Danica Davidson
June 28, 2023 
The live-action adaptation movie Tonde Saitama ~Biwako Yori Ai o Komete~ (translated as Fly Me to Saitama: From Biwa Lake With Love), which is the sequel to Tonde Saitama (translated as Fly Me to Saitama) will hit Japanese theaters on November 23. The movie had been delayed due to health issues singer and actor Gackt was dealing with. But now that things are moving forward, a teaser trailer has been released, letting you see the quirky nature of the story.
Besides Gackt, the movie stars Ryō Katō, Tsubasa Masuwaka, Maju Ozawa, and Shoko Nakahara, all of whom are back from the first film.
Fly Me to Saitama: From Biwa Lake With Love, which appears to be spoofing the James Bond title From Russia with Love, was supposed to be released in 2022. Those plans came to a stretching halt when Gackt experienced an “early onset neurological disease that was progressing into a ‘life-threatening condition.’” He developed dysphonia, which caused issues with his voice. Because of all this, Gackt called for an indefinite hiatus on his work, and that left the movie on hiatus as well.
Thankfully Gackt has been improving, and production began again in October 2022.
The premise of the story is that people living in Japan’s Saitama Prefecture face oppression from people living in Tokyo. Then the son of Tokyo’s governor is interested in an American transfer student played by Gackt. However, Gackt’s character is actually from Saitama. Hence, the story has been called “a Saitama Romeo and Juliet.”
The manga that led to these movies has not been published in America, but it does have more than 660,000 copies in print. The original movie came out in 2019 and earned 259,038,800 yen (approximately $2.33 million) in its first weekend by selling about 191,000 tickets.
Source: ANN
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Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin, plus its sequel, Manga Art for Everyone, and the first-of-its-kind manga chalk book Chalk Art Manga, both illustrated by professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.
