Danica Davidson
November 21, 2023 
The manga Let’s Go Karaoke! is getting a live-action adaptation, and a trailer has dropped that includes the theme song “Kurenai” (translated as “Crimson”) being performed by Little Glee Monster. It’s a cover of a song originally done by X Japan.
Let’s Go Karaoke! received its world premiere this past week at Taiwan’s Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival, and is scheduled to hit Japanese theaters on January 12, 2024.
Here’s what we know about the cast: Jun Saitō plays Satomi Oka, Gou Ayano plays Kyouji Narita, Kazuki Kitamura plays Matsuribayashi-gumi Head, Kyōko Yoshine plays Momo Morimoto, Jun Hashimoto plays Kobayashi, Kyōsuke Yabe plays Karata, Shūhei Yoshinaga plays Ginji, Chance Oshiro plays Ogata, RED RICE plays Mine, Hiroki Okabe plays Matsubara, Yagi Miki plays Nakagawa, Kiyoto Ushiro plays Wada, Maki Sakai plays Yūko Oka, Tomu Miyazaki plays Harumi Oka, hiccorohee plays Kazuko, and Masaya Kato plays Akira Tanaka.
It’s directed by Nobuhiro Yamashita, whose past credits include the live-action Cream Lemon movie. The script was written by Akiko Nogi, who is known for working on INU-OH and Library Wars.
Yen Press publishes the one-volume original manga by Yama Wayama in English and gave this description for the plot:
Nothing worries Satomi Oka more than the upcoming final choir competition of his middle school career—right up until he is accosted by a stranger from the shadows who demands, “Let’s go karaoke!” As a yakuza, Kyouji Narita doesn’t scare easily, but a terrifying prospect has driven him to seek Satomi’s help. The boss is holding a karaoke contest, with the loser forced to get a tattoo to be selected and torturously applied by the boss himself! Oka has been to many vocal rehearsals over the years, but never one-on-one karaoke sessions with a gangster!!
The manga, which was originally published as a doujinshi before getting picked up by Kadokawa, has about half a million copies in circulation.
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.
