We may never know what becomes of the mysterious figure, “Bulge”, hinted at with the end of 2017’s High & Low: Final Mission. I’m not really sure, though it’s exciting to think about now that the hit action franchise is back in the headlines.
More to the point, Japanese trade news sites are now reporting the early Fall 2022 release of a sequel to Shigeaki Kubo’s High & Low: The Worst, from Shochiku, in a new video which you can view above, and a poster announcement featuring the cast which you can check out further below on this page.
The sequel, to be directed by HiGH&Low franchise co-scribe Norihisa Hiranuma (director of DTC Yukemuri Junjo hen From High & Low), will bring back a mix of both returning and new cast members; Actors Kazuma Kawamura, Hokuto Yoshino, Ryuji Sato, Fuju Kamio, Kohei Fukuyama, Ryu, Takahide Suzuki, Satoshi Uekiya, Ken Nakajima and Goki Maeda will all rejoin their 2019 cast including Akihisa Shiono, Yo Aoi, Shin Koyanagi, Atsushi Arai, Ryotaro Sakaguchi. Actor Win Morisaki will be reprising his role from the NTV dramas, High & Low The Worst Episode.0, and 6 From High & Low The Worst.
This effectively brings fans a deeper dive into the crossover worlds of High & Low, and that of author Hiroshi Takahashi’s Shonen manga publications, “Worst”, and “Crows”. Furthermore, it marks another live-action reprisal for the latter since the 2007, 2009 and 2014 films from Takashi Miike and Toshiaki Toyoda.
EXILE HIRO is on board for planning and producing the film as are writing unit Team HI-AX, with franchise co-scribe Hiranuma penning the script next to Shoichiro Masumoto and Kei Watanabe, music video steward Daisuke Ninomiya serving as general director, and with High & Low veteran Takahito Ouchi (Ajin, Black Butler) supervising the film’s stunt and fight scenery with Masaki Suzumura (Gunkan Shonen, Dead Sushi) serving as action director.
Inagural cast poster for the HiGH&LOW: THE WORST sequel coming in 2022
Exact plot details haven’t been made public, but there’s more than plenty of time to catch on if you’re a Westerner with an eye for Asian film releases, specifically titles that are brimming with high energy music and exhilirating action. All seven of the High & Low films – several of which are preceded by a small roster of TV dramas that launched in 2015 out of the LDH wheelhouse and Team HI-AX – had local theatrical releases in Japan, and were finally made available to the rest of the world, including Netflix in the U.S. last September.
You can find all my coverage of this franchise by clicking on this tag, including reviews of all seven films which took me about a month and some change to complete. My grammar isn’t the best on some of them and, well, that’s my fault for not proofreading as I should, but that’s what I get for being too excited and living in the moment as a fan of a film saga that remained so obscure for so long as it did.
At any rate though, if you’re at all new to this franchise and you’re just tuning in, and you love a good line-up of action films that blend riveting and exciting fight scenery and drama (and maybe a touch of hearty romance), with an electrifying soundtrack performed mostly by its stars, the High & Low saga doesn’t disappoint, and that especially goes for High & Low: The Worst. My advice? Get familiar, and soon!
