Azoland Pictures is bringing Fukuda Yuichi’s live-action manga adaptation, Gintama, to the big screen in the U.S. and Canada beginning this Friday. It’s a film that I’ve especially waited for and have cheered on if only for the fact that the animated series, currently on its final arc from TV Tokyo, is my most favorite of all the shows I myself have seen, even as some who’ve seen cuts of the film since its rollout starting last summer in Japan have fallen short of some expectations despite becoming a regional box office hit.
Oguri Shun, best known for roles in other adaptations like Miike Takashi’s first and second Crows Zero films leads the narrative based on Sorachi Hideaki’s long running gag manga set in an alternative universe where aliens have conquered Japan. The story, previously summed up in an animated feature edit in 2010, takes its cues from the Benizakura Arc in which a missing biomechanical sword puts our heroes face to face with a mysterious killer known as Nizo, played by Parasyte Part 1 & 2 co-star, actor Arai Hirofumi, and with none other than Fukuda Yuichi at the helm following previous adaptations like 2013 spectacle, HK: Forbidden Super Hero, and its 2016 sequel.
Gintama sequel news remains pending after last year’s announcement. Until then, Oguri is joined by Suda Masaki and Hashimoto Kanna for the film’s select releases in U.S. and Canada with listings currently available at the official Azoland Pictures website.
Check out the short trailer below.
