Way back in 2019, Kodansha Comics announced their pickup of the Saaint Young Men manga from Hikaru Nakamura for digital release. The publisher brought out the first volume of the sixteen-volume series on April 23rd, 2019 digitally with new volumes to follow monthly thereafter. The opening volume came with a specially-penned afterword by British Museum curator Nicole Coolidge Rousmaniere, who helped acquire pages from Saint Young Men for the British Museum’s nascent genga collection.
Now, the manga is getting a new lease on life as a live-action adaptation feature film is set for a December 20th, 2024 debut in Japan. It’ll be titled Saint Young Men: The Movie – Holy Men vs Demon Army and it’s bringing back the team behind the live-action series. The film has Yuichi Fukuda directing it from the screenplay by Nakamura.
The latest update on the project is a new announcement that revealed two more actors with roles not yet disclosed and a new trailer. The new additions include:
- Takayuki Yamada
- Tsuyoshi Muro
The Japanese cast includes:
- Ken’ichi Matsuyama as Jesus
- Shōta Sometani as Buddha
- Ryo Katsuji as Taishakuten
- Jirō Satō
- Mai Shiraishi as Benzaiten
- Kento Kaku as Brahmā
- Takanori Iwata as Archangel Michael
- Masataka Kubota as Mara
- Seina Nakata as Mara’s youngest daughter
- Mizuki Yamamoto as Mara’s oldest daughter
- Hinako Sakurai as Mara’s second oldest daughter
- Haruna Kawaguchi as Joshi-zu Red
- Sakura Kiryū as Joshi-zu Green
- Miku Tanaka as Joshi-zu Yellow
- Hinami Mori as Joshi-zu Blue
- Seira Anzai as Joshi-zu Navy
- Ryunosuke Kamiki as Johane
- Taiga Nakano as Jūichimen Kannon/Ekādaśamukha
Plot Concept: Nakamura’s sly comedy documents the everyday life of two not-so-ordinary young men sharing an apartment in modern-day Tokyo: Jesus Christ and Gautama Buddha. Long rumored for an official English-language release, the wait is now over: Saint Young Men is finally here in English.
Previous promos and visuals:
[Source: ANN]
