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20th Century Boys, Beck Live-Action Director Producing Panda Bikini Group
posted on by Lynzee Loveridge
Idol groups are continually expanding into more niched territory to stand out. Options run the gambit from religious to heavy metal, sci-fi fairies to yuri-bait, cougars to the unemployed, raving chainsaw killers to sister wives, and more than a few have opened up the option to date.
With all this variety, wearing a bathing suit seems rather blase. Live-action film director Yukihiko Tsutsumi added a touch of ingenuity to the idea by combining bikinis and panda masks. Is the result sensual? Cute? The answer is possibly both or neither, but none the less "Ueno Panda Shima Bikinis" (Ueno Panda Island Bikinis) are here to find out.
The unit is made up of seven girls in panda masks and bathing suits. They will star in a stage performance at Shinagawa Prince Hotel's Club eX in Tokyo's Minato ward in March. Tsutsumi, known for directing the live-action adaptations of Beck, 20th Century Boys, and Kindaichi Case Files, is directing the performance with a screenplay by Kana Yamada.
The story starts with the girls drifting in a lifeboat near the island of Miyako-jima in Okinawa Prefecture. The seven girls, each with a distinct personality, initially met through SNS with a plan to meet on an island where the idol "Takuru" was shooting a music video. Initially it seems fortuitous that they reached land, but the island has surveillance cameras, weird bugs, and puzzles surrounding pandas. The girls decide to survive together, but must overcome conflicts with one another if they plan to ever make it off the island.
Performances will be held from March 30 to April 2.
Source: Animate Times
