Monday, July 6, 2009

Nao Matsushita to portray Shigeru Mizuki's wife in "GeGeGe no Nyōbō"

by Chris MaGee

Back in April we reported that actor/ writer/ director Takuji Suzuki was going to be helming a biopic of Nunoe Mura, the wife of "Gegege no Kitaro" creator Shigeru Mizuki. Titled
"GeGeGe no Nyōbō (Spooky Wife)" the project will chart the relationship between Mizuki and Mura from their first arranged meeting in 1961 through to the present day, and will be adapted from Mura's bestselling memoir of the same name. Now Tokyograph is reporting that this film is in fact not a film, but a TV drama that will air on NHK starting on March 29, 2010 to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the launch of Mizuki's career as an artist and illustrator. They've also revealed which actress will be portraying Mura: 24-year-old Nao Matsushita (above) whose previous credits include umpteenth Japanese TV dramas as well as a role in Kenta Fukasaku's 2007 film "X-Cross". Apparently Matsushita got the part back in April, but producers made her keep the role secret until now.

Like I said in our original report, Mizuki is a fascinating artist and man, so any project focusing on his life is more than welcome. I'm just a tad disappointed that "GeGeGe no Nyōbō" has turned out to be a TV drama. It's even more doubtful that we'll be able to track this one down in North America if that's the case.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Actually, as was initially reported, it's still getting a film in addition to the drama series. At this point, though, it's not clear if the cast is going to be the same for both the drama and the film. Nao Matsushita has only been announced for the drama, as far as I know.

Anonymous said...

does anyone know how to contact shigeru mizuki? want to commission him for some artwork...thx!