PLAYING MASTER AND SERVANT IN “BLACK BUTLER”

Hiro Mizushima stars in the titular role of “Black Butler” produced by Shinzo Matsuhashi about an orphaned aristocrat exacting revenge who hires the services of a black butler at her aid costing her soul.

Ayame Gőriki plays the aristocrat young lady named Shiori Genpo who masquerades as a male in order to get even to those responsible for her family’s death.  She eventually summons a black butler named Sebastian Michaelis, on the condition that her soul is already for the taking after the revenge has been fulfilled.  Sebastian Michaelis, a demonic butler with impeccable knowledge, manners, grace, cooking skills, martial arts and charming looks.

Adapting the highly successful Manga series into a movie, directors Kentaro Ohtani and Kei’ichi Sato with writer Yana Taboso decided to change the setting of the movie to a very near future fusing the East and West culture, creating a whole new distinctive era.  Eventually, most of the characters have also been rewritten to suit the new setting. The all-original story of the film is set 130 years after the manga.   Hiro who plays the demonic butler Sebastian returns to the movies for the first time in three years.   The actor faced up to the challenge in preparing for the role that he even shed 50 kg off his weight to achieve the closest of resemblance with the character.

The manga debuted in Square Enix's Monthly G Fantasy magazine in 2006, and its 15 volumes thus far have 14 million copies in print, including those published in 42 countries and territories. The manga already inspired a television anime series in 2008 and a stage play in 2009. It received the top prize in the shōnen manga category of France's Japan Expo Awards in 2010 and the Best International Manga Award in Germany's Animagic in 2011.

“Black Butler” will open exclusively in SM Cinemas nationwide on July 23 from Axinite Digicinema.

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