Press conference held for “Zebraman 2: Zebra City no Gyakushu”
Posted by Kevin Ouellette at 6:20am on Monday, October 19, 2009 EST
Filed under: Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi, Future releases, Cast updates, Movie announcements
On October 19th, a press conference was held at Grand Prince Hotel Akasaka to announce production of Zebraman 2: Zebra City no Gyakushu (literally “Zebra City’s Counter Attack”). Show Aikawa was on the platform alongside co-stars Riisa Naka, Tsuyoshi Abe, and Masahiro Inoue. Director Takashi Miike and producer Takashi Hirano were also in attendance.
Aikawa’s hair was dyed completely white for the role just this morning. Filming hasn’t yet started, but he wanted to give people an early peek. He explained that the white should make him feel old, but surprisingly, it’s having the opposite effect.
Production of this sequel has some added meaning because it will overlap with the 25th anniversary of Aikawa’s debut. It’s a pretty big coincidence considering the first Zebraman was the 100th film of his career. Miike chose to credit fate over planning, commenting that at each milestone he finds Show Aikawa standing in front of him.
Aikawa on playing Zebraman again: “He’s a man of black and white. I get to live as a dream figure that can’t exist in adult society where there are only shades of gray.”
On his reaction to hearing about the sequel: “I thought it was April Fools’ Day (laughs). -I’ll do it if it kills me!”
The film is set in Zebra City in the year 2025. Shinichi Ichikawa (Aikawa) has lost his memory and begins to do battle against an evil organization bent on world conquest. Kankuro Kudo once again handled the script, and expectations are that it will surpass the original.
“Zebraman 2: Zebra City no Gyakushu” will be released in Japan on May 1, 2010.
Sources: Cinema Today | Daily Sports Online
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Tags: kankuro kudo, masahiro inoue, riisa naka, show aikawa, takashi miike, tsuyoshi abe, zebraman 2
Comments
Her career is going great lately. Between this and live-action The Girl Who Leapt Through Time she’s going to be huge and she just turned 21 the other day.
It is! And will there actually be a live-action version of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time? I saw your article on it, but it seemed to be some speculation atm?
Well, it’s rare for Japanese movies to get any publicity whatsoever until they do the initial press event announcing it, so everything seems like a rumor if details leak out early. There’s always the chance that an unannounced movie could get canceled before production starts for whatever reason, but live-action Girl Who Leapt Through Time is definitely a real movie that’s been planned for months now. Unless something unexpected happens, it will come out in 2010.
Naka Riisa looks so pretty~ ♥