Gantz, Maria-sama, Mori no Asagao Promos Streamed

The official website for the live-action film adaptation of Hiroya Oku's Gantz science-fiction action manga has begun streaming the second teaser trailer and the first full trailer on Saturday. (In the linked page, select the "Trailer" menu option on the righthand side.)

Kazunari Ninomiya (Tekkonkinkreet, Letters from Iwo Jima) of the Arashi musical group and award-winning actor Ken'ichi Matsuyama (Death Note, Detroit Metal City, NANA, The Legend of Kamui) star as two friends who are resurrected after a deadly subway accident and forced to take on violent, mysterious missions. Yuriko Yoshitaka (Kaiji), Natsuna, and Takayuki Yamada (Train Man, Crows Zero, H2: Kimi to Ita Hibi) also star in this film from director Shinsuke Satō (The Princess Blade, Suna-dokei, Oblivion Island: Haruka and the Magic Mirror). The first film will open on January 29, 2011, and the second film will follow in the spring.

The official website for the live-action film adaptation of Oyuki Konno's Maria Watches Over Us (Maria-sama ga Miteru) light novels has also begun streaming a theatrical trailer and a 15-second commercial. Love Berry magazine model Honoka Miki will play Yumi, the naive first-year student at the Lillian School For Girls. Seventeen magazine model Haru will play Sachiko, the second-year student who chooses Yumi as her "soeur" or "little sister."

The film will open in Japan on November 6. Shueisha has published 5.4 million copies of the original light novels, which follow the personal relationships within the student body of Lillian Girls' Academy. In addition to a manga adaptation, the light novels have inspired four anime seasons.

TV Tokyo is streaming a one-minute preview for the live-action television series adaptation of Mamora Gōda's Mori no Asagao manga. The manga revolves around the secret friendship between a rookie prison guard (Atsushi Ito) and a death row felon (Arata). Gōda won the Grand Prize in the Manga Division of the 2007 (11th) Japan Media Arts Festival Awards for his portrayal of the modern Japanese capital punishment system. The television series will premiere on October 18.

[Via Cinema Today, Nippon Cinema, navicon]

Image © 2010 Gantz Film Partners