TOHO Films announced in a teaser video on Thursday that Shohei Manabe‘s Kujō no Taizai (Sins of Kujo) manga is inspiring a live-action film on January 8, 2027.
Yuuya Yagira (live-action Gintama, Aoi Honō, Crows Explode) is reprising his role from the previous television series as Taiza Kujō, along with Hokuto Matsumura (Suzume, live-action xxxHOLiC, 5 Centimeters Per Second) as Shinji Karasuma.
The staff and other cast members from the live-action series are also returning for the film. In particular, Nobuhiro Doi (live-action In This Corner of the World) returns to direct the film based on a script by Nonji Nemoto (live-action Ya Boy Kongming!).
© TBS, Netflix
The manga centers on Kujō, a lawyer who would even defend the devil. In the new Reiwa era where chaos is spreading, he is the “guardian of darkness” who operates behind the scenes.
Netflix describes the story of the live-action series:
Does defending the greyest of the grey make him a just lawyer or a wicked one? This crime drama will make you rethink everything you know about law and morality.
Kujo Taiza is a lawyer who defends only society’s worst, including thugs and ex-convicts. When elite lawyer Shinji Karasuma finds himself working for Kujo, he is quickly shocked by the man’s unconventional style that doesn’t adhere to standard ethics. As they represent clients with cases that reflect the gritty underbelly of society, Karasuma comes to realize Kujo’s conviction but struggles to grasp his idea of justice, which he will stop at no grey method to achieve. He must decide if Kujo is truly a wicked lawyer or not.
Manabe launched the manga in Shogakukan‘s Weekly Big Comic Spirits magazine in October 2020. Shogakukan published the manga’s 16th compiled book volume on April 2, and the series has over 4 million copies in circulation so far.
Netflix‘s live-action series of the manga premiered on April 2.
Manabe launched the main Ushijima the Loan Shark manga in Weekly Big Comic Spirits in 2004, and ended the series in March 2019. The manga’s 46th and final volume shipped in May 2019. The main manga won in the General category of the 56th Shogakukan Manga Awards in 2011. The series was nominated for an Osamu Tezuka Culture Prize in 2008 and 2010, as well as for France’s Angoulême Comics Awards in 2008.
The Ushijima the Loan Shark manga’s live-action television series adaptation ran from October-December 2010, and the first film opened in August 2012. A second season premiered in January 2014, with a second film then premiering in May 2014. The third season premiered in July 2016, while the third film opened in Japan in September 2016. The fourth and final live-action film, Yamikin Ushijima-kun The Final, opened in Japan in October 2016. A live-action spinoff series titled Yamikin Ushijima-kun Gaiden Yamikin Saihara-san (Ushijima the Loan Shark Side Story: Saihara the Loan Shark) premiered in Japan in September 2022.
Sources: TOHO Movies’ YouTube channel, Comic Natalie
