Actor Yamazaki Kento (16) and actress Hashimoto Ai (15) will star in the upcoming horror movie, "Another", based on popular novelist Ayatsuji Yukito's best-seller of the same title.

While both are newcomers to the entertainment industry, this is their second time starring in a movie together, after "Kanseito", which opened on April 9th. "We would joke that the third time's the charm", they said. The two young actors are expected to be bringing a fresh image to the horror genre.

---

Yamazaki began as a male model in December 2009, gracing the pages of Pichi Lemon, and made his mark playing characters in last year's dramas "Atami no Sousakan" and "Clone Baby".

Hashimoto made her break in last year's movie "Kokuhaku", in which she played a lonely class president. This year she appeared in "Kanseito" and "Avatar", and co-starred alongside Takenouchi Yutaka and others in "Okike no tanoshii ryoko~Shinkon jigoku hen".

"I was surprised to be in another movie with Yamazaki-kun, less than six months after the first", said Hashimoto. In fact, it was only four months before, in December 2010, that the two filmed "Kanseito" in the town of Wakkanai in Hokkaido. "Another" began filming in April, and was filmed completely in the city of Iga, in Mie Prefecture.

"Since there were so many young actors with Hashimoto-chan and me, it felt like a high school overnight camp. We had a lot of fun. In order to scare people, we all had to get really serious for our roles, which was fun to see. It was a really full month", Yamazaki reflected.

---

The movie takes place in a small town in the mountains, where the main character, Sakakibara Koichi, played by Yamazaki, transfers into the local junior high and must confront the mysteries surrounding his third-year class and its continuing series of deaths. The eye-patch-wearing young girl who holds the key to solving the mystery, Misaki Mei, is played by Hashimoto, who commented, "I tried to match the director's idea of who Mei should be, and I'm happy with the result. I'm looking forward to the finished product."

Yamazaki added, "I don't usually read novels, but the story is so interesting that I finished the thick, 700-page book in three days. And the movie will be even better! There are so many parts that we couldn't cover, but I'm sure you will enjoy it!"

---

The original story was serialized in the literary magazine "Yasei Jidai" from August 2006 to May 2009, and was published as a bound volume in October of the same year. It received rave reviews and was ranked third in Takarajima's "Amazing Mysteries! 2010". Manga artist Kiyohara Hiro's version of the tale is currently being serialized in the monthly manga magazine "Young Ace", and an anime version is planned.

Director Furusawa Takeshi, who has an established reputation in the horror industry, is aiming for "a new movement, one that surpasses the hit horror movies of the past, like The Ring and One Missed Call, that sent the whole world into a horror-frenzy".

The movie, produced by Kadokawa Films and distributed by Toho, will open in early summer next year.

Source + Photo: Oricon