'Inuyashiki' Live-Action Film Debuts First Trailer

Inuyashiki is a strikingly different science-fiction series from the same mind that created Gantz, and it has done so well in Japan it is on its way to getting a live-action adaptation.

The live-action Inuyashiki film is gearing up for an April 20, 2018 release in Japan so it has debuted the first trailer for the film, featuring its two major characters, Ichiro Inuyashiki and Hiro Shishigami.

The trailer hints at some major key points in the story such as the initial explosion that causes Ichiro and Hiro to lose their original bodies and gain a new machine body, the fact that Ichiro is a lonely man who is constantly ignored by his family, and even reveals the fact he's been diagnosed with cancer and has very little to live for before the incident.

Shinsuke Sato is directing the film, and he had previously adapted series creator's Hiroya Oku's works before so fans should not be worried about the translation. Sato directed both film versions of Gantz, Gantz and its sequel, Gantz II: Perfect Answer.

The cast for the live-action film includes the likes of Noritake Kinashi as Ichiro Inuyashiki (the main character, an elderly salaryman), Takeru Satoh as Hiro Shishigami (a murderer with the same abilities as Ichiro), Mari Hamada as Marie Inuyashiki (Ichiro's wife), Yuki Saito as Yuko Shishigami (Hiro's mother), Nayuta Fukuzaki as Takeshi Inuyashiki (Ichiro's son), Ayaka Miyoshi as Mari Inuyashiki (Ichiro's daughter), Fumi Nikaidō as Shion Watanabe (a girl close to Hiro), and Yusuke Iseya as Detective Hagiwara, a detective character newly created for the film to investigate the string of Hiro's murders.

For those unfamiliar with Inuyashiki, the series was originally created by Hiroya Oku (who previously created the super popular science-fiction series Gantz). Originally debuting in Kodansha's Evening magazing in 2014 and ran until July 2017. The series has been collected into ten volumes, and twelve anime episodes, and follows the elderly Inuyashiki Ichiro, a friendless and lonely individual who gets caught in a mysterious explosion. When he wakes up, he realizes he now has an ultra-powerful mechanical body and decides to use his newfound power to protect others. He soon finds, however, than another individual shared the same fate but has chosen to use his power for violent means. You can currently watch the anime series on Amazon's Anime Strike streaming service.