Furusawa Takeshi (Another, ReLIFE) takes the directorial seat for the LA of manga artist Musawo’s Love and Lies – Koi to Uso (恋と嘘), a tale about forbidden love and living under the watchful eyes of an overzealous Japanese government. Showgate will distribute the film and also employs the writing services of Yoshida Erika to translate Musawo’s work into the silver screen. Morikawa Aoi headlines the LA, with Kitamura Takumi and “Gekidan EXILE” member Sato Kanta playing rivals. The release is tentatively announced for Fall 2017.
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What the Movie is all about: Lies are forbidden and love is doubly forbidden. In the near future, when young people in Japan turn sixteen, they are assigned a marriage partner by the government. People don’t have to go through the trouble of looking for someone, and everyone accepts that the government will find a suitable partner to make them happy. Aoi Nisaka (Morikawa Aoi) is a high school student. She is in a love triangle with childhood friend Yuto Shiba (Kitamura Takumi) and Sosuke Takachiho (Sato Kanta). Sosuke Takachiho is appointed by the government to become her husband.
Highlights: Morikawa Aoi was the designated ‘rival’ of Kadowaki Mugi when it comes to playing bold and daring characters, but she (or her agency) opted to vie for popular rather than acclaimed roles. She has shown excellent acting in Chokolietta and The World of Kanako, but – quite frankly – her more recent movies are not good enough for her. Her character in Love and Lies may be her return to form.
Kitamura Takumi has three movies for 2017, and two of them are main roles. The member of DISH// has already proven his acting chops many times. Sato Kanta boasts of the High and Low movie franchise and Itazura na Kiss as his most important roles so far.
Trailer Impressions: Showgate released a new trailer on July 23, which show the confrontation between the two lead actors – Kitamura Takumi and Sato Kanta. The relationship between Morikawa Aoi’s character Nisaka Aoi and Kitamura’s Shiba Yuto is also highlighted and the entry of Sato’s Takachiho Sosuke on the scene as the government’s marital choice.
Trailer 2 is below:
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Trailer 1 – Sato Kanta is no Furukawa Yuki so when he became Naoki on the big screen, his transformation is not entirely convincing. In Love and Lies, he looks different (formal and serious) and that’s a good thing. Kitamura and Sato may be formidable rivals in this movie. Though the trailer is nothing special.