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Live-Action Rurouni Kenshin Films Cast Tao Tsuchiya as Misao
posted on by Egan Loo
18-year-old actress Tao Tsuchiya will play popular female ninja Misao Makimachi in next summer's two live-action Rurouni Kenshin sequel films. This will be Tsuchiya's first full-fledged action role.
Tsuchiya made her acting debut in the the 2008 film Tokyo Sonata. She said that she adored the works of Jackie Chan and Donnie Yen since she was a young spirited child. She was so ovewhelmed by the first live-action Rurouni Kenshin film last year that she would not get out of her theater seat, so she then decided to audition for the sequel films.
Filming began in mid-July, and Tsuchiya has been doing her own action sequences. She will return on location to shoot more scenes from September until the end of the year. In the meantime, she has spending time at the swimming pool, pilates, and running everyday to train her body.
Like several of the cast members such as lead actor Takeru Satoh and Yusuke Iseya, Tsuchiya worked on the historical action television series Ryōmaden. Keishi Ōtomo directed Ryōmaden before helming the first live-action Rurouni Kenshin film and its two sequels. Tsuchiya said she wants to visit overseas film festivals in the future.
The previously revealed cast members include:
- Takeru Satoh as Kenshin Himura
- Emi Takei as Kaoru Kamiya
- Yusuke Iseya as Aoshi Shinomori
- Munetaka Aoki as Sanosuke Sagara
- Yuu Aoi as Megumi Takani
- Ryunosuke Kamiki as Sōjirō Seta
- Yosuke Eguchi as Hajime Saitō
- Tatsuya Fujiwara as Makoto Shishio
68-year-old Min Tanaka (Tekkonkinkreet, The Twilight Samurai, 47 Ronin remake) as Nenji Kashiwazaki/Okina
47-year-old Kazufumi Miyazawa (The Boom music band) as Toshimichi Ōkubo
39-year-old Yukiyoshi Ozawa (Umi no Hotaru) as Hirobumi Itō
12-year-old Kaito Ōyagi (Ninja Kids!!! Summer Mission Impossible) as Yahiko Myōjin
25-year-old model Maryjun Takahashi as Yumi Komagata
26-year-old Ryōsuke Miura (Kamen Rider OOO) as Chō Sawagejō
Taketo Tanaka played Yahiko in the first live-action Rurouni Kenshin film.
The two new films, which will cover the Kyoto arc from Nobuhiro Watsuki's original historical action manga, will be titled Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Taika-hen (Rurouni Kenshin: The Great Kyoto Fire) and Rurouni Kenshin: Densetsu no Saigo-hen (Rurouni Kenshin: The End of a Legend). The films are slated to open next summer.
The first live-action Rurouni Kenshin film opened in Japan last August. The film starred Satoh and Takei (Kyō, Koi o Hajimemasu, For Love's Sake/Ai to Makoto). It had its North American premiere in Los Angeles in December, and it played in San Francisco on August 1.
Watsuki's manga ran from 1994 to 1999 in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, and the creator also drew the Rurouni Kenshin: Restoration retelling in Jump Square that launched in May 2012 and ended this year.
An anime series aired in Japan from 1996 to 1998 and spawned several anime film and video projects. Viz Media publishes both manga in North America, while Media Blasters released the television anime. ADV Films released two later original video anime projects and a film on DVD, and Aniplex released these three titles on Blu-ray Disc. Sentai Filmworks released the two more recent video anime series on Blu-ray Disc and DVD, which also covered the Kyoto arc.
Source: Sports Hochi via Love Joy Peace, Orends: Range
