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Live-Action Fly Me to Saitama Sequel Film Confirms 4 More Returning Cast Members

The staff of the Tonde Saitama II (Fly Me to Saitama II) sequel film confirmed on Monday that four more cast members will reprise their roles in the sequel. Ryō Katō (upper left in image below), Tsubasa Masuwaka (upper right), Maju Ozawa (lower left), and Shoko Nakahara (lower right) return as Nobuo Shimokawa, Okayo, Sazae, and Awabi, respectively.

The film will open this year after a delay from its original planned opening last year. The staff had put its production on hold following lead actor Gackt's announcement of an indefinite hiatus in September 2021. The hiatus was due to an early onset neurological disease that was progressing into a "life-threatening condition," resulting in dysphonia (disorder of the voice). Gackt announced in May 2022 that he was steadily recovering physically, and the film resumed production in October 2022.

In the first film's story, those who live in Saitama Prefecture are ruthlessly persecuted by those who live in Tokyo, so the citizens of Saitama Prefecture hide this fact from others. High school student Momomi Dannoura (Nikaidō) is the son of the governor of Tokyo, and he is also the student council president at Hokuhodo Academy, the top high school in Tokyo. One day, he meets Rei Asami (Gackt), a mysterious transfer student who has returned from America. Rei and Momomi are captivated by each other, but Momomi knows Rei is from Saitama Prefecture. The manga tells the story of two people split by a prefectural border, a Saitama "Romeo and Juliet." The couple try to elope and start a revolution to liberate Saitama Prefecture.

The first film opened in Japan in February 2019. The movie sold 191,000 tickets for 259,038,800 yen (about US$2.33 million) on in its opening weekend to top the Japanese box office.

Maya originally launched the one-volume manga in Hakusensha's Hana to Yume magazine in 1982. Takarajimasha published a new compiled version of the manga in 2015 titled Kono Manga ga Sugoi! comics Tonde Saitama. The manga has over 660,000 copies in print. Maya also created the Patalliro! comedy manga that inspired several anime projects.

Source: Press release.