Título: Kingdom 2: Harukanaru Daichi e (Kingdom 2: Hacia la Tierra Lejana)
País: Japón
Duración: 134 min.
Género: acción, historia, guerra
Fecha de estreno: 15 de julio, 2022
Dirección: Sato Shinsuke
Guion: Kuroiwa Tsutomu
SINOPSIS
Después de reprimir la rebelión de su hermano menor, el rey del estado de Qin, Eisei, que había tomado el trono y aspira a unificar China, es amenazado por asesinos que entraron en el palacio real por la noche. Gracias a Shin y Ka Ryou TEn, quienes se apresuraron a la escena, los asesinos fueron repelidos con éxito, pero estaba claro que había alguien dentro del palacio que planeaba asesinar a Eisei. Si bien todavía había cierta incertidumbre, el enemigo vecino, el estado de Wei, comenzó a invadir a través de la frontera, y Shin finalmente se unirá a su primera batalla como soldado de a pie.
Los soldados de a pie formaron un equipo "GO" de cinco hombres, y Shin se unió al campo de batalla junto con sus viejos amigos Bi Hei y Bi Tou, que vienen de la misma ciudad natal, el experimentado líder del escuadrón Taku Kei, que no es fiable pero nunca había matado a nadie, y el misterioso Kyou Kai, cuyo rostro está cubierto casi por completo con una máscara.
Go Kei, el gran general de Wei, es un genio con una excelente estrategia militar, y también hace pleno uso de la poderosa fuerza de carros de Wei para invadir a los soldados de a pie de Qin en la línea del frente. Cuando el gran general de Qin, el duque Hyou, recibe noticias de la amarga batalla, simplemente sonríe irónicamente y ordena a sus tropas que se mantentan alerta. Contra probabilidades abrumadoras, Shin pelea una batalla solitaria con su habilidad perfeccionada con la espada, mientras que sus camaradas y otros lograron sobrevivir con su propio ingenio.
Baku Koshin, un general de mil hombres de Qin, ve el éxito de Shin y sus hombres y corrió a las colinas para unirse a ellos en un asalto aún más imprudente. Con Shin y sus hombres del Cuarto Ejército mostrando un ligero tambaleo por la abrumadora desventaja de Qin del día anterior, el duque Kyou encuentra la "chispa" de la batalla y finalmente hace su movimiento.
Mientras la batalla vanza a lo grande y un gran fuego comienza a rodar, esa persona inesperada también aparece en el campo de batalla...
CAST
Yamazaki Kento como Shin
Yoshizawa Ryo como Eisei/Hyou
Hashimoto Kanna como Ka Ryou Ten
Seino Nana como Kyou Kai
Mitsushima Shinnosuke como Heki
Okayama Amane como Bi Hei
Miura Takahiro como Bi Tou
Hamatsu Takayuki como Taku Kei
Makabe Togi como Hairou
Yamamoto Chihiro como Kyou Sho
Toyokawa Etsushi como Hyou Kou
Takashima Masahiro como Shobunkun
Kaname Jun como To
Kato Masaya como Shishi
Takahashi Tsutomu como Kyugen
Shibukawa Kiyohiko como Baku Koshin
Hirayama Yusuke como Mou Bu
Ozawa Yukiyoshi como Gou Kei
Tamaki Hiroshi como Shou Hei Kun
Sato Koichi como Ryo Fui
Osawa Takao como Ou Ki
The opportunity to binge #KamenRiderBlackSun came to me the past weekend and I finished it today.
The series is an unapologetic attack and commentary on contemporary Japanese societal issues, the undercurrents of #unseenjapan that #cooljapan probably tried to paper over throughout the Olympics and decades of LDP rule, and it just grew keener with the assassination of Shinzo Abe and the near-interminable desire to demand change in a society unable to accept it. It is an attempt at portraying, through fiction, that Japan is more multicultural than it tends to see itself, it is harming its soul by denying that, and it deserves better by listening to its youth, and it better do so before they swallow them and their most vulnerable.
Perhaps it is inevitable that this will be another battleground in the role of political commentary/applicability especially when it is appearing in long-running franchises. This is currently the biggest dilemma of franchises like the ones owned by Disney (Marvel and Star Wars), not to mention fantasy (the recent tussles between House of the Dragon and The Rings of Powder for ex.). The fact that *Kamen Rider Black Sun* is in Amazon Prime further highlights this. And yet if Japanese fiction can begin coming to terms with contemporary issues through the medium of its classical heroes (the way *Shin Godzilla* and *Shin Ultraman* already did, not to mention *Shin Kamen Rider* will do soon again), why not this way?
It is a testament that *Black Sun*, based off *BLACK*, probably the most successfully exported Kamen Rider before the Heisei period, is the best way to do this unbridled revisioning. (I personally grew up on BLACK on IBC13 in the Philippines.) This series speaks not only to the child who grew up with Kotaro Minami/Kuya Robert, but to the man, scholar & advocate I grew up as.
This is an unrivalled opportunity to revisit how Kamen Rider stories are told, what kind of storytelling the original creator Shotaro Ishinomori is interested in, and what can heroism possibly mean in a post-nuclear, heavily polarized and infuriating time. It is finding your lines, those who will hold your hands and back, and passing them on.
Author - Tsuina Miura | Illustrator - Takahiro Oba (2014)
A young high school girl, Yuri, suddenly finds herself transported to the rooftop of a Highrise building. Every door is locked and there is no way down. Running from masked killers who are hunting her without reason, Yuri must find her brother and somehow make her way out of this fight alive.
Review: I read this Manga a few years ago and thought it was okay. When coming across it the other day, I decided to have a re-read. I have to say I was quite disappointed. The story has a great premise, the highrise setting is really unique and had great potential, and the story actually has a female protagonist which is rare for the genre. However, the actual execution is a let down.
Coming back, I realized what kept me reading last time was wanting to figure out the mystery. However, in the end nothing is really adequately explained or concluded. The characters are cliche and hollow, it's not exciting or fun to go along the journey with them. You keep hoping they'll have some character development, but they never do. The main character is not written like a real person, completely one dimensional. The panty/fan service shots are so unsubtle and near continuous, it takes away any seriousness to the storyline. The horror aspect is lacking. There is no tension, no stakes. It never feels like the characters are in true danger. Overall, I really loved the opening concept with the unique setting and the masked killers, but it failed to truly deliver on any interesting horror for me.
Art: The art isn't bad, but it's not anything exciting either. I really wish they had used the art to emphasise the horror more, especially since the setting is so unique being high up. It would have been interesting for the art to play off the fear of heights. Ultimately, it's just kind of average.
Recommend: Not really, there are more exciting stories in this genre of 'battle royale' 'outsmarting death game' I would probably recommend over this one. But maybe if you were looking for something not too scary as a starter to this genre? If you were wondering if the manga fills out plot holes or character development gaps in the Anime, I wouldn't say it makes a difference to read the manga, most of the issues are present in the source material.
This is the very first time in a while to be seeing Takahiro and Emi publicly together again. 💖 This is during a boxing match happening now in Japan. Among the audiences who are watching are Taka, Miura Shohei, Yamamoto Maika, Rola and Takanori Iwata or Gun-chan.