Masaki Yusasa's Japan Sinks 2020: Netflix reveals cast and key visuals

Netflix Japan just revealed the main voice cast, character designs from their upcoming magnum opus ‘Japan Sinks 2020’. The update comes with the launch of the anime’s official website and a bunch of fresh visuals.

The anime will be directed by Masaki Yuasa of the Eizouken and Devilman fame. Science Saru, which Yuasa has founded himself, is the studio in charge of its production and so far it is slotted to have 10 episodes. Kensuke Ushio is in charge of the music for the anime.

Some of you may be familiar with the ‘Japan Sinks’- the 2006 Japanese film by Shinji Higuchi of the same name, that told the story of a devastating earthquake and how scientists predicted it.

The movie, which received the Asian Film Award for Best Visual Effects, was originally adapted from famous sci-fi writer Sakyo Komatsu’s story. A television show from 1975 by the same name also exists.

The Netflix anime adaptation will be based on the original novel and will tell the story of an ordinary family that was never highlighted in any of the previous movies or shows. The freshly launched website gives us a deeper lowdown of what this new anime will be about.

So far, voice actors for the four main characters of the Muto family have been decided, with Rena Ueda picking up the role for the 14-year-old protagonist of the series.

She is well-known for her roles Kurihana Rakuchi in ‘Demon Slayer’ and Shuka from ‘Darwin’s Game’. Other cast members announced include Tomo Muranaka, Yuuko Sasaki, and Masaki Terasoma.

The current buzz around the anime isn’t limited to its famous title. A huge part of the chatter is coming from director Masaki sensei’s loyal fan-base. In order to understand the hype, one must go back to Yuasa’s previous works.

Yuasa has been involved in productions of critically acclaimed shows like Samurai Champloo, Shin Chan, Lupin the Third: A Woman Called Fujiko Mine and Space Dandy.

Therefore we can’t help but look forward to how he handles this classic story. Ironically, the anime will also tell the story of how the main character struggles when a disaster hits the Tokyo Olympic 2020.

With Tokyo Olympics 2020 currently postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, it’s frightening how the novel may have predicted the disaster, even though it may not have been ‘disaster’ of the same kind. As its moniker suggests, the series this year exclusively on Netflix.

(Image credit: Japan Sinks 2020 website)

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