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Bushiroad Reveals New Road59 Mixed Media Project About Yakuza
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
Bushiroad announced in its live stream on Friday that it is developing a new mixed-media project titled Road59: Shin Jidai Ninkyō Tokku (Road59: The Special Ward for a New Era of Chivalry). The project is themed around yakuza, and is the company's fourth major mixed-media project after BanG Dream! (band theme), Revue Starlight (theater theme), and D4DJ (DJ theme). The title "Road59" is a play on the Japanese word "gokudo" (the extreme path) which is a poetic term referring to the yakuza way of life. The franchise's tagline is "A path from which you cannot return."
The franchise will begin with a stage play that will run from December 24-27 at Nakano Zero in Tokyo, featuring the cast members for the franchise below.
Nobuhiro Mōri (Kamen Rider franchise, Argonavis from BanG Dream!) is penning the story and setting of the franchise. Ghidora is drawing the character designs. GACKT is performing the theme song for the franchise.
The setting's story is set in the near future, a few decades after the start of Japan's current Reiwa era, and is set in a new manmade island and "special ward" in Tokyo known as the Tengai Ward. Here, four yakuza organizations vie for prestige and influence, with each organization's leading figures bearing god-like powers as "Jingi." Each of the organizations seek the "Yamatanoorochi no Kubi" (The Head of Orochi) whose blood when consumed grants Jingi a power equal to gods, as well as a girl who bears the Orochi blood and can break the seal on the ancient artifact.
Jingi are individuals who have passed on their supernatural powers from sire to successor since the age of myth. They pass on their power to chosen successors, with their sire offering their blood in a cup in a formal ceremony. In the past, they have made their mark on the secret world by slaying mythical beasts, and performing incredible feats on the battlefield, and have sometimes clashed with each other in the shadows. As the ages pass, they adapt their form to the times, and today they operate in secret societies in the underworld. With ancient powers able to bend the rules of space and time, they are demigod-like beings.
The cast includes:
The Shinonome-gumi is a group that runs wild and free, and form a loose confederation of gangs with little central organization, but come together in times of need to offer their unique expertise.
Shūya Sunagawa as Shō Himuro, the steward leader of the Hakurō-gumi, who was forced to take his unwanted mantle to protect the traditions and standing of the group. He is pulled from many directions, sometimes by his strict older sister, and sometimes by his carefree younger sister, and his brow is increasingly furrowed by the day.
The Hakurō-gumi are a traditional and storied group that hails from the Kansai region. Though its young steward has many problems, he and its members treat each other like family.
Masahiro Inoue as Kensei Sumeragi, the leader of the Kurojō-gumi, who bears an air of pride and arrogance. His easygoing smile hides the dim hint of cruelty in his eyes. He heads the Kurojō's front company, which has its hands in much of the development of the Tengai Ward. He rules his fiefdom like an autocrat, and he has made more than his fair share of enemies along the way.
The Kurojō-gumi have used money and prestige to muscle their place into the underworld. While their influence over Tengai Ward is strong, its cold-hearted leadership have led to discontent among the lower ranks, and some whisper of civil war brewing.
Shōta Aoi as Benedict Lorenzo Vasari, the Italian leader of the Japanese branch of the global organized mafia group Phoenix. His words are as honeyed as his quality makeup and designer clothes. Under orders to take control of Tengai Ward and retrieve the Yamatanoorochi no Kubi, he directs his local lieutenants, though many judge his manner to be vexing and often contradictory. Nevertheless, he always manages to appoint capable commanders, proving him an excellent judge of character.
Phoenix in Tengai Ward is but one branch of the larger global mafia group. Under the front of doing business in Tengai Ward, they pursue their own objectives.
Source: Bushiroad live stream
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