BACK STREET GIRLS: GOKUDOLS Press Notes and Pics From Toei

Photo courtesy of Toei Co., Ltd. ©22019 BACK STREET GIRLS: GOKUDOLS Film Partners

Source: Toei Co., Ltd. Official Site: gokudorus.toeiad.co.jp (Japan)

A SCIFI JAPAN EXCLUSIVE

Toei Co. has provided information and promotional art for BACK STREET GIRLS: GOKUDOLS (???????????? ?????, Bakku Sutor?to G?ruzu Gokudoruzu), the live-action adaptation of the controversial comedy manga Back Street Girls serialized in Weekly Young Magazine. Fledgling yakuza members Kentaro (Jin Shirasu), Ryo (Reiya Masaki) and Kazuhiko (Masato Hanazawa) screw up on the job. On a whim, their boss sends them to Thailand for sex change operations and head-to-toe plastic surgery, and they are ordered to make money in the entertainment industry as Airi (Natsumi Okamoto), Mari (Ruka Matsuda) and Chika (Akane Sakanoue) in the idol group Gokudols. However, this extraordinary plan achieves unexpected success. BACK STREET GIRLS: GOKUDOLS is directed by Keinosuke Hara of OGAWACHO SERENADE. STORY “In our hearts, we will always be yakuza! Men among men! Please accept us as we are!” shout Kentaro Yamamoto, Ryo Tachibana and Kazuyoshi Sugihara in unison as members of both the Inukane yakuza syndicate and an adorably cute and effervescent idol trio. Once society rejects, the boys were saved by the crime syndicate to whom they feel a strong sense of duty and obligation, vowing to live “as men”, “be manly” and “work for the syndicate”. But when they botch things up for the syndicate, the boss has them undergo sex change operations in Thailand and proclaims: “From today, you three are pop idols! Rise in the entertainment world and make loads of money!” Transformed into beguilingly attractive women on the outside, the three remain alpha male ruffians on the inside, spawning a host of life-defining challenges! “We are yakuza!” “So how the hell did we end up doing this?” “I want my manhood back!” Can these three male hoods now live “as women”, “be cute” and “work for the syndicate”? Find out in this yakuza-slash-teen idol movie the likes of which have never been seen in cinematic history. A new idol legend begins. CREDITS Japanese Release Date: February 8, 2019 Running Time: 87 Minutes Cast Kentaro Yamamoto: Jin Shirasu Ryo Tachibana: Reiya Masaki Kazuhiko Sugihara: Masato Hanazawa Airi/Kentaro Yamamoto: Natsumi Okamoto Mari/Ryo Tachibana: Ruka Matsuda Chika/Kazuhiko Sugihara: Akane Sakanoue Staff Director: Keinosuke Hara Original Story: Back Street Girls by Jasmine Gyuh (Weekly Young Magazine Published by Kodansha) Screenplay: Shoichiro Masumoto, Hidehiro Ito Music: Masami Ito Theme Song: "Venus" by Gokudols (Universal Music/EMI Records) Production Company: BACK STREET GIRLS: GOKUDOLS Film Partners (Toei, Universal Music, VAP, Kinoshita Group, MBS) Production: Excellent Film Distributor (Japan): Toei ©2019 BACK STREET GIRLS: GOKUDOLS Film Partners

About Toei Company, Ltd. Established in 1951, Toei Company is not only producing and distributing films, but is also one of the major exhibitors in Japan. The company owns two film studios located in Tokyo and Kyoto. The films produced cover a wide range of genres, exceeding 20,000 titles.