Thursday, May 29, 2008

Yudai Yamaguchi returns with Kazuo Umezu adaptation

by Chris MaGee

The works of Kazuo Umezu are filled with surreal depictions of blood, gore and supernatural weirdness, but the godfather of horror manga also has a zany and twisted sense of humour, so who better to bring his 1967 manga “Akanbo Shoujo (Baby Girl)” to the big screen than “Battlefield Baseball” and “Meatball Machine” director Yudai Yamaguchi. Nippon Cinema has details of the upcoming adaptation that stars Nako Mizusawa as Yoko, a 15-year-old girl who after the war is reunited with her parents who live out in the middle of nowhere in a huge mansion. A lot of room for two people, but Yoko’s parents are harbouring a secret: Yoko’s sister Tamami, a girl trapped in the body of a malformed baby, and she's royally pissed that Yoko got the gift of good genes. Now that’s creepy!

I’m a huge fan of Yamaguchi. “Battlefield Baseball” never fails to throw me into fits of laughter, the same goes for “Cromartie High: The Movie”, but it seems that he’s moving away from the comedy and more into horror. Well, as long as he keeps his tongue planted firmly in cheek though I’ll follow him wherever he wants to take me.

“Akanbo Shoujo” will hit Japanese theatres on August 2nd.

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