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Anime Expo to Premiere Erina Mano's 1st Lead Film Role
posted on by Egan Loo
The Cinema Today website and other Japanese media outlets are reporting on Friday that Anime Expo will host the world premiere of Kaidan Shin Mimibukuro Kaiki, the first live-action film in which J-pop idol singer Erina Mano has a lead role. The convention will run in Los Angeles during the July 1-4 holiday weekend, and the organizers at The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation had confirmed with ANN that Mano will be attending the convention as an industry guest.
Mano is a solo artist from the recording collective Hello! Project, of which the all-female J-pop group Morning Musume is also a part. She joined Hello! Project in 2006 and was given a lead role in the Gatas Brilhantes music group Ongaku Gatas. She released a single titled "Otome no Inori" in March of 2009.
Director Makoto Shinozaki (Okaeri, 0093 Joō Heika no Kusakari Masao) is basing Kaidan Shin Mimibukuro Kaiki on the modern horror story collection Shin Mimibukuro. The film is split into two parts — "Tsukimono" and "Nozomi" — and Mano is starring in a different role in each half. The film will open in Japan in September.
The Shin Mimibukuro horror anthology had already inspired a 2003 omnibus-style live-action television franchise which eventually ran for over 100 episodes. Selected episodes have been released in the United States on DVD under the name Tales of Terror from Tokyo and All Over Japan.
