[News] Mitani Koki casts an ensemble of 26 actors for his new movie ‘Kiyosu Kaigi’.

[News] Mitani Koki casts an ensemble of 26 actors for his new movie ‘Kiyosu Kaigi’.
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Nobody in his right mind would dare to reject a casting offer by famed director Mitani Koki (‘A Ghost of a Chance’) and so it’s no surprise that he is able to announce an ensemble cast of 26 starring actors for 26 leading roles in his new movie ‘Kiyosu Kaigi‘ (‘Kiyosu Conference’), which is a live-action adaptation of his own historic novel of the same name.

The story revolves around a conference at Kiyosu Castle between Shibata Katsuie, Hashiba Hideyoshi, Niwa Nagahide, and Ikeda Tsuneoki after the Honnoji incident and the death of Oda Nobunaga. It’s up to them to discuss the succession of leadership and the redistribution of the territories, which also creates a huge chance for those who want more than just a piece of the pie.

During the announcement of the movie earlier this year, Mitani already proclaimed that this is going to feature his best lineup of actors to date and he did not exaggerate. Shibata Katsuie will be played by Yakusho Koji, Hashiba Hideyoshi by Oizumi Yo, Niwa Hagahide by Kohinata Fumiyo, and Ikeda Tsuneoki by Sato Koichi.

Yakusho expressed, “I’m looking forward to this, since it’s been a while since I’ve worked together with Mitani. Katsuie has a bit of a plain image among those military commanders, but I’m sure he was a really great guy. I want to enjoy myself portraying Katsuie as a lovable man.”

Oizumi commented on his role and laughed, “Mitani made me feel a little uneasy when he told me that he wants to make Hideyoshi look like a real monkey.”

Kohinata stated, “I have to get myself completely fired up in order to live up to the standard of a Mitani production.”

Sato is just amazed by Mitani and said, “Mitani-san’s script that was written based on his own novel…though both (original novel and the script) are in 2D, the story line has the extension as if it’s in 3D that makes me hard to believe it’s written by the same person. I can’t wait to be part of of it.”

The remaining starring cast includes Suzuki Kyoka (as Oichi), Tsumabuki Satoshi (as Oda Nobukatsu), Iseya Yusuke (as Oda Nobukane), Bando Minosuke (as Oda Nobutaka), Gouriki Ayame (as Matsuhime), Sasai Eisuke (as Oda Nobunaga), Nakamura Kankuro (as Oda Nobutada), Asano Tadanobu (as Maeda Toshiie), Terajima Susumu (as Kuroda Kanbei), Anan Kenji (as Takigawa Kazumasu), Matsuyama Kenichi (as Hori Hidemasa), Denden (as Maeda Gen’i), Ichikawa Shinpei, Asano Kazuyuki (as Akechi Mitsuhide), Sometani Shota (as Mori Ranmaru), Seto Catherine, Kondo Yoshimasa, Nakatani Miki (as Nene), Toda Keiko, Kajihara Zen, Amami Yuki (as a shinobi), and Nishida Toshiyuki (as the still alive Sarashina Rokubei from ‘A Ghost of a Chance’).

Mitani bluntly announced that he aims for ‘Best Foreign Language Film’ at the Academy Awards.

‘Kiyosu Kaigi’ is slated for a release in fall 2013, with the filming scheduled to begin in November.