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Live-Action Kūbo Ibuki Film Reveals 22 New Cast Members

The official website for the live-action film adaptation of Osamu Eya and Kaiji Kawaguchi's Kūbo Ibuki (Aircraft Carrier Ibuki) manga revealed additional cast members for the film on Thursday.

The cast, including the previously announced Hidetoshi Nishijima and Kuranosuke Sasaki, include:

(Top row, left to right):

• Koichi Sato as Keiichirō Tarumi, Japan's prime minister
• Hidetoshi Nishijima as Ryōta Akitsu, an officer who started in the Air Self-Defense Force, but is now the skipper of the titular Ibuki aircraft carrier
• Kuranosuke Sasaki as Toshiya Niinami, a Maritime Self-Defense Force officer and the executive officer of the Ibuki

(Middle row, left to right):

• Hayato Ichihara as Yōhei Sakumizu, the leader of the Albatross unit
• Masahiro Takashima as Takanobu Taka, the captain of the submarine Hayashio
• Hiroshi Tamaki as Nariaki Seto, the captain of the destroyer Hatsuyuki
• Tatsuya Fuji as Keiji Wakui, the commander of the Escort Flotilla 5

(Bottom row, left to right):

• Toru Masuoka as Toshimichi Ishiwata, the chief cabinet secretary
• Masato Wada as Weapons Officer Junya Okabe
• Shigeyuki Totsugi as Shin Fuchigami, the commander of the 92nd Squadron
• Eisaku Yoshida as Yūsaku Sawazaki, the department head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau
• Kinari Hirano as Masato Kakinuma, an Albatross pilot
• Takaya Yamauchi as Takehiko Ukifune, the captain of the destroyer Isokaze

Other new cast members include:

• Jun Murakami as Operations Officer Kazuhisa Nakane
• Hoshi Ishida as Weapons Officer Masanao Katsuragi
• Yuta Kanai as Akinobu Inoue, a Maritime Staff Office public relations employee
• Shunsaku Kudô as Tetsuto Urata, the captain of the destroyer Ashitaka
• Tetsuya Chiba as Weapons Officer Shūzō Yamamoto
• Eiji Yokota as Hiroshi Seike, the captain of the destroyer Shirayuki
• Yoshikuni Dochin as Operations Officer Mitsuhiko Yūzawa
• Yoshihiko Hakamada as Masanori Ōmura, the navigator of an RF4EJ reconnaissance aircraft
• Kunito Watanabe as Ken Bizenjima, a pilot
• Ikuji Nakamura as Sōsuke Shiroyama, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Masaki Miura as Tōru Akashi, an employee in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau

Setsurō Wakamatsu is directing the film. Kazunori Itō (Patlabor, Ghost in the Shell, .hack//SIGN) and Yasuo Hasegawa (Riding Bean, Megazone 23, Armitage III) are penning the script. Harutoshi Fukui (Mobile Suit Gundam UC, Harlock: Space Pirate, Uchū Senkan Yamato 2202: Ai no Senshi-tachi) is in charge of planning. The film is slated for 2019.

In the manga's story, the state of world affairs is changing at a dizzying pace. This is particularly clear in the growing military strength of countries neighboring Japan, the issue of resources on the sea floor, disaster relief, underwater transport, maintaining order on the high seas, and island defense. In response to a near-skirmish with China near the disputed Senkaku Islands, Japan builds the Ibuki aircraft carrier.

Kawaguchi launched the series in collaboration with journalist Eya in 2014. Shogakukan released the manga's ninth compiled book volume on March 30. The manga won the Best General Manga award at the 63rd Shogakukan Manga Awards in January. The series' volumes have more than 3 million copies in print.

Kawaguchi ended his Zipang: Shinsō Kairyū manga in November. The manga is unrelated to his earlier time-traveling war manga Zipang, which he also drew in Kodansha's Morning magazine until 2009.

Viz Media published Kawaguchi's political manga Eagle in North America. Central Park Media released the naval anime special The Silent Service inspired by Kawaguchi's manga, and Geneon Entertainment (USA) released the Zipang television anime.

Sources: Kūbo Ibuki live-action film's website, Comic Natalie