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Readers of Gouten Hamada and Takeshi Seshimo's award-winning manga Shimazaki in the Land of Peace may have noticed that the manga's protagonist bears a striking resemblance to actor Mads Mikkelsen. There's a good reason for that: Mads was indeed the inspiration for the character! To celebrate the release of The Promised Land in Japan, Seshimo has drawn gorgeous art of the actor himself. You can see the manga cover and tribute art below. Side by side, the similarities are even more evident. Related: Kono Manga ga Sugoi! Names Its Top Manga for Male and Female Readers in 2023 The Promised Land (released in Japan as Ai o Tagayasu Hito ) is already receiving rave reviews from both Hamada and Seshimo, as well as video game creator Hideo Kojima, screenwriter Yoshikazu Okada and many others. Kodansha publishes an English translation of Shimazaki in the Land of Peace , describing it thus: Seamlessly mixing secret...

Netflix added another title to its rapidly expanding Japan live-action originals slate Wednesday with the announcement of the romantic drama series Beyond Goodbye.

The series is an original story by prolific Japanese screenwriter Yoshikazu Okada (Bl Metamorphosis, The Last 10 Years). It co-stars Kasumi Arimura, known for the Japanese blockbuster We Made a Beautiful Bouquet and the Netflix feature Call Me Chihiro, and Kentaro Sakaguchi, a TV drama regular and recent star of the feature drama success The Last 10 Years (2022).

The film tells the story of Saeko (Arimura), who suddenly loses her fiance Yusuke in a tragic traffic accident. As she tries to overcome her grief, she meets Naruse (Sakaguchi), a man who strangely reminds her of Yusuke. Little does she know that Naruse had received Yusuke’s heart a few months prior to their encounter — a heart still in love and holding all the memories of Yusuke and Saeko’s relationship.

Japan’s Toho Company is launching sales on If Cats Disappeared From The World at Hong Kong Filmart.

Directed by Akira Nagai (Judge!), the film stars Takeru Sato (Ruroni Kenshin) and Aoi Miyazaki (The Great Passage, The Chart of Love).

Screenwriter Yoshikazu Okada (Be With You) is adapting the story from the bestselling novel by Genki Kawamura, producer of films such as Trainman, Parasyte and Confessions.

If Cats Disappeared From The World follows a postman with a cat who finds out he has a brain tumor and is told by a devil that he needs to eliminate a variety of things from the world if he wants to live longer.

Currently in production, the film is produced by Kei Haruna (Crying Out Love In The Center Of The World).