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Live-action 2027 Kaiji Film Unveils Trailer, Teaser, Cast
posted on by Anita Tai
TOHO Movies revealed on Tuesday the first full trailer, the accompanying teaser trailer, the cast, and character visuals for Kaiji: Jinsei Revenge Game (Kaiji: Life Revenge Game), the new live-action film adaptation of Nobuyuki Fukumoto's Kaiji manga.
Tatsuya Fujiwara reprises his role as the titular character Kaiji.
Kazuya Kamenashi (The Drops of God, live-action Kindaichi Case Files) plays Kazuya Hyōdō.
Mahiro Takasugi (I want to eat your pancreas, live-action Tokyo Revengers 2) plays Teiai Corporation employee Keita Mashimo.
Sara Minami (Grotesqqque, live-action Kimi ni Todoke) plays Keita's girlfriend Taeko Yūki.
Susumu Terajima (When Marnie Was There, live-action Lovely Complex) plays golf course employee Kōzō Nonomura.
Denpa licensed the manga, and it describes the story:
Ne'er-do-well Kaiji Itou's shiftless existence is suddenly rattled by a visit from the yakuza. Burdened by debt and resentment, Kaiji is coerced into gambling for his worthless life. As the stakes grow higher and the rules become increasingly more bizarre, Kaiji must finally take the future into his own hands! Legendary mangaka Nobuyuki Fukumoto finally makes his English-language debut. The inspiration for the infamous anime by the same name and the Netflix live-action film Animal World takes readers into the dark side of Japan's post-bubble economic society by thrusting them into a world of debt, debauchery, and delusion.
Tōya Satō is also returning to direct the new film. Yūgo Kanno is composing the music for the film. Masatoshi Yamaguchi penned the script with assistance from Fukumoto.
The film will open in theaters on January 29.
Fukumoto serialized the original manga in Kodansha's Young Magazine from 1996 to 1999. The manga has inspired multiple sequels and spinoffs, two television anime series, three previous Japanese live-action films, a Chinese live-action film, and a reality game show. Denpa shipped the third volume in December 2021.
Fukumoto announced in 2024 the Kaiji manga will end in the next arc.
The series is currently on hiatus. The manga first went on hiatus in June 2023 due to Fukumoto conducting research, and was slated to return in September of that year, but instead announced another hiatus in October, and was slated to return in November 2023, but the series has not resumed serialization since then. The manga last appeared in Kodansha's Weekly Young Magazine's 2023 27th issue in June.
Sources: live-action Kaiji film's official website, Comic Natalie
