GET READY 4 THE HIGHEST-GROSSING JAPANESE MOVIE OF ALL TIME!! (no pressure, toma :P) This is TOMA'S MOVIE REPORT #2!

[the book. credit: www.sasugabooks.com]

YOU KNOW WHAT!
when i saw the title, i thought it'd be futuristic fight-with-robots movie, cuz of the "no longer human" thing. like "our enemies are no longer human". kinda like I, Robot. hahaha! that would be such a cool action movie 4 toma, right??? nah, but there's already too many of those kinda movies, i.e. Transformers or Terminator. actually, the book's plot kinda reminds me of Death of a Salesman. why are most classics tragedies?? *sigh*

(been listening to arashi's Hero a lot. remember that really cool MV a fan made for him, with video clips f/his childhood till around @deep?? they used this song. i think it's really that strong, proud feeling toma fans must feel right now...the feeling u get when u watch that MV, only A LOT MORE SO, OF COURSE!)

YES! toma talked about this movie at tomagoto, here. ^_^
reading the message made me smile ne~~ yappari he is so excited about it!! so much that it makes him shiver! ah, toma, we're all so super excited about this too!!! omedetou, toma-kun! ♥ hounto youkatta!!!! sooo proud of you! i'll definitely watch it. *_*

some movie news:
Popular young actor Toma Ikuta (24) will star in a new movie directed by Genjiro Arato, the producer responsible for the award-winning "Zigeunerweisen" in 1980. The film is "Ningen Shikkaku," based on the Osamu Dazai novel of the same name. Also known in English as "No Longer Human," the book is generally considered to be Dazai's greatest masterpiece.

Ikuta has recently had major roles in several television series, but this role will actually be his first time appearing in a movie. Published in 1948, the semi-autobiographical "Ningen Shikkaku" was Dazai's last completed work before he successfully committed suicide. Despite selling millions of copies, the story has never been adapted to screen. However, this year is the 100th anniversary of Dazai's birth, prompting the decision to create a movie.

Filming starts in July, with a release projected for spring 2010.

[credit: http://www.tokyograph.com/news/id-4789,
thanks 2 meoinkie2 4 re-posting at AF!]

BUT, of course, this means toma won't get any time to rest after he's done with Majo Saiban! in fact, if i'm guessing correctly, majo's filming won't be finished till at least mid-july, and there might be a time where toma will have to film for both at once?? wait. that won't work out, cuz then he has 2 keep his hair like that for majo, and i'm sure his hair has 2 be different for the movie! ...ANYWAY, toma will be working non-stop from july till whenever filming for the movie is done. i dunno about japanese movies, but in the US, it usually takes around 3-6 months to film a movie. if it's the same for japan, he might only be done filming for the movie in october (i'm hoping!! cuz then he'll get some time off to celebrate his birthday) or january 2010!!!

still...this is a dream come true for toma & his fans. ^__^
i knew 2009 would be a big year for toma, but it's all happening so fast!! but i can still think of some other things that i hope toma can do next year or soon!! 1) somehow move up from his Johnny's Jr. status (but without debuting as a singer/group, not sure if this is possible!). 2) be in some commercials for some really popular companies/products (and they'll give him free stuff too! yey.). 3) be able to go on vacation overseas with his family. 4) be in a drama with yamashita (and/or his other JE friends)!! ~_~

[the announcement. credit: mido_midori]

---------here's some more translated news about the movie & toma's comments about it (thanks to mido_midori!!): http://community.livejournal.com/ikuta_toma/395079.html

wahhh. read the comments!! every1 in the fandom so HAPPY AND EXCITED!!!!! ^_^
really unbelievable ne...now that i know more about it, i really see that this is a HUGE DEAL, IT'S REALLY SUCH A BIG HONOR FOR TOMA TO BE PICKED TO PLAY THIS ROLE! it's a lot of pressure. but i'm sure toma can handle it. =) THIS IS SO COOL, THIS IS EPIC!! I'M SURE HE'LL BE BRILLIANT (as always) and MORE PPL WILL DISCOVER HOW INCREDIBLY TALENTED AND CUTE HE IS! ♥

I'M REALLY SO SO SUPER SUPER PROUD AND HAPPY 4 TOMA-KUN!!!!!!!! ~_~ things are really going his way, he's really finally appreciated & respected and he is really becoming a big star!! ^o^ he might even get some attention internationally if this movie is really successful/wins some awards??!

AND ALL JAPAN TOMA FANS MUST MUST MUST GO SEE THE MOVIE!!! i wish i could see toma on the big screen (although it'd be w/no eng. subtitles and i wouldn't understand what's going on), but i'll just have to wait and see it on my computer, probably. (AND HIS HAIRSTYLE HAD BETTER LOOK AWESOME THIS TIME!! haha. after this dreadful perm.)

toma's movie!! IT MUST BE A BOX-OFFICE HIT
AND HAVE RECORD-BREAKING TICKET SALES!!!!
(lol, i'm already thinking about things like this)

(i was thinking "i'll definitely buy the dvd!" but then i checked at yesasia, and most japanese movies (even the really popular ones) ARE NOT released in DVD-ALL or don't have a USA vers., only region 2. even when they are, they might not have eng. subtitles and they're EXPENSIVE!! $40-50 for a dvd??! good grief!! so i'll probably just have to wait till it's available online, with subs. in other words it'll take forever, and i'll have to be careful not to avoid spoilers that entire period of time!! aiya.... maybe i'll still buy the HK version vcd later just cuz i want to have some kinda official version of it. ehhh. why do they gotta make it so hard for overseas fans to watch japanese movies?!!)


----------- ABOUT THE DARK PLOT, etc. THOUGH....
here are some fans' comments that i wanna talk about.

orangekiss_es:
"So, we can probably say this: Dazai equals Ōba equals Ikuta."

"a man that becomes more and more weak to women and alcohol."

EHHHH??!!

[kate: "EH!!!" indeed!!! wahhh. then if dazai = ikuta and dazai = greatness, then ikuta = greatness!! haha. of course, us fans already know toma is just so AMAZING, but it makes me excited and happy that even movie directors and all~ are now recognizing toma's talent and brilliance!! they really believe he can pull off this role. (i do too!) wow. the pressure's on!! toma's got a big burden to carry this time. but he'll get through this without too much criticism, i think/hope!]
-----------

mido_midori
2009-05-13 03:27pm:
I think they ment he's kinda the boy next door (I wish I had such a guy in my neighboughood)

I also think he's very good with commedy and such, but I imagine he's willing to challenge himself with different roles.
He doesn't want to be Nakatsu forever.

I'm quite scared about the "alcohol and women" thing going on ç__ç but he's still in JE, it should not be too much.
If I think that we're going to wait a year to know that I feel like I could die.

[kate: me too, i LOVE the nakatsu-like, happy-go-lucky toma characters. but i think toma can really adapt to any role, really! especially cuz of his background in stage plays...i think he likes having some serious roles once in a while to challenge himself. and it'd be boring if he plays the same kinda roles over and over. AND anyone who's seen toma in Maou or Honey and Clover, or some of his past plays, or even as recently as VOICE-- knows that toma is just as awesome at playing the serious/troubled/sad characters as the happy characters!! THOUGH I AM REALLY HOPING THEY'LL LIGHTEN UP THE PLOT/CHANGE THE STORY QUITE A BIT (OR AT LEAST LEAVE OUT SOME PARTS) A LOT FOR THIS MOVIE, CUZ, well, u know, they wanna surprise the audience a little and make it not totally soul-sucking-ly depressing/creepy/sad, right??

it's like with johnny depp, he's so good-looking and talented, yet he has a wide variety of roles, from weird/creepy guy to the fun/cool guy. he doesn't take the easy, good guy roles a lot. =P BUT, I'M A LITTLE WORRIED, CUZ SIMILAR TO JOHNNY, I THINK TOMA REALLY GETS INTO HIS ROLES. he really "becomes" his character in a way, and really feels what his characters feel....and this character HAS SERIOUS PROBLEMS AND IS A REALLY DISTURBED INDIVIDUAL. so....yeah...i'm worried about that! =(

me too!!! very scared!! =0
of the whole women and alcohol + degradation part...please please keep things PG13 and also don't make toma do any bed scenes. even if toma's ok with doing it (i don't think he would though??), i'll FREAK. OUT. if i see him doing it!!! FREAK OUT, MAN!!! o_o In fact, i don't ever wanna see any of my idols (especially toma-kun) do scenes like that. i just don't wanna see them like that. call me old-fashioned, but if they did do it, i'll avoid watching by all means possible. haih...it's just that scenes like that must be awkward to film, and so i always feel sorry 4 them and i end up feeling too embarassed to watch it...


-------------------------- THE BOOK REPORT:

http://www.amazon.com/No-Longer-Human-Osamu-Dazai/dp/0811204812

there are lots of reviews for the book here. check it out! i learned more about the book...for instance, it was written during the post-war era, so it was partly why the depression of the character is more understood, accepted then...i guess. but right now. aren't we depressed enough with all the problems the world has right now?? do they really think this kinda movie can do well in modern (and scary) times like this? mm....that's just what i think.

so he was abused by/abuses women?? mm...i am gonna have a problem with this part and also the wanting to suicide. i especially have strong feelings about characters that want to suicide... =/ so it's like he's a sane person in an insane world?? i'll try my best to like or at least accept him, though he's an antihero and will probably be quite a horrible person. haha. but IT'S TOMA!! he's so adorable, i have a hard time picturing him in this role! ...it's actually dark but can still be funny? in a satiric/witty way? or maybe so sad that it's funny?? i'm not sure what to expect...but it's good to know it can kinda be funny, at least.

ano... don't believe the hype. though it's the 2nd best selling novel, but whether it's good or not depends on the reader. but f/most of the reviews here at least, seems like most ppl agree that the book was great. so that's good.