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Live-Action Saint Young Men II Show's Trailer Teases Jesus, Buddha's Akiba Pilgrimage
posted on by Egan Loo
The official website for the live-action series of Hikaru Nakamura's Saint Young Men (Saint Oniisan) manga began streaming a full trailer for the show's second season on Sunday.
The trailer begins with a subtitled narration by Tarō Kamakura (Yūsha Yoshihiko series' priest) before previewing Jesus (Kenichi Matsuyama) being questioned by a police officer (Yūki Yamada) and Buddha (Shōta Sometani) making his Instagram debut in modern Tokyo. PC otaku Jesus and appliance otaku Buddha then go on a "pilgrimage" to Tokyo's Akihabara shopping district, where they engage in a less-than-successful freestyle rap battle as well as try out a print club photo booth and maid cosplay.
Similar to the release of the first season, the second 10-episode season will stream online and will also screen in theaters. The series will begin streaming only on the Piccoma TV service on June 1, and will screen in theaters starting on June 6. The returning cast and staff include Kenichi Matsuyama (live-action Death Note, Gantz) as Jesus and Shōta Sometani (live-action Parasyte, Bakuman.) as Buddha. Yūichi Fukuda (live-action Gintama, The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. films) is returning to direct the sequel and pen the script.
The first 10-episode season premiered on Kakao Japan's Piccoma TV streaming service on October 18. The series will also have a third season.
The comedy manga imagines if Buddha and Jesus shared a low-rent Tokyo apartment. Nakamura launched the manga in Kodansha's Morning two magazine in 2006. The manga won the Short Story award at the 13th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2009, and was also nominated for a Manga Taisho award in the same year.
The manga inspired an anime film that premiered in Japan in May 2013. The manga's eighth and ninth volumes both bundled original anime DVDs when they shipped in December 2012 and July 2013, respectively.
Kodansha Comics is releasing the manga digitally in English.
Sources: Saint Young Men live-action show's website, Comic Natalie
