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Tiger & Bunny's Satou Directs Toei's Ashura Film
posted on by Egan Loo
The film production company Toei announced on Monday that Keiichi Satou (Tiger & Bunny, Karas) is directing the animated adaptation of George Akiyama's 1970-1971 Ashura manga. The unrelentingly dark drama follows the struggles of a child during a famine in medieval Japan. His mother was so impoverished and starved that she tried to eat Ashura at the beginning of the story.
The film will open in Japan in August. Toei had revealed its proposed Ashura project at the Tokyo International Anime Fair in 2010, but had cautioned at the time that it was not ready to announce any details. Toei had previously adapted Akiyama's Haguregumo manga into a film in 1982.
Toei also announced that Eriko Kitakawa (Long Vacation, Halfway) is co-directing and writing a live-action film called Atarashii Kutsu o Kawanakucha, and acclaimed filmmaker Shunji Iwai (Hana and Alice, Baton, All About Lily Chou-Chou) is producing. Toei revealed its 2012 film lineup, including the release windows for this year's Smile Precure! and One Piece films:
| Title | Director | Release Date |
|---|---|---|
| My Way | Kang Je-gyu | January 14 |
| Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger vs. Space Sheriff Gavan: The Movie | Shojiro Nakazawa | January 21 |
| Hayabusa: Harunaru Kikan | Tokiyuki Takimoto | February 11 |
| Precure All Stars New Stage: Mirai no Tomodachi | Junji Shimizu | March 17 |
| Boku-tachi Kyūkō A-Ressha de Ikō | Yoshimitsu Morita | March 24 |
| Super Hero Taisen (tentative title) | Osamu Kaneda | April 21 |
| Home Itoshi no Zashiki Warashi | Seiji Izumi | April 28 |
| Niji-Iro Hotaru ~Eien no Natsu Yasumi~ | Kônosuke Uda | May 19 |
| Gaiji Keisatsu: Sono Otoko ni Damesareruna | Kentarō Horikirizono | June 2 |
| Ai to Makoto | Takashi Miike | June 16 |
| Rinjō Gekijōban | Hajime Hashimoto | June 30 |
| Kueki Ressha | Nobuhiro Yamashita | July 14 |
| Kamen Rider Fourze Tokumei Sentai Gobusters (tentative title) | ||
| Ashura | Keiichi Satou | August |
| Bakugyaku Familia | Kazuyoshi Kumakiri | September |
| Atarashii Kutsu o Kawanakucha | Eriko Kitakawa | Fall |
| Eiga Smile Precure! (tentative title) | October | |
| Kita no Kanaria-tachi | Junji Sakamoto | November 3 |
| One Piece Film (tentative title) | Tatsuya Nagamine | December |
Sources: Cinema Today, Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web via Tadashi Sudo
Image © George Akiyama/Ashura Production Committee
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