Sion Sono’s Latest Film Update: Tokyo Tribes Audition Videos

Back in March I posted about Sion Sono’s latest project which is an adaptation of Santa Inoue’s Tokyo Tribes manga, a seinen title that mixes US street culture with a future dystopian reading of Tokyo where different gangs control different territory. Sono created a YouTube channel for the film where both he and Santa Inoue recorded messages about the project and instructions on how one can audition. The rules were:

To audition you must introduce yourself, “describe and demonstrate a special skill, act out a scene that includes their favourite character from the series, and give a message to the director.” Successful auditions at this point will get to audition in person.

So, bypass casting directors and going straight to the people!

Well I gave it time and the auditions are coming thick and fast. I sat through the ones you’ll see here (and more) and there are no disasters – although there is a naked guy shadow-boxing – lol at the random person wandering in to shot and hurrying away. In fact there’s a nice mix of people although some don’t seem to adhere to the rules like acting out a scene with a favourite character! There are a lot of audition vids where the applicant simply talks direct to camera. Any trends? A lot of college/university students (there’s one studying in Berlin!) have sent videos in while guys with facial hair seem to go straight for humour.

The videos run from the earnest and dedicated:

Sion Sono’s Latest Film: Tokyo Tribes

Sion Sono is a favoured director on this blog. Two seasons and a whole load of reviews testify to that. I’ll admit that it’s primarily his horror films like Suicide Circle and Strange Circus that I love but recently he has branched out into serious topical drama and critical respectability with Himizu and Land of Hope, two titles that tackle the Great East Japan Earthquake.

News of his latest project has been revealed thanks to Anime News Network and it is an adaptation of Santa Inoue’s Tokyo Tribes manga. The manga is a seinen title which ran from 1997 to 2005 in the urban fashion magazine boon. It mixes US street culture with a future dystopian reading of Tokyo where different gangs control different territory.

I’m not really a fan of the manga but Sono is on the director’s chair. Furthermore he has created a YouTube channel for the film where open auditions will be held for the film’s cast. Both he and Santa Inoue have recorded messages about the project and instructions on how one can audition

To audition you must introduce yourself, “describe and demonstrate a special skill, act out a scene that includes their favourite character from the series, and give a message to the director.” Successful auditions at this point will get to audition in person.

It will be worth keeping an eye on this channel just to see what comes up from time to time. Shooting for the film starts in the summer!