Archive for the ‘Movies’ Category

An event for upcoming movie “Kimi ni Todoke“, was held on the 11th, and the lead stars, Tabe Mikako and Miura Haruma showed up at the event. They appeared in Yukata’s (summer kimono) for the first time this summer, and invoked a big hit for the movie.

“Kimi ni Todoke” is originally a very popular manga, about a pure love story between a high school couple. The manga “Kimi ni Todoke” sold a total of 11 million copies.

Haruma told fans, “I know some people are a bit anxious about this movie, since it’s from an extremely popular manga, but we worked hard on this movie, and we also are big fans of the manga. We will not let down your expectations, so please love the movie as well as the manga.”

“Kimi ni Todoke” will be released on September 25th.

From Tokyohive

ZoomIn coverage of the event:

Kimi ni Todoke is love, sooo excited for the movie! They certainly look adorable together and have been casted perfectly as Kazehaya and Sawako. It’s been a while since I’ve seen Haruma-kun, he is maturing beautifully. May I say he looks quite dashing now-in-days?!

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The press conference was held on August 5th, here’s the coverage from Super News:

Nino looks so tiny compared to the other cast members, though, still very cute. Love his little wave and his recent hairstyle. Wasn’t this held a bit too early? The theatrical release will not be until January 2011, they just want to keep us on the edge all the time.

I had also locate an article regarding the 500,000 yen costumes for the movie:

GANTZ cast talk about iconic 500,000 yen body suit

Not only were the stars of “GANTZ” excited to wear the characteristic body suit, so were their cast members, it was revealed at the film’s press conference in Tokyo this afternoon, reports Eiga.com, Mainichi Shinbum Digital, and Oricon.

Arashi’s Kazunari Ninomiya (27), Kenichi Matsuyama (25), and the cast of sci-fi film “GANTZ” talked about working on the film.

The press conference was also watched live by 2000 fans in Hibiya park, central Tokyo.

Nino and Matsuyama play two friends, Kei Kurono and Masaru Kato, who die in a train accident, but are then mysteriously recalled back along with several other dead people to hunt down and kill aliens. The movie is a live action version of the manga series of the same name, which has to date sold more than 11 million copies and also has a large fan base in Europe.

All of the cast members had revealed that they were big fans of the manga before production. Nino had said this had given him some problems during filming.

“I thought that if we were going to do a live action version, we should do it properly.

“But (as an actor) I couldn’t talk about how the movie should be directed, and that made me a little sad. But I put everything I could into this movie,” he said.

The popstar had said the characteristic GANTZ body suit, which had cost 500,000 yen to make, was the centre of attention all throughout filming.

“There was a lot of waiting time (during filming) so people who didn’t wear the suit would be playing around and trying it on. I’m talking about (co-star) Yoshitaka-san”

A shocked Yuriko Yoshitaka was fast to explain herself.

“Why did you bring that up now!?

“I thought everyone had gone home so I thought this was my chance and tried it on. But then, Ninomiya-san hadn’t gone home yet.

“But when I put it on it was more revealing than I had imagined…and I threw it off because I got embarrassed,” she said.

Currently in post-production, film producer Takahiro Sato said he wants to create a movie that could compete with Christopher Nolan’s “Inception”. He also added that the female body suit actress Natsuna wears outlines her womanly figure clearly.

Nino quickly responded by saying, “you’re making it sound like this is a pervert movie! It’s science fiction”.

Nino also said that being a fan had created other problems in his private life.

“When I heard rumours it would be turned into a live action movie I was excited, but when I heard I would be starring in it I got a little depressed.

“It means I can’t talk about it a lot with my GANTZ fan friends,” he said.

The star said one of the reasons why he had taken up the role was because of his co-star.

“I was concerned about who would play Kato. But they told me they were thinking of Matsuyama-san and I just went, ‘if Matsuyama-san’s involved, I want to be a part of this’,” he said.

Matsuyama could not hold back a smile at the remark.

“I feel very privileged to hear Ninomiya-san speak of me like that. I couldn’t think of anyone else to play Kurono but Ninomiya-san as well,” he said.

With a budget of 40 billion yen and filming which had taken almost six months to finish, film director Shinsuke Sato said he wanted to create a movie that would not simply be a copy of the manga, but something that could stand on its own.

From Momoedgewood

The conversation between Nino and Yoshitaka was LOL, her description certainly makes the film sounds kind of hentai. Awww poor Nino, it’s awesome that he was able to star in one of his favorite manga, but discuss with his friends about his participation is prohibited. I would be the same, I truly about that the live-action will live up to everyone’s expectations. The Nino fanboying was mecha kawaii as well!

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• Ninomiya Kazunari Feels Comfortable with Chignon in his 1st Historical Drama

Japanese film “Oooku” has just selected Arashi’s song “Dear Snow” to be the theme song for the film. This is not surprising due to the main actor in the film being Arashi’s own Ninomiya Kazunari, but is great news for Arashi fans none the less.

The film is about an alternate universe Japan in the Edo era where all of the male population is affected with a mysterious disease that forces the society to become matriarchal. Based on the manga of the same name, it draws upon aspects of gender role reversals to make a stunning semi-historical drama. Nino will be starring opposite female lead Kou Shibasaki.

At the present time no more details about “Dear Snow” being in the film are known. Arashi’s new album “Boku no Miteiru Fuukei” will be released on August 4th, but “Dear Snow” is not confirmed as a track on the album at this time.

From Tokyohive

What a nice surprise! I was certain that the themesong would be performed by another artist. There are no complaints though. I’m really curious to see what the song will be, I’m sure the lyrics will be something very meaningful.

Aaah~ the movie looks so amazing!! XD Did you see Nino’s almost smooch scene? That nearly killed me. LOL This adaption certainly looks brilliant along with its stunning cast, I really wish that October will arrive soon! **Reminds self to finish reading the two volumes of the manga that are laying the shelf.

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Today it has been announced that Arashi’s Sakurai Sho (28) is going to be starring in his first doctor role in the movie “Kamisama no Karte” that will open sometime next year.

Production is being handled by the team that already brought us “Crying Out Love, In the Center of the World”. Sakurai was already overwhelmed by the script, “It was such a tear-jerker!” He will play an internist dealing with medical care in Matsumoto, Nagano. Actress Miyazaki Aoi (24) is going to play the woman at his side. It’s the first time the two of them are working together.

Kurihara Ichito (Sakurai) is a young doctor who is going to experience a lot of different patients in Matsumoto, e.g. a woman with terminal cancer. All patients and their tragedies somehow influence his own life. However, “Kamisama no Karte” won’t just be a completely depressing and sad drama. There will be eccentric characters and friends of Kurihara that are going to loosen the serious atmosphere whenever it seems appropriate. The production team knows what they are doing, so there should be no concern on that end.

“Working in the field of community medicine (chiiki iryou), you always have to deal with >life< itself. Through Ichito and all his troubles, you are going to see how difficult it actually is for many people to just >live< . It's going to show you how important it is to have some kind of light in your life." He earnestly explained the message of the story.

In the movie you are not only going to see Sakurai as a doctor, you will also witness him as a devoted husband. Miyazaki will play his wife Haruna, a professional mountain photographer. As mentioned above, it's their first time working together. Sakurai about Miyazaki, "With Miyazaki it will be no problem playing a married couple overflowing with love, because there is such a soft atmosphere surrounding her." Miyazaki is looking forward to the filming that will start in September as well. "By getting into the role of the strong and kind Haru I'd like the filming to be just as relaxed as her character." She said.

The story is based on a novel by writer and actual doctor in Nagano, Natsukawa Sousuke (31). It went on sale in August 2009 and already sold over 300,000 copies. So far the signs are looking good for this movie. Let's see whether the production team will be able to repeat the success of their previous works.

From Kawaii Joyuu

News coverage from Zoomin:

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Arashi’s member Kazunari Ninomiya, together with costars Kou Shibasaki, Kuranosuke Sasaki, and Hiroshi Tamaki attended the press conference of the movie “Ooku”. The background of the movie is set in the Edo period with the positions of man and woman reversed.

Shibasaki, who will be playing the role of a female Shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune, revealed her aim: “Because my role is a queen, I will try to express a kind of resolute personality.” As for Ninomiya, for whom it’s the first time to play a role in the Jidaigeki (historical TV drama), commented on his own chignon appearance with a smile: “I think it fits me very well! It’s quite comfortable.” Another noteworthy feature is that Sasaki and Tamaki had thrown themselves completely into the performance of the love scene between guys in the movie. Tamaki said: “The love scene between Mr. Kuranosuke and me started on the first shooting day. I felt a little bit weird at the beginning because female and male were reversed in the story. However, it turned out to be very smooth and I was not worried at all.” As to Sasaki, he gave the comment that “Maybe we have developed the empathy with each other. I am open to Tama-chan now.” “Yeah, we are.” agreed Tamaki, looking like “in love” with the partner. Hearing the conversation, Ninomiya was totally laughing out.

From Music Japan

News coverage:

Nino certainly looks handsome, I tend to forget since he is such a brat when he’s with Arashi. Does that scene where Yoshimune-san had made Mizuno-kun look at her make you go kya~~? SUTEKI! ♥♥ Though, the camera had panned around the room too fast, I did get a glance of Tamaki-kun. He looks gorgeous of well. This is going to be one awesome movie!!

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Arashi’s Ninomiya Kazunari and actor Matsuyama Kenichi are both starring in the two-part movie “GANTZ”, scheduled for release in 2011 and a world wide airing has been made certain!

There has not been a preview until now, yet, the airing in Singapore has already been decided. Moreover, there have been requests from 13 countries all of the world with more than 45 companies’ offerings, which is about twice as much as for the hit movie “DEATH NOTE”.

What is the reason behind the great attention? One of the reasons is certainly that the manga, the movie is based on has been release for example in the USA and France is highly popular at the moment. The second reason is probably the fact that Ninomiya, who had been starring in the award-winning “Letters from Iwo Jima” and Matsuyama, who had been playing in the best-selling movie adaption of “Norwegian Wood” and “DEATH NOTE” are starring in this movie together, making it a highly valuable performance pre-hand.

A 4 minute preview of the movie has been shown at the 63rd Cannes Film Festival and Yamada Takayuki has also been set on a yet undefined role in the movie, as he is a fan of the original publication.

From Music Japan

Gantz suits and battle revealed -- ZoomIn coverage on 5/14/2010:

Kyaa~~love Nino’s expressions, especially that little angry bit that was shown, that was so epic!! Though, I usually find him cute most of the time, but I do like his bodacious and fearless self. Can you believe each of the leather suits cost 500,000 yen?! Definitely looking forward to this!!

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So happy that I had clicked on the Ooku website this morning, it has been updated the movie’s poster along with additional sections. Nino looks cute here in his samurai attire and chonmage/topknot, somehow it make he look younger. Also, Shibasaki-san’s character is surfacing, she looks and feels like a shogun. I cannot wait to see this!

click on image to visit site

Back in December, it was announced that a new film adaptation of Fumi Yoshinaga’s Ooku manga was in the works and that it would star Kou Shibasaki and Arashi’s Kazunari Ninomiya in the two lead roles. Then in February, a new batch of co-stars was announced including Maki Horikita, Hiroshi Tamaki, Sadao Abe, and Tadayoshi Okura (of Kanjani8).

Today it was revealed that the cast will also include Kuranosuke Sasaki, Emi Wakui, Mitsuko Baisho, Muga Takewaki, and Aoi Nakamura, among others.

The film is set in an alternate an alternate version of Japan in which a disease has drastically decreased the male population, turning the nation into a matriarchal society in which young men are treated as a precious commodity never to be risked in sports or war. Within the story, gender roles and names are typically reversed. Ninomiya stars as a commoner named Mizuno who enters the Ooku (inner palace) in order to earn money for his family by becoming a member of the all-male harem. Soon, new shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune (Shibasaki) selects him as her first consort, triggering a long-standing Ooku tradition which could mean his death.

As previously reported by Tokyograph, Horikita will play O-nobu, the childhood friend of Mizuno who has feelings for him; Tamaki will play an elite member of the O-chuurou class named Matsushima; Abe will play a low-ranking member named Sugishita who has given up on advancing any further; and Okura will play Mizuno’s rival, an expert swordsman named Tsuruoka

Among the newly-revealed co-stars, Sasaki will play Fujinami, the senior harem adviser and Wakui will play Kano Hisamichi, a childhood friend of Yoshimune.

“Ooku” will be released in Japan on October 1, 2010.

From NipponCinema

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Purely awesomeness, I am so psyched about this! This is pretty much a teaser, leaving me to wait more and more. Nino look cute in his little puffed jacket ne and the rest of the cast appears to be suited for their roles. I cannot wait until 2011!

Also, the official website has been update with information about story, cast, staff, etc. You can access it here.

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• Ohoku’s themesong and extended trailer
• Sakurai Sho’s upcoming movie, Kamisama no Karute