It was no mere feat announcing the recent NIFFF appearance of acclaimed director Miike Takashi. Having left a mark this Spring with the highly celebrated Blade Of The Immortal, his latest return to festival furor will have him at Fantasia for the North American presentation of his other live-action manga adaptation, JoJo's Bizzare Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable.
Previous iterations of the title had it hinting as the first of more than one chapter which would be fitting if Warner Bros. Japan saw fit to expand on the property. This latest treatment would adhere to the fourth phase of the JoJo saga with actor Yamazaki Kento leading the cast as a high school student uniquely gifted with the mysterious ability to call on a Stand - a spiritual anomaly of which there appear to be many lurking in town in one form or another through its secret users. Fantasia programmer Rupert Bottenberg has more:
Welcome to Morioh, a seaside town where many inhabitants are rather out of the ordinary. This includes Koichi, a peaceful student who’s new in town; The pretty Yukako, who eagerly took the Koichi under her wing; And Josuke Higashikata, alias Jojo, the piece-de-resistance. Since his childhood, Jojo has had a power called Stand, a kind of energy that allows him to heal wounds, and to invoke an powerful entity when he’s upset. Despite his raffish, teen-thug behaviour, he’s a fundamentally good and polite person, one who would never abuse his power... unless some unfortunate utters an inappropriate comment about Jojo’s impressive hairstyle. But he may well have to use his abilities for more important purposes when Angelo, a serial killer who also controls the Stand, starts racking up victims. When Jojo interferes in the Angelo’s sordid plans, the latter decides to hunt our hero down, as well as his family and friends. Even worse, a mysterious archer prowls Morioh and aims to aggravate this already delicate situation.
Hirohiko Araki's manga cult series “JoJo's Bizarre Adventure,” which has sold over 100 million copies, has been a hit for Shonen Jump magazine for nearly 20 years. Today, this jewel of Japanese popular culture is finally seeing a live-action adaptation – and it is to none other than Takashi Miike that the colossal task of recreating the eccentric universe of Araki has been entrusted. And the director of ACE ATTORNEY and AS THE GODS WILL has accomplished that task brilliantly! Thanks to, among other things, impressive special effects that perfectly recreate the various Stands, and an incredible cast combining promising young talents with several veterans, JOJO'S BIZARRE ADVENTURE: DIAMOND IS UNBREAKABLE invites us to a jubilant visual feast full of action, humor, suspense and fantasy. Takashi Miike's 101st production shows no sign of creative shortness of breath and still refuses to take action. That's why we love him so much!
The film marks as one of two Fantasia screenings this year from Miike next to that of the 2016 film, The Mole Song: Hong Kong Capriccio.
JoJo's Bizzare Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable joins Yamazaki with Kamiki Ryunosuke, Komatsu Nana, Mackenyu, Okada Masaki and Iseya Yusuke. TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System Television, Inc.) will be presenting the film at Fantasia on opening day as well as July 23 before the film's August 4 Japan release
Check out the international trailer.
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