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Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan Series Gets Live-Action Movie Based on Louvre Story
posted on by Alex Mateo
The live-action series inspired by Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan (Kishibe Rohan wa Ugokanai), Hirohiko Araki's spinoff from his JoJo's Bizarre Adventure manga, is getting a live-action movie on May 26. The film will be titled Kishibe Rohan Louvre e Iku (Rohan at the Louvre, or literally, Rohan Kishibe Goes to the Louvre; Rohan au Louvre in French), based on Araki's manga story of the same name. The cast and staff from the live-action series will return for the movie. The movie's official website opened on Wednesday and unveiled a trailer and visual:
Issei Takahashi (Whisper of the Heart, live-action Ikebukuro West Gate Park, March comes in like a lion) reprises the title role from the previous six episodes. Marie Iitoyo (anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day, City Hunter: Shinjuku Private Eyes) is also returning as Kyoka Izumi, Rohan's editor.
Kazutaka Watanabe (Only Yesterday live-action special) is returning to direct the film, with scripts once again by JoJo's Bizarre Adventure anime writer Yasuko Kobayashi. Naruyoshi Kikuchi (Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt) is also returning to compose the music. Isao Tsuge (Attack on Titan, Yatterman) is back as character design supervisor, and Naoko Saitō, Keisuke Tsuchihashi, and Sangkeun Han are production coordinators. NHK Enterprises, NHK, and P.I.C.S. are producing.
Rohan's actor Takahashi states that this film can also be considered the series' "ninth episode." He also revealed that they are currently filming in France, after having finished scenes in Japan alongside the two most recent episodes.
The live-action series' two most recent episodes premiered on December 26 and 27.
The first three episodes debuted in December 2020 for three consecutive nights on the NHK General channel. The second installment of three episodes premiered at the end of December 2021 for three consecutive nights as well. Retro Crush is streaming the first three episodes.
The manga's 11th story titled "Dripping Gahō-hen" (Dripping Art Technique) debuted in Shueisha's Ultra Jump magazine in April 2022, with its second part premiering that May.
The anime studio david production adapted two Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan stories as original anime DVDs. The "Fugō Mura" (Millionaire Village) episode was available for people who purchased all 13 DVD or Blu-ray Disc volumes of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable anime in 2017. The "Mutsukabezaka" (Mutsukabe Hill) episode was bundled with the manga's second volume in 2018. Crunchyroll screened the overseas premiere of "Fugō Mura" at its Crunchyroll Expo event in August 2019. The studio david production then produced two new episodes, "Zange-shitsu" (Confessional Room) and "The Run," which played at nine screenings at six cities in Japan between December 2020 and March 2021.
Netflix began streaming the anime globally in February 2021 with lead actor Landon McDonald.
North American graphic novel publisher NBM Publishing released the 128-page Rohan at the Louvre full-color manga in February 2012. NBM describes Rohan at the Louvre:
Rohan, a young mangaka, meets a beautiful mysterious young woman with a dramatic story. Seeing him draw, she tells him of a cursed 200 year old painting using the blackest ink ever known from a 1000 year old tree the painter had brought down without approval from the Emperor who had him executed for doing so. The painting meanwhile had been saved from destruction by a curator of the Louvre. Rohan forgets this story as he becomes famous but ten years later, visiting Paris, he takes the occasion to try and locate the painting. Little does he know how violently powerful the curse of it is until he has the museum unearth it from deep within its archival bowels…
Araki originally created the manga for the "Le Louvre invite la bande dessinée" ("Cartoons - The Louvre Invites Comic-Strip Art") exhibition at France's famed Louvre art museum in 2009.
Sources: Kishibe Rohan Louvre e Iku film's website, Comic Natalie
