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Masaaki Yuasa's Japan Sinks: 2020 Anime Clip Shows Rap Scene
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
Netflix began streaming a clip from Japan Sinks: 2020, Science SARU and Masaaki Yuasa's anime series of Sakyo Komatsu's Japan Sinks (Nihon Chinbotsu) science-fiction novel on Wednesday. The clip shows a rapper attempting to lift the spirits of fellow survivors.
The 10-episode series debuts worldwide on Netflix on Thursday, July 9.
The cast members are (from left to right in image above):
- Reina Ueda (Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba's Kanao Tsuyuri, Darwin's Game's Shuka) as Ayumu Mutō, the 14-year-old protagonist who throws herself into track team practice in her hope to participate in the Olympics
- Tomo Muranaka (World Trigger's Yūma Kuga) as Gō Mutō, Ayumu's younger brother who connects to the world through online games
- Yuko Sasaki (Chibi Maruko-chan's Kotake Sakura) as Mari Mutō, the Mutō family's mother and a former competitive swimmer who is optimistic even in the face of disaster
- Masaki Terasoma (Detective Conan's Ginshiro Toyama) as Kōichirō Mutō, the Mutō family's clever and tenacious father
Other cast members include:
Hiroyuki Yoshino as Haruki Koga
Nanako Mori as Nami Miura
Kensho Ono as Kaito
Umeji Sasaki as Kunio Ashida
George Cockle as Daniel Zakovic
Tomoko Shiota as Kanae Murota
Taichi Takeda as Saburō Ōtani
Daiki Hamano as Osamu Asada
The original disaster science-fiction novel begins when a series of natural disasters hit Japan. Massive tectonic shifts cause volcanic eruptions from remote Japanese islands, triggering earthquakes, and eventually triggering more eruptions in volcanoes in the Japanese mainland. Through it all, a team of scientists attempt to convince the Japanese government that the Japanese archipelago will soon sink beneath the sea sooner than anyone expected.
The new anime moves the setting from 1970s Japan to modern Japan. While the original announcement of the anime mentioned the story would be set just after the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, this detail has now been removed, and is now simply set in "modern Japan" (the Olympics are now delayed). The story centers on the Mutō family, and the siblings Ayumu and Gō. The four members of the Mutō family are caught in an earthquake that hits Tokyo, and attempt to escape the city, while disaster claws at their heels.
Yuasa directed the anime at his Science SARU studio, with Pyeon-Gang Ho credited as series director. Toshio Yoshitaka (Dragon Ball Super) penned the scripts. The musician kensuke ushio, who has collaborated with Yuasa in the Ping Pong and DEVILMAN crybaby anime, composed the music. Naoya Wada (DEVILMAN crybaby episode director) designed the characters. Ken Hashimoto was the color key artist. Toshikazu Kuno was the compositing director of photography. Eriko Kimura was the sound director. Kiyoshi Hirose was in charge of editing.
Komatsu debuted the original novel in 1973, and the novel has inspired two live-action films — one that also debuted in 1973, and another in 2006 by Gainax co-founder and Shin Godzilla director Shinji Higuchi. The novel also inspired a 1975 live-action series, as well as two manga adaptations: the first by Golgo 13 author Takao Saito, and a 2006-2009 manga by Tokihiko Ishiki. The novel is regarded as a science-fiction classic in Japan and around the world.
JManga and Crunchyroll posted Saito's manga adaptation in English, and British video distributor Tartan Video released a subtitled DVD of Higuchi's live-action film.
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