On
Wednesday, the production team of the anime film 100 Meters,
based on Uoto's manga, announced the addition of ten
new members to the cast. The announcement was accompanied by a
promotional image shared on the film's official account on X (formerly
Twitter).
The new
confirmed actors are:
- Jun Kasama as Nigami, Togashi's
teammate
- Rie Takahashi as Asakusa, a student who
invites Togashi to the team
- Yuki Tanaka as Shiina, another
student on the team
- Atsumi Tanezaki as Young Togashi in
Elementary School
- Aoi Yūki as Young Komiya in
Elementary School
- Yūma Uchida as Kabanoki, a racer who
aspires to be world-class
- Junya Enoki as Numano, Komiya's
teammate in high school
- Haruki Ishiya as Kyōden, team captain
at Komiya High School
- Hiiro Ishibashi as Morikawa, an athlete
who admires Togashi
- Tomokazu
Sugita as Onomichi
An
international premiere with a Japanese stamp
The film
celebrated its world premiere on June 12 during the Annecy
International Animated Film Festival. It is scheduled to be released in
Japanese theaters on September 19, while GKIDS will bring it to
theaters in North America in October.
The main
cast includes Tori Matsuzaka as Togashi, a prodigious runner,
and Shōta Sometani as Komiya, a tenacious young man who finds
inspiration in Togashi. Also starring are Kōki Uchiyama as
Saizu and Kenjirō Tsuda as Kaidō.
An experienced creative team
The film is
directed by Kenji Iwaisawa, known for ON-GAKU: Our Sound,
and the animation is by the Rock 'n' Roll Mountain studio. The
script is written by Yasuyuki Mutō (Tokyo Revengers),
while Keisuke Kojima is in charge of character design and
animation direction. Keikankun Yamaguchi leads the artistic
direction, and the music is composed by Hiroaki Tsutsumi.
The film
had a first screening at Annecy 2023 as part of the "Work
in Progress" section, where the synopsis was advanced:
Togashi
was born to run. Since he was a child, he won all the 100-meter races
effortlessly. But in sixth grade she meets Komiya, a new student who lacks
technique but overflows with passion. By teaching him, Togashi gives Komiya a
new goal: to win at all costs. Years later, fate brings them together again,
this time as rivals on the court.
The
origin of manga and the director's career
Hyakuemu is the first manga by Uoto,
who also authored Orb: On the Movements of the Earth. The work was
released on Kodansha's Magazine Pocket app in November 2018,
and its third compilation volume came out in August 2019.
For his
part, Iwaisawa debuted with the adaptation of ON-GAKU, announced
in 2012 and partially financed through crowdfunding in 2018. The film was
released in Japan in January 2020 and arrived in North America by GKIDS at the
end of that same year.
