Gintama Live-Action Movie Debuts New Character Visual, Premiere Date

In the world of anime, Gintama is a mainstay. The fan-favorite franchise debuted years ago and has continued to become more popular over the years. In 2017, Gintama will see itself rebooted into yet another anime series, but the new year will also bring a change to Gintama. Later in the year, the franchise’s first live-action movie will hit theaters in Japan, and fans are curious to see how the project fares. Now, the studio behind the ambitious project is teasing fans with a stunning still image, and it shows a pair of Gintama‘s most iconic characters.

The photo was uploaded to the movie’s official website not long ago. The visual poster shows Masaki Okada in character as Kotarō Katsura. Behind him, fans would be amiss to overlook Katsura’s lovable pet Elizabeth as she stares blankly towards the camera.

There’s no denying that Katsura’s live-action appearance looks remarkably similar to his anime depiction. The two men share their traditional wardrobe and long, black hair. Even their stern expressions are mirrored, and Elizabeth looks as cute as she is oblivious at times.

The poster also came with a note about the film’s premiere date. Previously, fans knew that the movie would hit theaters in July 2017, but now fans have an exact date. The live-action Gintama movie will premiere on July 14, 2017 in Japan. Currently, there is no word on when or if the movie will be brought to the U.S for a limited theatrical release, but international fans are hopeful.

When it comes to the rest of the cast, Masaski Suda will play Shinpachi Shimura while Kanna Hashimoto plays Kagura. Masami Nagasawa was cast as Tae Shimura, Masaki Okada as Katsura, and Tsuyoshi Muro as Gengai Higara. Toshiro Hijikata is played by Yuuya Yagira, Shinsuke Takasugi by Tsuyoshi Domoto, and a slew of other characters will also feature in the film

If you are not familiar with Gintama, it is never too late to get acquainted with the franchise. The series debuted in 2004 when Weekly Shonen Jump began serializing Sorachi’s manga. The manga is on-going and is one of the most popular series in Japan. In 2006, a full-length anime adaptation of Gintama was created by Sunrise and ran until 2010. A series of other anime series have also aired with the most recent debuting in April 2015. A brand-new anime is set to air on TV Tokyo next year starting on January 2017.

Gintama follows a young samurai named Gintoki Sakata during Japan’s Edo period. However, the historical period is not the one we are familiar with; The story’s world has been overrun by aliens called Amanto, and they are not too friendly to Earth’s natives. The series follows Gintoki and his friends Shinpachi Shimura and Tae as they do odd jobs to survive. The series is primarily episodic by nature though it has a few well-received story arcs which see Gintoki take on his country’s ruling class head-on.

[HT] Anime News Network