DVD: Takashi Miike's WARU, w/ Shô Aikawa, Hisao Maki, Nagare Hagiwara, Keiko Matsuzaka, Ryô Ishiba

GP Museum Soft K.K. (K.K. GP Myûjiamu Sofuto) is scheduled to release Takashi Miike's Waru (working title was "Waru: Final") on DVD and VHS in Japan on June 25th. Maki Production (Maki Purodakushon) released the movie theatrically in Japan on February 25th.

The screenplay for Waru was written by Hisao Maki, based on the 3-volume gekiga Waru: saishû-shô (vol. 1, vol. 2, vol. 3) by Maki (story) and Jôya Kagemaru (drawings). The movie's principal cast is as follows (listed order corresponds to trailer order): Shô Aikawa, Maki, Nagare Hagiwara, Keiko Matsuzaka, Ryô Ishibashi, Shion Machida, Tamio Kawachi, Hideki Sone, Atsuko Sakuraba, Satoru Sayama (a.k.a. Tiger Mask), Akira Maeda, Hitoshi Ozawa, Johnny Ôkura (Jonî Ôkura), and Masumi Okada. The rest of its cast apparently includes Yoshihiko Hakamada, Kimika Yoshino, Kôki Okada, Hikaru Kawamura, Saki Kurihara, and Guts Ishimatsu (Gattsu Ishimatsu).

For more information on Waru, see ScreenAnarchy's fourth, third, second, and first articles on it.

Miike's other recent movies include Big Bang Love, Juvenile A (46-okunen no koi) - which had its world première at the 56th Berlin International Film Festival on February 11th - and Masters of Horror: Imprint - which had its world première at the Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival 2006 (Yûbari Kokusai Fantasutikku Eigasai 2006) in Hokkaido, Japan on February 25th. The former is based on the novel Shônen A erejî by "Ato Masaki" - a joint pen-name of Maki and his elder brother Ikki Kajiwara (1936-1987).

Waru 1 MB trailer (streaming Windows Media)
Waru 500 KB trailer (streaming Windows Media)
Waru 1 MB trailer (streaming RealMedia)
Waru 500 KB trailer (streaming RealMedia)