon's Silent Manga Audition.

Hojo's City Hunter manga recently inspired both the City Hunter: Shinjuku Private Eyes anime film from Sunrise, and the Nicky Larson et le Parfum de Cupidon (Nicky Larson and the Cupid's Purfume) French live-action film. The former opened in Japan on March 1, while the latter opened in France on February 6.

The Silent Manga Audition highlights artists who draw short comics around the world in the style of manga. All entries in the competition are required to have no dialogue. The 11th and most recent Silent Manga Audition's deadline for submissions ended on March 31. The theme for this year is "Promise." Hojo has judged the audition every year since its start, and Fist of the North Star's Tetsuo Hara, Monthly Comic Zenon editor in chief Nobuhiko Horie, Yoroshiku Mecha-Doc's Ryūji Tsugahara, and Koroshi-ya Menkichi's Jun Tomizawa are joining him as the judges for this round.

Sources: Angel Sign film's website, Comic Natalie