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Japanese production company The Seven is making its theatrical debut with crime thriller “Baka’s Identity” (A Fool’s Identity), set to release in Japan on Oct. 24. The film reunites “Yu Yu Hakusho” producer Akira Morii with actors Takumi Kitamura and Go Ayano, joined by rising star Yuta Hayashi.
Directed by Koto Nagata, a protégée of acclaimed filmmaker Shunji Iwai, the chase thriller explores Japan’s criminal underworld through the perspectives of three young men over three intense days. Based on Jun Nishio’s prize-winning 2019 novel, the screenplay adaptation comes from Japan Academy Award-winner Kosuke Mukai.
The story follows Takuya and Mamoru (Hayashi), two disadvantaged young men working in identity theft schemes who seek help from Kajitani (Ayano), their underworld mentor, when they try to escape their criminal lives.
“This is a film about men who have lost everything and who still choose to live,” said Kitamura, who stars as Takuya, a young criminal who poses as women on social media to exploit isolated men and sell their personal identities. “It felt like a relay of emotion across three generations.”
“This is a story about people who have lost all hope, people who have had their hope taken away, and people who make their own hope,” Ayano said of the film. “It’s one film you won’t want to miss.”
Director Nagata was drawn to the project after witnessing firsthand “the extreme poverty and crime young people in Japan are experiencing.” She described it as a passion project that “lays bare Japan’s social realities while delivering genuine entertainment.”
For The Seven, established in 2022 as part of TBS Holdings’ global content strategy, “Baka’s Identity” represents a new direction. Company president Tatsuo Sugai noted the film “takes a different approach to the high-end productions that we have been known for,” but expressed confidence in its timely themes.
The production follows The Seven’s previous success with Netflix’s “Yu Yu Hakusho,” which won Best Visual or Special FX at the 2024 Asian Academy Creative Awards.
