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2015 Detective Conan Film Unveils "7 Samurai" Characters, Cast

This year's 19th issue of Shogakukan 's Weekly Shonen Sunday is unveiling new characters for the upcoming Detective Conan: Gōka no Himawari (Detective Conan: Sunflowers of Inferno) anime film on Wednesday. The characters are called the "Seven Samurai" — professionals assigned to protect Van Gogh's seven Arles Sunflowers paintings. The new characters include:

• Yukana as Kumiko Kishi, a painting exhibition professional
• Hiroshi Isobe as Kōji Azuma, a painting restoration and preservation professional
• Nana Eikura as Natsumi Miyadai, a painting history professional
• Yoshiko Sakakibara as Keiko Anderson, a painting exhibition planning professional
• Shunsuke Sakuya as Charlie, an NYPD professional
• Katsuhisa Houki as Taizō Ishimine, a painting transportation professional

In addition, regular series character Kogorō Mōri (Rikiya Koyama) is also part of the "Seven Samurai" group, described as a "security professional," while main character Conan (Minami Takayama) is called "the true seventh samurai."

The magazine also reveals some story details. The "Seven Samurai" are assigned to protect the paintings while they are stored in Jirokichi Suzuki's estate awaiting transport to the art exhibit. The paintings are stored in Jirokichi's "Iron Tanuki" safe, a device featured in previous episodes of the Detective Conan TV anime, and one which Kaito Kid (the film's antagonist) has previously attempted to foil.

The films story centers on Conan as he tries to track down Kaito Kid, who is supposedly steals a replica of one of Van Gogh's Sunflowers paintings during an auction. (A real version of the painting depicted was owned by a Japanese collector, until it was destroyed during World War II. A version of the painting depicted in the movie was recently recreated.) The tagline on the announcement image for the film, which was drawn by original manga creator Gōshō Aoyama, reads "You will solve this? This art..."

Kobun Shizuno is returning to direct the film, and Takeharu Sakurai is writing the script. Katsuo Ono is again to composing the music. Minami Takayama is reprising her role as Conan Edogawa with Wakana Yamazaki as Ran Mōri, Rikiya Koyama as Kogorō Mōri, and Kappei Yamaguchi as Kaito Kuroba/Kaitō Kid.

The rock band Porno Graffitti is contributing their song "Oh! Rival" as the theme song to the movie. The band created the new song specifically for the film. The "rival" in the title is in the French or Spanish pronunciation of the term, and it signifies the contentious relationship between the titular detective lead Conan Edogawa and the phantom thief Kaitō Kid. Film distributor TOHO previously streamed a trailer for the film in March that features the song.

The 18th Detective Conan film opened in April of last year, and the 20th anniversary special premiered on December 26. A new anime series based on Gōshō Aoyama's Magic Kaito manga began airing in October.

Update: Kumiko Kishi's name corrected. Thanks, skyechan