Interest
Live-Action Ranma 1/2 Special's Cast Further Revealed
posted on by Egan Loo
The staff for the live-action television special inspired by Rumiko Takahashi's Ranma 1/2 martial arts comedy manga announced additional cast members on Friday. As a revival of the manga, the special tells an original story centering around Akane Tendō (played by Yui Aragaki). Kenta Kaku and Natsuna play the dual male/female roles of the title character.
Kento Nagayama (Liar Game: The Final Stage, Solanin; pictured below, upper left) plays Ranma's rival Tatewaki Kunō. Model/actress Maki Nishiyama (pictured upper right) assumes the role of the middle sister in the Tendō family, Nabiki. Yuta Kanai (L change the WorLd, Ikigami, Kimi ni Todoke; pictured lower left) plays Hikaru Gosunkugi, the clingy classmate with a one-sided crush on the third Tendō sister, Akane. Ryōsei Tayama (Kurosagi, GTO; pictured lower right) is Okamada, the live-action version's enemy character who is not in the original manga.
In the story, Akane is determined to protect the family's legacy, its dōjō. However, her father Soun suddenly and arbitrarily announced one day that "only men can be heirs." Unfortunately, this puts Ranma in a bind, since he turns female when splashed with cold water after falling into a cursed hot spring in China. To return himself to a "full man," Ranma searches for the "secret hot spring" and gets caught up in a battle with a mysterious enemy. Now Akane holds the key to the story.
The staff already announced that Kyōko Hasegawa (Angel Bank: Dragon Zakura Gaiden, Dragon Zakura) plays the oldest Tendō sister, Kasumi. Tōfū Ono, the man who has a crush on Kasumi even as Akane has a crush on him, is played by Shōsuke Tanihara (Gekijōban Pocket Monster Best Wishes! Victini to Kuroki Eiyū Zekrom, The Sky Crawlers). Genma — Ranma's father who transforms into a panda when splashed with cold water — appears in the form of actor Arata Furuta (20th Century Boys, Ping Pong). Katsuhisa Namase (Gokusen, Yatterman) plays Akane and Kasumi's father Soun Tendō.
The special will air during NTV's 7:00 p.m. Friday Super Prime timeslot in December. The original manga ran in Shogakukan's Weekly Shonen Sunday magazine from 1987 to 1996, and Shogakukan printed 53 million copies of the compiled book volumes.
Sources: Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web, Oricon
Image © Rumiko Takahashi/Shogakukan
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