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Live-Action Sazae-san TV Special Casts Yū Inaba as Ikura, Now in College
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
The official Twitter account for the 50th anniversary special of the family television anime Sazae-san revealed on Friday that Yū Inaba (seen below) will play Ikura Namino in the special's live-action segment.
A one-year-old baby in the original series, Ikura is now a 21-year-old adult in the live-action segment, and is the underclassman of the older Tarao in college. While they remain close friends, Tarao has not yet decided which direction to go in life. Meanwhile, Ikura has decided that he "has to make waves himself" while still in school, and launches an IT startup company using drones. Tarao can only look on with growing impatience at Ikura's success.
The live-action segment's cast members include (from left to right in image above):
- Yoshie Ichige as Fune
- Masatō Ibu as Namihei
- Gaku Hamada as Katsuo
- Yūki Amami as Sazae
- Hidetoshi Nishijima as Masuo
- Mayu Matsuoka as Wakame
- Ryō Narita as Tarao
- Hiyori Sakurada as Hitode Fuguta
Shinya Kote will also play Anago in the live-action segment. Norito Yashima will play Sazae's cousin Norisuke Namino, and Taiki Nakabayashi will play Wakame's boyfriend Takeshi Kaizuka.
The special will premiere on November 24, and will air for three and a half hours on Fuji TV. Masayuki Suzuki is directing the live-action segment, and Tomoko Akutsu is penning the script.
The live-action segment will depict the family 20 years into the future. This segment serves as a follow-up to the September 2018 sequel stage play that imagines the family 10 years into the future.
The anime segment of the special will bring in fantasy elements as it depicts the past of Sazae's family, as well as a family trip. Earlier this year, the staff chose 28 families from Tokyo's Asahigaoka district (the setting of the Sazae-san story) to be animated into the series, and this anniversary special's anime segment will feature three of those families. These families' names will even appear in the anime segment.
Sources: Sazae-san 50th anniversary special's Twitter account, Comic Natalie
