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Ikkyū-san Anime Gets 2nd Live-Action Special in May

posted on by Crystalyn Hodgkins
Child actor Fuku Suzuki to reprise role as monk in training in 2-hour special

Toei Animation's Ikkyū-san historical comedy anime series is getting a second live-action special next month. Ikkyū, the lead role of the series, will again be played by 8-year-old Fuku Suzuki (Humanoid Monster Bem, Kodomo Keisatsu). The Ikkyū-san 2 special will air on Fuji TV on May 5 (the Children's Day holiday in Japan) from 7:00 p.m. to 8:54 p.m.

Hiroki Narimiya (live-action NANA's Nobu, Akihabara @ DEEP's Page) will reprise his role as Ninagawa Shinemon, Narumi Yasuda (Nine: Kanketsuhen's Yuri Nakao) will reprise her role as Iyono Tsubane, and Noriyuki Higashiyama (Hissatsu Shigotonin) will reprise his role as shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu in the special. New cast members include Kana Kurashina (Hana no Zubora-Meshi) as Tsukihime, the woman Shinemon falls in love with, Akiyoshi Nakao (Colorful's Mitsuru) as a man worried about a love between him and a woman of a different social status, Kiriko Isono as the leader of a traveling troupe, and child actor Shōta Akima as the shogun's arrogant and competitive relative.

Fuji TV aired a three-part live-action omnibus special starring Suzuki last June. Fuji TV previously created drama adaptations of the 1975-1982 anime in 1985 and 1986.

Toei's original 1975-1982 Ikkyū-san television anime series is loosely inspired by Ikkyū Sōjun, a real-life Buddhist monk who lived in 15th-century Japan. The story imagines Ikkyū's childhood as a mischievous but clever monk-in-training at Ankokuji Temple. In the new anime short, Ikkyū and the character Shinemon time-travel to modern Kyoto and visit the city's famous landmarks.

A Japanese-Chinese co-produced Ikkyū-san animated film was announced in 2010, and the character was also used in 2011 to promote tourism in Kyoto in English, Chinese, and Japanese.

Image © Fuji TV

Source: Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web


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