The film based on Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata’s Bakuman manga will be releasing in Japanese theaters on October 3 and as the premiere draws even closer, TOHO Cinemas began teasing fans about the live-action movie with four new TV ads for the movie.
Since the movie has a Shonen Jump! theme, several voice actors from some of the manga magazine’s most legendary series have provided their voices for the ads to narrate each video. The first video is titled Friendship, and it is narrated by Mayumi Tanaka, the voice behind One Piece’s Monkey D. Luffy.
The second video is titled Effort, and it is narrated by Akira Kamiya, best known for his role as Kenshiro from Fist of the North Star.
The third video is titled Victory, and it is narrated by the well known Masako Nozawa, who is the voice behind Dragon Ball’s Goku.
While the final video is titled Love, and it is narrated by the voice actress behind Dragon Ball’s Bulma, Hiromi Tsuru.
The film will be directed by Hitoshi Ohne, who has directed the Moteki live action film adaptation and the 2013 film Koi no uzu. The adaptation will star Takeru Satoh (Kenshin Himura in the live action Rurouni Kenshin films) as Moritaka Mashiro, an aspiring manga artist. Alongside Satoh will be Ryunosuke Kamiki (Kenji Koiso in Summer Wars and Sojiro Seta from the Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Taika-hen movie) who will play Akito Takagi.
Kamiki has commented that he loves the manga and that it’s an honour to be starring in the film. Satoh commented that he wants to convey the full message and marvelousness of the original manga’s story. Tsugumi Ohba stated that he will be heavily involved in the film aside from being credited as the original creator, working as part of the film’s production crew. He will also draw many of the manga pages that will appear in the film.
Movie visual:
Bakuman is a manga series that started 2008 and ended in mid 2012. The series is written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata, the same duo behind the original Death Note manga. The series ran in Shueisha’s Weekly Shounen Jump for a total of 20 volumes. To date the manga has sold over 15 million copies. The manga follows two students who wish to become manga artists. An anime adaptation starting airing in 2010 and was produced by J.C. Staff. Two sequel seasons aired in the 3 following years. A video game based on the series released on the Nintendo DS in 2011.
Here is a synopsis of Bakuman from Haruhichan:
Moritaka Mashiro and Akito Takagi are pretty much foils of each other. Mashiro, an average 9th grade student but talented artist, and Takagi, an overall advanced 9th grader and aspiring writer. After great convincing, Takagi convinces Mashiro to join him in becoming the greatest mangakas Japan has ever seen. Takagi, with his gift of writing, hopes to become a successful mangaka, and Mashiro, with his gift of art, hopes to marry the girl of his dreams, Azuki Miho.
The movie will be based on Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata’s best-selling manga series about making manga series and is scheduled to premiere in Japan on October 3, 2015.
You can visit the film’s official website here: http://www.bakuman-movie.com/
