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Nana Komatsu to Play Live-Action Bakuman Film's Heroine Azuki
posted on by Egan Loo
This year's 33rd issue of Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine is announcing on Monday that up-and-coming actress Nana Komatsu will play the heroine Miho Azuki in the live-action film of Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata's Bakuman. manga. Komatsu made her debut as a fashion model, and has since appeared in commercials and music videos. She already played the heroine Kanako in the Kawaki film which opened last month.
Takeru Satoh (Kamen Rider Den-O, Beck, Kanojo wa Uso o Ai Shisugiteru, Ryōmaden) plays Moritaka Mashiro, a boy who aspires to be a manga artist, and Ryunosuke Kamiki (Howl's Moving Castle, Summer Wars, The Secret World of Arrietty, The Princess and the Pilot) plays his classmate and story collaborator Akito Takagi. The film follows Mashiro and Takagi as they walk the path to becoming manga creators. The two lead actors happen to also co-star as Kenshin Himura and Sōjirō Seta in the upcoming live-action sequel film Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno (Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Taika-hen).
Hitoshi Ōne (Moteki, Koi no Uzu/The Vortex of Love) is directing the film. Obata emphasized that he is not just credited as a creator of the film's concept, but also as a staff member directly involved in the production. His own art will appear in the film as the various manga that Mashiro draws.
The two creators of Death Note serialized the Bakuman. manga in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine from 2008 to 2012, and Shueisha published over 15 million copies of the manga's 20 compiled volumes. The manga inspired three television anime series from 2010 to 2013. Viz Media publishes the manga in North America, and Media Blasters released part of the television anime on DVD in North America. The manga topped the Male category of the "Kono Manga ga Sugoi!" list in 2010.
