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Arashi's Ohno, Ring's Nakata Make Live-Action Shinigami-kun
posted on by Egan Loo
Actor Satoshi Ohno (Kaibutsu-kun) of the group Arashi and director Hideo Nakata (Ring/Ringu, The Complex) are working on a live-action television version of the Shinigami-kun manga, which will premiere this April. This will be the first time that the two have worked together. Koichi Endo (Tsuide ni Tonchinkan) created the original manga, which his fans call his "long-lost masterpiece," about a novice god of death.
The story follows the title character (also known as God of Death No. 413) who serves the role of sending the spirits of the dead to the afterlife. The "heartwarming fantasy" also deals with parent-child love, friendship, and social issues such as childhood bullying. Shinigami-kun's real name and other details have not been revealed, but he appears in his black suit and bow tie, saying "Congratulations, I'm here to take you to the next world!" Part of his important duties is to persuade someone who seems about to commit suicide and to prevent unexpected deaths (accidental deaths), but as a novice, he breaks rules of the afterlife and makes decisions like a human.
Endo launched the manga in 1983, before he had his major break with his Tsuide ni Tonchinkan gag comedy manga. The series ran in Shueisha's Fresh Jump and Monthly Shonen Jump magazines until 1990, and Shueisha published 13 volumes. Hiroshi Hashimoto (Flame of Recca, Ninku, Zatch Bell, Unmei no Hito) is writing the television scripts which incorporate the original work's message of "life is precious."
Source: Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web
