oguri shun

Kitamura’s Stylish, Energetic LUPIN III Falls Short Of Expectations

Cesar Alejandro Jr.

The Works, an international organization comprised of the greatest thieves in the world. When the head of the organization is betrayed by one of their own (Yan), legendary thieves and criminals Lupin III (Oguri), femme fatale Fujiko (Kuroki), gunman Jigen (Tamayama), and master swordsman Goemon (Ayano), head out to find their former ally. Based on the legendary manga series by Monkey Punch, Lupin III comes to us from action director Ryuhei Kitamura; responsible for such films as Versus, Godzilla: Final Wars, and No One Lives. With a long history of animated features, including the highly acclaimed Castle of Cagliostro from Hayao Miyazaki, and one previous live action film released in the 1970’s, this mega budget adaptation had perhaps an unfair amount of expectation laid upon it. The end result is a film that is stylish, quickly paced, and filled with action, but loses the humour, heart, and flat out entertainment […]

‘Gintama’, ‘Crows Zero’ Star Oguri Shun Joins GODZILLA VS. KONG

Lee B. Golden III

Should a third live action Gintama film arise in the coming years, at least it’ll have a few more fourth-wall gags to tap into per actor Oguri Shun‘s growing career. The two initial Fukuda Yuichi-directed manga adaptations are hits at home and abroad, otherwise now signaling Shun’s crossover readiness with word from Deadline that he’ll be joining the currently growing roster for Godzilla VS. Kong from Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. Oguri, whose career spans several of hits from a list of hit directors including Kitamura Ryuhei, Miike Takashi, Quentin Tarantino, and as of late, Fukuda Yuichi, now adds The Guest helmer Adam Wingard who helms the fourth installment that succeeds Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla (2014) and Jordan Vogt-Roberts’ Kong: Skull Island (2017); Michael Doughterty’s forthcoming Godzilla: King Of The Monsters wrapped in September for its May 31, 2019 release. Terry Rossio is writing Godzilla vs. Kong which commences filming this […]

GINTAMA 2: Crisis Looms And New Enemies Pull The Strings In The First Official Trailer

Lee B. Golden III

Hit anime series, Gintama, just began the final run of its long-running anime series this week with the Silver Soul arc, culminating an epic samurai/space saga that has drawn loyal crowds to manga shelves and live stage show readings for years. In the meantime, Warner Bros. Japan is making good on its successes with forthcoming sequel, Gintama 2, after hitting it big last summer with starring principles Oguri Shun, Hashimoto Kanna and Suda Masaki all back to reprise as the beloved odd jobs trio. They’re joined by a mix of returning and new additions to the cast that will mingle both the Shinsengumi Crisis Arc and the Shogun Assassination Arc; Both arcs are packed with kinetic, big-scale action and doeses emotive upheaval to couple with the usual serving of comedic, often forth-wall breaking gags Gintama is known for, which kind of speaks to just how returning director Fukuda Yuichi may […]

IMG_20180705_042238

GINTAMA 2: Get A Look At Who’s Who In The First Official Poster For The Sequel!

Lee B. Golden III

It’s okay to want things! That’s at least one thing you can take away from the Shinsengumi Crisis Arc of the long running Gintama manga and anime franchise depending on your own sensibilities – such were that of “Tosshi”, Shinsengumi Vice Chief Toshiro Hijikata’s otaku persona when he chose to acquire an intriguing sword with its own dark history. …That’s the backstory to many of the images you’ve likely caught online as post production rolled on for Gintama 2, the upcoming live-action sequel to the 2017 film that retold a slight retooling of the Benizakura Arc. Title actor Oguri Shun is back in the role of Sakata Gintoki, a lazy, sweet-toothed ronin/odd jobs entrepreneur in an alternative Edo-period Japan with Hashimoto Kanna as Yato exile, Kagura and Suda Masaki as the straight-laced Shimura Shinpachi. Also returning is actor and musician Domoto Tsuyoshi who plays Takasugi, the elusive leader of the […]

IMG_20180415_212117

GINTAMA 2 Signals A Trio Of Peacemakers In New Character Posters

Lee B. Golden III

I’m still a little bit on the fence about Fukuda Yuichi’s 2017 live-action adaptation of Sorachi Hideaki’s Gintama. Granted however, it’s a pretty short fence with lots of cozy bushes to land on as much as I’ve given the film a curve being a fan of the anime that I am and how generally fun the film was. Needless to say, I’m already curious about what the summer will bring with the forthcoming sequel, tentatively titled Gintama 2. The latest update over at the offical website doesn’t have much in the way of anything new apart from the expected return of actor Masaki Suda and actress Hashimoto Kanna in the respective roles of straight-laced Shinpachi and loveable, battle-proficient Yato exile Kagura. Both rejoin actor Oguri Shun who headlines the trio based on Sorachi Hideaki’s longstanding manga and subsequent anime. Gintama centers its whacky, often parodic narrative on a trio of […]

0-7

GINTAMA Unleashes Demonic Weapons And Old Rivals In The Official U.S. Trailer

Lee B. Golden III

Well Go USA has unveiled the full trailer for their latest limited theatrical release, Gintama. Azoland Pictures is hosting its U.S. and Canadian rollout which commences this Friday based on Sorachi Hideaki’s highly successful gag manga and its equally fantastic animated series which is currently running. Oguri Shun, Hashimoto Kanna and Masaki Suda star in the film here taking cues from the Benizakura Arc. I won’t get too much into the narrative here as I’ve promoted this movie a billion times and I still have yet to see it, and the trailer is subbed anyway; As it stands the current showtimes in my area aren’t conducive for me so expect me to have an opinion on it a few months from now when it opens on VoD and DVD/Blu-Ray. At any rate, check the trailer below. It’s nothing different from the Japanese trailer last summer but it’s something. However, note […]

IMG_20180116_050539

GINTAMA: Catch The Official U.S. Trailer For Fukuda Yuichi’s Live-Action Manga Adaptation

Lee B. Golden III

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 […]

GINTAMA: Azoland Pictures Acquires Fukuda Yuichi’s Live-Action Adaptation For Select Theatrical U.S. Release

Lee B. Golden III

Late last year a good friend of mine sent me the most adorable Kagura keychain in the world. I sent her a video of a partially-teared thank you because as it stands, Kagura is the most loveable and adorable character in the TV Tokyo anime series, Gintama, which is on track to debut its final story arc on January 8. The show took off from the genius mind of manga creator Sorachi Hideaki and in the most admirably meta of ways, became a sprawling hit. It was an easy sell for me from late 2016 and onward as I binged heavily and caught up long before Fukuda Yuichi’s live-action adaptation starring Oguri Shun, Suda Masaki and actress Hashimoto Kanna who plays the aforementioned Kagura-chan who plays central to the Battle On Rakuyo story arc. Needless to say, I’ve been waiting for the film’s transition to the states since its release […]

gintama_project_main_visual_new03

GINTAMA: THE MITSUBA ARC: This Brother/Sister Reunion Is Absolutely Lit!

Lee B. Golden III

With Fukuda Yuichi’s live-action adaptation, Gintama in theaters in Japan and gearing up for a release in Singapore as well as a North American debut at Fantasia, its dTV counterpart also began streaming with web drama spin-off, Gintama: The Mitsuba Arc. The exclusive streaming platform released well-over eight minutes of footage which you can sample from below featuring Yoshizawa Ryo and actress Kitano Kie, and title actor Oguri Shun featured. Killer dreams, spicy foods, bazookas and forced levity ensue, as well as high drama and action for the remainder of the program now available solely in Japan. Well Go USA is hosting the feature film adaptation at Fantasia later this month following its Japan release this weekend from Warner Bros. Japan and news and details await on that end. Stay tuned! (Feel free to skip to the 5:21 mark).

1499054245_1_1_3aac20a8806b49215474863f027b1cc7

GINTAMA: Beetlehunting, Swashbuckling, And A Battle For The Ages In Three New Promos For The Live-Action Adaptation

Lee B. Golden III

With a Japan release on July 14 in tow, Fukuda Yuichi’s latest live-action manga/anime treatment, Gintama, will be having its world premiere at Fantasia Festival in Montreal a day earlier. The film stars actor Oguri Shun who has become a personal favorite of mine in the last fifteen years or more since seeing him opposite Ueto Aya in Kitamura Ryuhei’s Azumi and in Miike Takashi’s Crows Zero and subsequent sequel. Yes, I’m a fan, and not for nothing either with regards to Gintama; I first learned of this movie late last summer which eventually led me to start bingewatching all of well over 300 episodes (4 seasons) of the hit series and ultimately falling in love with the show overall. I still probably couldn’t give you every nook and cranny of what happens, but for the major arcs that occur in between, I would say there is plenty to build […]

FB_IMG_1498565445781

GINTAMA Gets An International Trailer Ahead Of Its Singapore Release

Lee B. Golden III

Fukuda Yuichi’s live-action adaptation, Gintama, is primed for a July 14 theatrical release in Japan with a world premiere in tow at this year’s Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal. It also helps that Encore Films will be releasing the film theatrically on August 3 and for this, we now have an English-subbed international version of the film’s first official trailer to bring further context for non-fluent types. From beetle hunting to the search for the world’s deadliest sword… Who said life as a yorozuya is easy? After the aliens invaded and conquered Edo Japan, a prohibition on swords is established and the samurai are treated with disdain. Gintoki Sakata (Shun Oguri), a former samurai once feared as the “White Demon” in battle, now operates an odd jobs house with his friends Shinpachi Shimura (Masaki Suda) and Kagura (Kanna Hashimoto). One day, Gintoki receives a job request from a swordsmith […]

gintama_project_main_visual_new03

GINTAMA: THE MITSUBA ARC: A Tale Of Brotherly Love, Rivalry And Loyalty In The First Trailer For The Web Drama Spin-Off

Lee B. Golden III

The end is almost nigh for the wait until Fukuda Yuichi’s release of the new movie, Gintama, inspired by the pages of Sorachi Hideaki’s popular manga and subsequent anime series. The film is readying for a world premiere at Fantasia Fest next month followed by another screening in Bucheon later this year while Japan audiences gear up for a July 14 release with a live-action take on the Benizakura Arc. For this, we turn to the continuation of the tale now in the form of a three-part web drama that will stream on July 15 on Japan’s dTV platform with Gintama: The Mitsuba Arc, which delves heartily into the back story of the bittersweet rivalry between the two elite members of Edo’s samurai police unit, The Shinsengumi. Actors Yagira Yuga, Yoshizawa Ryo and Nakamura Kankuro are back along with, and supermodel and actress Kitano Kie in the respective roles of […]

IMG_20170613_063642

[UPDATED] GINTAMA: Get A Kick Out Of The Second Official Trailer For The Live-Action Manga/Anime Adaptation

Lee B. Golden III

Being the galaxy’s dumbest samurai and an odd jobs peddler isn’t always either fun or easy. It does certainly help, however, if you have a legendary bearing and that of the principal role played by actor Oguri Shun has surely seen his share of battles per the mythology created in the longstanding popular manga and anime, Gintama. Now brought to life for the big screen from Warner Bros. Japan, the film presents a timely iteration of the Benizakura Arc of the series which entails an epic battle between our hero, and a rogue killer consumed by a biomechanical sword in a story set in a time when feudal japan is colonized by aliens. Fukuda Ryuchi of Hentai Kamen fame directs from a script based on the work of Sorachi Hideaki, and a release date set for July 14 in Japan. As the campaign has it, an official trailer finally arrived […]

28ab133e8d79fef1

GINTAMA: Epic Sword Fights, Explosive Sky Battles And A Big White Dog In The New Full Trailer

Lee B. Golden III

Adapting an anime is never easy. I suppose perfection is in the eye of the beholder and the same will undoubtedly be said of those awaiting to see the release of Fukuda Yuichi’s latest, Gintama as it’s one of the most celebrated anime shows and mangas to date with at least one more season in the works. Oguri Shun reunites with Fukuda and stars in the title role next to actor Suda Masaki and actress Hashimoto Kanna inspired by Sorachi Hideaki’s manga centered on a trio of odd jobbers struggling to make a living in an alternate version of feudal Japan – one wherein aliens live among humans and technology is ahead of its time. Knowledge of the show and its characters per the film’s casting hint on the film’s story focus via the Benizakura Arc, one in which friends are mysteriously murdered at the hands of a lone blind […]

GINTAMA Teases Origins, Heroes And Villains In A Brand New Live-Action Movie Teaser!

Lee B. Golden III

Warner Bros. Japan has had quite the full plate on its hands with several adaptations this year, one such being the upcoming release of director Fukuda Yuichi’s treatment of Sorachi Hideaki’s popular manga property, Gintama. If you’re not at all familiar with the Shonen Jump publication, it does comes highly recommended by fans and especially those keen on the current-running anime who are now waiting the upcoming final season. With that in mind, we now have our aforementioned Hentai Kamen 1 and 2 helmer’s take om the property which has actor Oguri Shun spearheading our wacky sci-fi period action comedy set in an alternate Edo period in Japan where aliens have colonized, the samurai are obsolete, and extremist forces await their chance to seize control. For this, the latest short teaser has arrived with ample new footage following the first in December, further iterating the events from the top of […]

See Odd Jobs Gin At Work In New GINTAMA Set Pics And Stills

Lee B. Golden III

If there’s one movie I’m really looking forward to, it’s director Fukuda Yuichi’s live-action adaptation of hit manga and anime, Gintama. Granted, I know quite a few people who aren’t really keen on the film’s take thusfar but the reception from the fanbase has been pretty positive in my view. The film opens in July adaptating the story of a trio of odd-jobs entrepreneurs in a Edo period’s post-alien occupancy where samurais have been outlawed. Actors Oguri Shun and Suda Masaki and actress Kashimoto Hanna topline the cast of characters as seen in the shonen jump manga and subsequent animated shows and anime movies, one of which includes the Benizakura Arc as hinted by the character posters that have arisen since late last year. With an official trailer in tow, Comic Natalie has offered new set photos and behind-the-scenes pics to check out below with our cast, including actor Okada […]

His Name Is Not “Zura” In The New GINTAMA Character Poster

Lee B. Golden III

Watching an anime series like Gintama will leave you breatheless most days – either from vociferous laughter or outright awe from the chaos and explosive twists and turns that occur as it explores the arcs. Coming into director Fukuda Yuichi’s own live-action adaptation, the current cast listing sums up what appears to be the Benizakara end of things and hopefully a full trailer will arrive soon to take a deeper visual dive to whet the appetite. Until then, the promotional rollout has already begun as of late last year with a spate of character posters hailing the star trio of the saga with actor Oguri Shun and Suda Masaki, and actress Kashimoto Hanna. The three, based on Sorachi Hideaki’s popular Shonen Jump manga property and subsequent anime, lead the film as an Odd Jobs outlet in Edo period, Japan following the arrival of an alien race known as the Amanto, […]

GINTAMA: Oguri Shun Slashes And Thrashes In The First Teaser For The Live-Action Movie

Lee B. Golden III

The prospects of manga author Sorachi Hideaki’s longstanding manga success, Gintama, sure feel pretty exciting these days. A new anime series is on the horizon following a hiatus back in March and since then, we’ve also had a live-action feature adaptation of the film now headed for a July release. For this, we now get our first teaser for the film directed by none other than Hentai Kamen helmer Fukuda Yuichi. More details are pending while previous news hints at the likely story details surrounding the Benizakura Arc where certain characters go “missing” in the wake of a mysterious killer running loose in Edo with a stolen mystical demon sword consuming him. Oguri Shun (Museum) leads the cast as wayward Samurai-turned-Odd Jobs entrepreneur Sakata Gintoki along with Suda Masaki as Shimura Shinpachi and Kashimoto Hanna as Kagura – all of whom are visible in the teaser; Tonewise, you get none […]

[UPDATED] GINTAMA: Meet The Odd Jobs Trio In New Character Posters For Fukuda Yuichi’s 2017 Live Action Adaptation

Lee B. Golden III

Having only found out just a few months or so after production on Hentai Kamen helmer Fukuda Yuichi had begun production on a live-action adaptation of popular manga/anime property, Gintama, it was then and there that I decided to catch up. Hence, why many of you who might be following me on Instagram have been seeing gobloads of posts about the show, and I cannot reiterate enough just how much fun the show has been for me. Thus, it is the first day of marketing for the campaign over at Warner Bros. Japan ahead of the film’s release next year, and with none other than the first of a forthcoming series of character posters which now features actor Suda Masaki as Shimura Shinpachi. Suda joins his fellow Assassination Classroom co-star Kashimoto Hanna who plays the sprightly and superstrong Kagura, and lead actor Oguri Shun who takes the mantle as Sakata […]

Fukuda's Live-Action GINTAMA Confirms Casting, Possible Plot Details

Lee B. Golden III

Oguri Shun and Fukuda Yuchi on the set of GINTAMA (Twitter) News of the live-action adaptation of Sorachi Hideaki’s popular Weekly Shonen Jump manga, Gintama, came as a delightful surprise to me a few months ago. Filming had already went underway and a few miscellaneous set photos started emerging online showing signs of progress following its production wrap back in September. Fukuda Yuichi is directing the film based on the property that sees actor Oguri Shun as Sakata Gintoki, a silver-haired former samurai and founder of his own odd jobs business in an Edo Japan where the arrival and subsequent settlement of the Amanto – a species of alien life, has advanced the nation ahead of its time. Joined by actor Masaki Suda who plays straight-laced Shimura Shinpachi and actress Kashimoto Hanna as the adorable and superstrong Kagura, the three set out on numerous adventures with stories that see them […]