Posted in: Movies, Netflix | Tagged: gunjo, Haruomi Hosono, Honami Sato, japanese movies, Kiko Mizuhara, lesbian romance, LGBTQ, manga, nakamura ching, netflix, Ride or Die, Ryuichi Hiroki, streaming, Yuri
Ride of Die: Netflix Releases Trailer for Movie of Acclaimed Manga
Netflix unveiled the trailer for the eagerly-awaited upcoming Japanese movie Ride or Die, an adaptation of Nakamura Ching's acclaimed yuri manga Gunjo. It stars Kiko Mizuhara and Honami Sato as the couple on the run. Acclaimed director Ryuichi Hiroki is director, and rock musician Haruomi Hosono (Happy End, Yellow Magic Orchestra) composes the theme song.
As previously reported, the movie's title was not going to be the manga's, but Kanojo (translation: "She"). It looks like Netflix has decided to give it the slightly more generic but not unapt title Ride or Die instead. We'll take it.
The official synopsis for Ride or Die reads:
"If you love me, destroy everything.
A road movie about two women on the run with nowhere to go, depicting what it means to love someone and to protect the one you love."
GUNJO, completed in 3 volumes from 2007 to 2012, is about two women who go on the run after one seduces the other and convinces her to murder her abusive husband. It's not a woke, female empowerment tale. The lovers are flawed, abusive, obsessive, and unstable as they try to decide what to do next. They're in love but broken. They're detached, unsure of their feelings as they ask if they should stick together or kill each other. They question if their love is real. It's not woke or politically correct. It's melancholy, dark, quirky, and messy. Its characters are deeply flawed, and it fits in the current genre of female-oriented dramas like Fleabag, I May Destroy You, or I Hate Suzy.
The manga has been critically acclaimed and enjoys a cult reputation in LGBTQ circles. Its official English translation can be found here, courtesy of translator Erica Friedman. Ironically, the live-action movie version, Ride or Die, will probably reach a larger global audience than the manga ever will.
Ride or Die will debut on Netflix on April 15th.