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The Case of Hana & Alice Anime's Full Trailer, More Cast Unveiled
posted on by Crystalyn Hodgkins
The official website for Hana to Alice Satsujin Jiken (The Case of Hana & Alice), Shunji Iwai's animated prequel to his 2004 coming-of-age film Hana & Alice, began streaming the film's first full trailer on Wednesday. The trailer will play in theaters in Japan beginning on December 13.
Girl: Hey, do you know about the murder case?
Tetsuko: Murder case?
Tetsuko: I'm Tetsuko Arisugawa. It's nice to meet you.
Text: The strongest transfer student, Alice.
Girl: The shut-in girl always looking outside the window.
Girl: Hana Arai.
Text: The strongest shut-in, Hana.
Girl: This place is called the flower mansion (or, 'Hana Mansion').
Girl: You broke the barrier.
Tetsuko: Barrier?
Text: When the two met, the world's smallest murder case began.
Girl: The one who was killed was Yuda. And the one who killed him was Yuda.
Girl: Hana Arai... She's the only living witness.
Text: Shunji Iwai's first feature-length animation work.
Hana: Do you want to know what happened?
Tetsuko: Hana!!
The official website also revealed more cast on Wednesday and revealed that the film will open in Japan on February 20.
The additional cast includes:
Ryo Katsuji as Kōtarō Yuda (a man who holds the key to the murder mystery)
Haru Kuroki as Satomi Hagino-sensei (Hana and Alice's homeroom teacher)
Tae Kimura as Yuki Tsutsumi (the ballet classroom teacher)
Sei Hiraizumi as Kenji Kuroyanagi (Alice's father)
Shōko Aida as Kayo Arisugawa (Alice's mother)
Ranran Suzuki as Tomomi Mutsu (Hana's classmate)
Tomohiro Kaku as Asanaga-sensei
Midoriko Kimura as Tomomi Arai (Hana's mother)
Kimura, Hiraizumi, Aida, and Kimura are all reprising their roles from the live-action film.
Hana to Alice Satsujin Jiken (The Case of Hana & Alice) will tell the story of how the two female high school leads in the first Hana & Alice live-action film met. 51-year-old film director Iwai (All About Lily Chou-Chou, Swallowtail Butterfly) conceived, wrote, and directed the original 2004 live-action film.
The Original Film depicted the first love and friendship of two high school girls, and it was the breakthrough performance for both actresses. The two lead actresses of Hana & Alice, 29-year-old Yū Aoi (live-action Rurouni Kenshin films, Tekkonkinkreet, Redline) and 27-year-old Anne Suzuki (Steamboy, Pokémon 4Ever, live-action Initial D), will reprise their roles of Alice and Hana respectively as voice actresses in the new anime film.
Iwai is not only directing the film, but also writing the screenplay and composing the soundtrack.
Dowman Sayman will illustrate a manga adaptation of the prequel film in Shogakukan's Yawaraka Spirits online magazine starting next February. Novelist Otsuichi is also creating a novel adaptation that will ship in February before the movie premieres.
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