The list of the cast is as follows:
Edward Elric - Yamada Ryosuke
Winry Rockbell - Honda Tsubasa
Roy Mustang - Dean Fujioka
Lust - Matsuyuki Yasuko
Maes Hughes - Sato Ryuta
Riza Hawkeye - Renbutsu Misako
Maria Ross - Natsuna
Shou Tucker - Oizumi Yo
Tim Marcoh - Kunimura Jun
General Hakuro - Kohinata Fumio
Envy - Hongo Kanata
Gluttony - Uchiyama Shinji
Cornello - Ishimaru Kenjiro
Source: Oricon
Comments: Frankly speaking, I'm not very thrilled at seeing a Hagaren adaptation especially considering the action scenes and the amount of CG needed. It brings to mind the bad memories I had with "Shingeki no Kyojin". In fact, it seems like there is this belief among critics that adaptations set primarily in Japan and features Japanese characters tend to do better overall e.g. Death Note. On the other hand, if the source material is based on another country and features non-Japanese characters, it is generally more difficult to replicate the feel and atmosphere. In Shingeki's case, the European feel of the story's setting and the deliberate changing of the characters' names from German-sounding to Japanese Katakana ones were pointed out as some of the major reasons why the films did not do well.
With every real-life adaptation, there is bound to be disagreement over who plays which character. By the looks of this lineup, it seems more like a selection of the more popular actors rather than those who may look more like the actual characters. For example, in the case of Mustang who is one of my favourite characters, I thought that Oikawa Mitsuhiro would be more suited to show the narcissistic side of the character. In fact, the author of the manga had actually mentioned before that he had Oikawa in mind when designing Mustang. Not that I have anything against Dean Fujioka though. As for Yamada, his image of Kindaichi Hajime sticks too much in my mind that I have trouble visualising him as Ed. Winry is supposed to have a long ponytail but Honda who has been sporting short hair all this while? Sato Ryuta as Hughes? Natsuna as Ross? I'm quite baffled by why they were chosen but anyway, hopefully they will prove me wrong. The only person who I'm quite confident of is Matsuyuki Yasuko who plays Lust.
There are some very obvious omissions in the cast list i.e. Al and Sloth. I know Al appears in an armour most of the time so they will probably take care of that via CG but surely there must be someone who plays Al before he lost his body. Sloth is also important due to her significance to the Elric brothers but there's no mention of this character. Too many questions to be answered so I'm quite apprehensive as to how this will work out.
Comments: Frankly speaking, I'm not very thrilled at seeing a Hagaren adaptation especially considering the action scenes and the amount of CG needed. It brings to mind the bad memories I had with "Shingeki no Kyojin". In fact, it seems like there is this belief among critics that adaptations set primarily in Japan and features Japanese characters tend to do better overall e.g. Death Note. On the other hand, if the source material is based on another country and features non-Japanese characters, it is generally more difficult to replicate the feel and atmosphere. In Shingeki's case, the European feel of the story's setting and the deliberate changing of the characters' names from German-sounding to Japanese Katakana ones were pointed out as some of the major reasons why the films did not do well.
With every real-life adaptation, there is bound to be disagreement over who plays which character. By the looks of this lineup, it seems more like a selection of the more popular actors rather than those who may look more like the actual characters. For example, in the case of Mustang who is one of my favourite characters, I thought that Oikawa Mitsuhiro would be more suited to show the narcissistic side of the character. In fact, the author of the manga had actually mentioned before that he had Oikawa in mind when designing Mustang. Not that I have anything against Dean Fujioka though. As for Yamada, his image of Kindaichi Hajime sticks too much in my mind that I have trouble visualising him as Ed. Winry is supposed to have a long ponytail but Honda who has been sporting short hair all this while? Sato Ryuta as Hughes? Natsuna as Ross? I'm quite baffled by why they were chosen but anyway, hopefully they will prove me wrong. The only person who I'm quite confident of is Matsuyuki Yasuko who plays Lust.
There are some very obvious omissions in the cast list i.e. Al and Sloth. I know Al appears in an armour most of the time so they will probably take care of that via CG but surely there must be someone who plays Al before he lost his body. Sloth is also important due to her significance to the Elric brothers but there's no mention of this character. Too many questions to be answered so I'm quite apprehensive as to how this will work out.
Probably because there are too many live-action adaptations of popular manga these recent years and how most of them failed imo, I always tend to be terrified whenever I heard rumor or news regarding more adaptations has been decided. And it looks like I was having a panic attack when heard about this Hagaren adaptation, because I really love the manga, never thought of an adaptation, and I'm not too keen on Yamada Ryosuke as Edward. Well, I can picture him with Edward looks (the braid hair, automail, clothes, etc) but I have a huge doubt about his portrayal. For me, "Natural" or "Realistic" is the most important thing when it comes to acting. Yamada got awards from his acting in Grasshopper but he also got this image that JE push him and backing him a lot with their power. I agree with you about Matsuyuki Yasuko plays Lust, maybe Uchiyama Shinji also could pull off as Gluttony. The looks is not closer but it's interesting how Oizumi Yo will portray Shou Tucker as I had seen Oizumi playing various roles so well, he's the only name among the cast that piqued my curiosity. I hope this adaptation won't be like Gegege no Kitaro where character of Nezumi Otoko (Oizumi Yo) was the one being the talk of the town instead of the lead role Kitaro (Wentz Eiji). Who will play Alphonse human body also important.
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