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Kindaichi Case Files Gets Live-Action Special Set in Malaysia
posted on by Egan Loo
Kindaichi Shonen no Jikenbo (Kindaichi Case Files) will return with a new live-action television special, Kindaichi Shonen no Jikenbo: Gokumon Juku Satsujin Jiken (Kindaichi Case Files: The Prison Cram School Murder Case), next January. Ryōsuke Yamada of the boy band Hey! Say! JUMP will reprise his role of the teen detective Hajime Kindaichi. Yamada first played Kindaichi in this past January's television special Kindaichi Shonen no Jikenbo: Hong Kong Kyūryū Zaihou Satsujin Jiken (Kindaichi Case Files: The Hong Kong Kowloon Treasure Murder Case, pictured right).
The setting of next January's special is the jungles of Malaysia. (This special will be NTV's first co-production with a Malaysian television station.) In the story, Kindaichi joins his childhood friend Miyuki Nanase in Sparta, a prestigious "prison" cram school. There, they uncover a mysterious death, which turns out to be a taunting challenge from a brilliant producer with criminal dealings throughout the world.
Haruna Kawaguchi (pictured left) reprises her role of Nanase from this year's special. Hey! Say! JUMP member Daiki Arioka also returns as Ryūji Saki, Kindaichi's younger schoolmate. Another returning cast member is Wu Chun (former member of the Taiwanese band Fahrenheit and the star of the Taiwanese version of Hana Zakari no Kimi-tachi e) as Byron Li.
Kazuki Kitamura will play a teacher at the Sparta cram school, and Hiroki Narimiya (pictured right) will play Yōichi Takato, a nefarious mastermind and Kindaichi's eternal nemesis.
Yamada is the fourth live-action actor to play Kindaichi. The previous actors were KinKi Kids group member Tsuyoshi Dōmoto, Arashi member Jun Matsumoto, and KAT-TUN member Kazuya Kamenashi.
Seimaru Amagi (also known as Tadashi Agi) created the original manga, which already inspired a television anime series and several film and video spinoffs. Tokyopop published part of the manga in North America.
The Mainichi Shimbun newspaper's Mantan Web site posted more photographs of the cast.
Source: Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web
