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2024 Doraemon Film Casts Kouji Kikkawa, Kanji Ishimaru
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
The official Twitter account for the Doraemon franchise announced on Friday that singers and actors Kouji Kikkawa (left in image below) and Kanji Ishimaru (right) are guest-starring in the 2024 Doraemon film Eiga Doraemon: Nobita no Chikyū Symphony (Doraemon the Movie: Nobita's Earth Symphony).
Kikkawa makes his voice-acting debut as Maestro Vento in the film. (Kikkawa previously narrated the Gifū Dōdō!! Kanetsugu to Keiji anime.) Maestro Vento is the leader of the musician robots in the planet Musica, and the manager of its music hall. Ishimaru plays the robot musician Wakner in his first foray in the Doraemon film series.
The 43rd film in the franchise will open in Japan on March 1.
Kyōko Yoshine (live-action Princess Jellyfish, Seven Days War, Kasane) voices Miina, a singer with a successful career overseas. She is a new character who holds the key to the film's story.
The film has also previously revealed two characters without revealing their cast members:
Vomedian duo Kagaya (Shō Kaga and Sōya Gaya) guest-star in the film in multiple roles. Gaya plays an older man who sings enka songs, while the pair play manzai comedy performers, as well as two busking bandmates.
Kazuaki Imai (Doraemon the Movie: Nobita's Treasure Island, Doraemon the Movie: Nobita's New Dinosaur) is directing the film. Teruko Utsumi, a writer for the Doraemon television anime, is penning the script for the film. The television anime's current cast members are reprising their roles for the film.
Vaundy performs the film's theme song "Time Paradox."
Doraemon the Movie 2023: Nobita's Sky Utopia, the franchise's 42nd anime film, opened in Japan on March 3. It ranked at #1 in its opening weekend, and sold 542,000 tickets for 663 million yen (about US$4.87 million) in its first three days.
Sources: Doraemon franchise's Twitter account, Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web
