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'HiGH&LOW The Worst' Crossover Film Gets Live-Action Sequel Show

NTV announced on Friday that it is producing a live-action sequel series to HiGH&LOW THE WORST, a crossover film that integrates Hiroshi Takahashi's Crows and Worst manga with the HiGH&LOW franchise. The spinoff series is titled 6 from HiGH&LOW THE WORST, and will premiere on NTV on November 19.

The story will center around the six childhood friends from Kibōgaoka. Kazuma Kawamura, Jin Shirasu, Yuta Nakatsuka, Hayato Komori, Miu Tomita, and Masato Yano all reprise their roles from the film as the characters Fujio Hanaoka, Seiji Kirihara, Shinya Orochi, Masaya Orochi, Madoka Ishii, and Arata Maekawa, respectively. The story begins with these friends digging up a time capsule they buried at a nearby park 10 years ago.

Shigeaki Kubo, Norihisa Hiranuma, and Daisuke Kamijō are directing the series, with scripts by Crows and Worst manga creator Takahashi himself, Hiranuma, Shōichirō Masumoto, Kei Watanabe, and Kamijō. The series will have six episodes.

The film opened in Japan last October. The movie centers on a conflict between the students of Hōsen Academy from Crows and Worst, and the students of Oya High School from HiGH&LOW. Hōsen Academy is often called a "pack of killers," who are all bald except for their leader. Oya High School are one of five in the "SWORD" area where delinquents gather. In the film, the uneasy peace maintained by Hōsen Academy's new generation crumbles, with many gangs now seeking supremacy over one another in a new age of conflict. Ameno launched HiGH&LOW THE WORST - Hōsen Gakuen Nisshi (Hōsen Academy Log), a manga based on the film, in Akita Shoten's Monthly Shōnen Champion magazine on April 6, and it will end on October 6.

Takahashi's Crows manga ran for 26 volumes, and inspired a two-episode anime OVA adaptation. The manga also inspired three live-action films, with Takashi Miike directing the first two films, Crows Zero and Crows Zero II. Crows Explode, the third film, opened in Japan in April 2014. Tokyo Shock released the first film on DVD and Blu-ray Disc in North America, and video label MVM released both Crows Zero and Crows Zero II in the United Kingdom.

Takahashi began Worst as a continuation of his earlier Crows series in 2001, and ended it with 33 compiled volumes in 2013. The story follows a delinquent named Hana Tsukishima as he rises to the top of the gangs at the notorious Suzuran Boys' High School. A single-volume side story titled Worst Gaiden ran in Monthly Shōnen Champion in 2009. The franchise launched a new spinoff manga titled Worst Gaiden: Dokuro (Worst Side Story: Skull) in February 2019, as well as another spinoff titled Worst Gaiden: Guriko (Worst Side Story: Guriko) that launched in January 2019.

The HiGH&LOW live-action entertainment project, launched by Japanese supergroup Exile Tribe, began as a 10-episode drama series titled HiGH&LOW: The Story of S.W.O.R.D. that premiered on television and Hulu in Japan in October 2015. A second drama series titled HiGH&LOW Season 2 ran from April to June 2016. The Road to HiGH&LOW film premiered in theaters in May 2016. A second film titled HiGH&LOW The Movie premiered in theaters in July 2016, followed by the HiGH&LOW The Red Rain film, which opened in Japan in October 2016. A series of live performances titled HiGH&LOW The Live ran from July through October 2016 across Japan. HiGH&LOW The Movie 2: End of Sky opened in theaters in August 2017. The franchise's "final chapter" film, titled HiGH&LOW The Movie 3: Final Mission, opened in November 2017.

CLAMP launched a manga for the HiGH&LOW franchise in March 2017, and ended it in August 2017. The manga inspired a series of Flash anime.

Source: Comic Natalie