Category: Adventure

The official website for Osamu Katayama’s Gaku (The Peak) has been updated with a full trailer.

Based on Shinichi Ishizuka’s ongoing manga serial “Gaku: Minna no Yama”, the film stars Shun Oguri as an experienced mountain climber and rescue team volunteer named Sanpo Shimazaki. Sanpo loves the mountains and wants as many people as possible to experience everything they have to offer—so much so that he never holds a grudge against anyone for causing an accident due to their own negligence. Even if a fellow rescuer dies, he’s the kind of man who can look toward the corpse and say “You did your best.”

One spring, newcomer Kumi Shiina (Masami Nagasawa) is assigned to the Nagano prefecture mountain rescue team where she experiences growth thanks to Sanpo’s guidance and the seemingly harsh training methods of the team’s captain, Noda (Kuranosuke Sasaki). However, she becomes depressed when she’s unable to translate her skills to a real-life situation. As her confidence wanes, multiple accidents occur simultaneously due to a mountain blizzard, forcing the entire team into action.

“The Peak” will be released by Toho in Japan on May 7, 2011.

Sometime before Christmas, the official website for Osamu Katayama’s Gaku (The Peak) was updated with a teaser trailer.

Based on Shinichi Ishizuka’s ongoing manga serial “Gaku: Minna no Yama”, the film stars Shun Oguri as an experienced mountain climber and rescue team volunteer named Sanpo Shimazaki. One spring, newcomer Kumi Shiina (Masami Nagasawa) is assigned to the Nagano prefecture mountain rescue team where she experiences growth thanks to Sanpo’s guidance, but loses confidence when she’s unable to rescue a victim in a real-life situation.

One day, multiple accidents occur simultaneously due to a mountain blizzard, and Kumi is forced into action with a colleague.

“The Peak” will be released by Toho in Japan on May 7, 2011.

Earlier today, it was announced that Nichirin no Isan, a 1993 novel by Naoki Award-winner Jiro Sato (58) will be made into a film starring Masato Sakai (36).

The novel, which has sold over 500,000 copies to date, revolves around a top secret mission to hide Japanese treasures currently valued at a staggering 200 trillion yen near the conclusion of World War II. Sakai will play Major Mashiba, an intelligence officer with Japan’s Imperial Guard. Together with First Lieutenant Koizumi (Seiji Fukushi) and Master Sergeant Mochizuki (Shido Nakamura), Mashiba attempts to execute secret orders to hide these valuable treasures from the occupying forces of Douglas MacArthur in the hopes of funding the nation’s reconstruction at some point in the future.

Out of necessity, 20 young girls are enlisted to help with the mission without being informed of the details. Yusuke Santamaria (39) will play the girls’ teacher and Kaoru Yachigusa (79) will play one of the girls in the present day.

Kiyoshi Sasabe will be directing the film for distributor Kadokawa Pictures. Filming will begin on April 24th with a release planned for sometime in 2011.

Sports Hochi via Tokyograph

Back in January, the magazine Big Comic Original revealed that Shinichi Ishizuka’s mountain-climbing manga “Gaku: Minna no Yama” would be turned into a live-action film to be released sometime in 2011. No further details had been available until earlier today, when Toho officially announced the project to the media.

Filming is currently underway under the direction of Osamu Katayama (Heat Island) and is expected to wrap in July. Actor Shun Oguri (Crows Zero) will play a mountain rescue team volunteer named Sanpo and Masami Nagasawa (Magare! Spoon) will co-star as a new team member named Kumi. The film’s budget is said to be around 1 billion yen (~$10 million USD).

Although shooting began only a few days ago, Oguri began training under a professional mountain guide way back in December—in part, to overcome his fear of heights. Nagasawa, who had to sacrifice 12 inches of length from her hair for the role, also participated in mountain training.

Supporting cast members were also announced. Kuranosuke Sasaki (42) will play the chief of the rescue team, Takuya Ishida (23) will play a team member, Atsuro Watabe (41) will play a rescue pilot, and Yoshie Ichige (59) will play the manager of a mountain cottage.

No official release date has been decided yet, but Toho has it listed for 2011.