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BokuKimi, Kaiji's Live-Action Film Teasers Streamed
posted on by Egan Loo
The official website for Takehiko Shinjō's live-action film version of Kotomi Aoki's Boku no Hatsukoi o Kimi ni Sasagu (BokuKimi or I Give My First Love to You) manga has launched with a teaser trailer. (In the linked page, select the "特報" button at the center.) In this shōjo romance story, actress Mao Inoue (Hana Yori Dango, Anmitsu-hime) plays a girl named Mayu who experiences first love with Takuma (Hanazakari no Kimi-tachi e, Robo Rock's Masaki Okada), a boy being treated by her cardiologist father. Takuma tries to hide from Mayu the possibility that his heart will stop functioning at any moment after he turns 20 — even though Mayu already knows.
The manga ran in Shogakukan's Shōjo Comic magazine from 2005 to 2008, and 6 million copies of the 12 compiled book volumes have been published. Shogakukan published an English version of the first volume in Japan this past March. The film will open in Japan on October 24.
The teaser trailer for Tōya Satō's live-action film version of Nobuyuki Fukumoto's Tobaku Mokushiroku Kaiji manga is also streaming on that film's website. Tatsuya Fujiwara (Death Note's Light, Battle Royale's Shuya) stars as Kaiji, a gambler who is 3.49 million yen (about US$36,000) in debt. In the film, actress Yūki Amami (Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, Socrates in Love) plays Rinko Endō, a loan shark (originally a male character in the manga) who convinces Kaiji to board a gambling ship to clear his debt — with his life literally at stake. Satō previously directed the live-action versions of Gokusen, Grave of the Fireflies, and Sexy Voice and Robo.
Over 11 million copies of the different Kaiji manga titles have been published, and Fukumoto is bringing back his character in a new manga run starting this month. The Joost website had streamed NTV's 2007-2008 television anime version in the United States. The Kaiji film will open in Japan on October 10.
Source: Nippon Cinema
