Illustrator Ippei Gyoubu is developing the groundwork for anime and manga spinoffs based on Tajomaru, the newest live-action film adaptation of Ryūnosuke Akutagawa's "In a Grove" samurai short story with actor Shun Oguri (Gokusen, Hana Yori Dango [2005], Densha Otoko, Crows Zero, Fullmetal Alchemist The Movie). The announcement of the proposed anime and manga was made at the July 5 press conference which marked the completion of the live-action film in Tokyo. Oguri, Yuki Shibamoto, Kei Tanaka, Kyosuke Yabe, Hiroki Matsukata, director Hiroyuki Nakano, and producer Mataichiro Yamamoto appeared at the event.
"In a Grove" inspired several Japanese and American films, including Akira Kurosawa's Rashōmon film which received an Honorary Oscar. The "Tajomaru" of the new film's title is the same Tajomaru bandit character that Rashōmon's acclaimed actor Toshirō Mifune made famous, but Oguri's role will add a twist to the identity of the Tajomaru character.
Gyoubu is adapting the cast of the Tajomaru film into characters for anime and manga. Yabe, who plays the bandit leader Michikane, remarked on how Gyoubu's drawings made his character look stylish and tall, so Oguri immediately replied with a laugh that the drawings were a little too good-looking for Yabe. The rock duo B'z are performing the film's theme song "Pray."
The film will get advance screenings in Japan on September 12 and 13. The official website began streaming a trailer along with an earlier teaser trailer.
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