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Kaiji Gambling Manga Gets New Live-Action Film in January 2020

Kodansha announced on Thursday that Nobuyuki Fukumoto's Gambling Apocalypse Kaiji manga is inspiring a new live-action film titled Kaiji Final Game that will open in Japan on January 10, 2020. The film is billed as the "last chapter" of the series, with a completely original story by Fukumoto.

The cast includes:
(Note: some character names are not confirmed.)

(Top row, left to right in image above):

• Nagisa Sekimizu as Kanako Kirino
• Tatsuya Fujiwara as Kaiji
• Mackenyu as Minato Hirose

• Sōta Fukushi as Kōsuke Takakura
• Kōtarō Yoshida as Yohishiro Kurosaki

Fujiwara is reprising his role as the titular character from the 2009 Kaiji: The Ultimate Gambler film and 2011 Kaiji 2 - Jinsei Dakkai Game film. Tōya Satō is also returning to direct the new film.

Denpa licensed the manga, and it describes the story:

Ne'er-do-well Kaiji Itou's shiftless existence is suddenly rattled by a visit from the yakuza. Burdened by debt and resentment, Kaiji is coerced into gambling for his worthless life. As the stakes grow higher and the rules become increasingly more bizarre, Kaiji must finally take the future into his own hands! Legendary mangaka Nobuyuki Fukumoto finally makes his English-language debut. The inspiration for the infamous anime by the same name and the Netflix live-action film Animal World takes readers into the dark side of Japan's post-bubble economic society by thrusting them into a world of debt, debauchery, and delusion.

Fukumoto serialized the original manga in Kodansha's Young Magazine from 1996 to 1999. The manga has inspired multiple sequels and spinoffs, two television anime series, two previous Japanese live-action films, a Chinese live-action film, and a reality game show. Denpa will release the first volume of the original manga on September 24.

The Mr. Tonegawa anime, based on a Kaiji spinoff manga, premiered last July.

Source: Comic Natalie