Live Action Chiruran Shinsengumi Requiem Reveals Its Cast

The live action take on Chiruran: Shinsengumi Requiem is filling out its ranks. The official site for the adaptation, based on Eiji Hashimoto and Shinya Umemura’s manga, revealed its main cast on Saturday, sharing short video clips to introduce each member.

The ensemble plays the famous members of the Shinsengumi. Nobuyuki Suzuki takes on Kondō Isami, with Aoi Nakamura as Yamanami Keisuke, Kanata Hosoda as Okita Sōji, Shūhei Uesugi as Nagakura Shinpachi, and Kisetsu Fujiwara as Saito Hajime, among several others. They join the previously announced Yūki Yamada, of Godzilla Minus One, who plays Hijikata Toshizō.

The project will air on TBS as a special and also stream as a full series on the U NEXT service. Filming got underway this past April at locations around Japan, with a particular focus on Kyoto, Shiga, Shizuoka, and Chiba.

There is real talent behind the camera too. Akira Morii of THE SEVEN, known for Alice in Borderland, is producing, Kazutaka Watanabe is directing from scripts by Masaaki Sakai, and Kensuke Sonomura is handling the action. Yoshiaki Dewa is composing the music.

The manga itself ran in Monthly Comic Zenon from 2010 until it wrapped in 2023, telling the story of the Shinsengumi, the 19th century police force that set out to restore order in Kyoto, with a particular focus on Hijikata Toshizō. The series has already inspired a stage play and a comedy spinoff, and Mangamo offers it in English under the title The Shinsengumi.

My take: The Shinsengumi never seem to run out of stories, and centering this one on Hijikata gives it a melancholy edge I find hard to resist. With this much care going into the action and casting, I am genuinely curious to see it move.