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NY Film Fest Hosts U.S. Debuts of King of Thorn, Kakera

The Japan Society has announced the list of films that it will screen at its "Japan Cuts" contemporary Japanese film festival, which will be held from July 1 to July 16. The festival will host the North American premieres of the anime film adaptation of Yuji Iwahara's King of Thorn science-fiction action manga, the live-action film adaptation of Erica Sakurazawa's Love Vibes yuri manga, and the live-action film adaptation of Kengo Hanazawa's Boys on the Run boxing manga.

Director Kazuyoshi Katayama and Sunrise's film adaptation of Iwahara's King of Thorn manga follows Kasumi, a girl who was infected by a pandemic virus along with her twin sister Shizuku. Kasumi — but not Shizuku — was chosen to be among 159 other people who were placed into cryogenic suspension until a cure is found. The 160 wake up in the dark future populated by monsters, and Kasumi must survive while she searches for clues on what happened to the world and her sister. Even though the film held its world premiere at Spain's Sitges Film Festival on October 9 and ran in London that same month, it did not open in Japan until May 1.

Kakera: A Piece of Our Life is based on Erica Sakurazawa's Love Vibes yuri manga, about Haru, a college student trapped in a dead-end relationship with her cheating boyfriend. One day she meets Riko, a prosthetics artisan, at a cafe, and the two become friends. However, it soon becomes apparent that Riko's feelings for Haru involve more than just friendship. The film debuted in Japan on April 3.

Playwright and director Daisuke Miura oversaw the live-action adaptation of Hanazawa's Boys on the Run manga, and Ginnan Boyz singer Kazunobu Mineta starred as the main character Toshiyuki Tanishi. Tanishi is a 27-year-old man stuck in a company that sells vending machine prizes, until the day he meets an old acquaintance who is now a boxer. Inspired to try boxing himself, Tanishi joins a gym that happens to have a female trainer named Hana. The film opened in Japan on January 30.

The Japan Society will also screen the live-action film adaptation of Kyoichi Katayama's Crying Out Love in the Center of the World romance novel, released in English by Viz Media as Socrates in Love. Viz also released a one-volume manga version of the original novel.

Image © Yuji Iwahara, Enterbrain, Inc./Ibara Committee

[Via Nippon Cinema]