Live-action series 'Quiztopia' hits Netflix on December 17

Netflix Japan has released the main trailer and key art for Quiztopia, its eight-episode live-action series based on the Kokumin Quiz manga by Reiichi Sugimoto and Shinkichi Kato. The series premieres on Netflix on December 17.

The trailer, subtitled in English, shows scenes shot with 8,000 extras and the fictional ads with government propaganda messages that appear within the story. An ambitious production that bets on mass spectacle to recreate its particular dystopia.

The story takes place in an alternate Japan where Quiztopia, a national quiz show, has become the country's highest authority. Under the National Quiz Act, any contestant who survives the program can ask for almost anything: wealth, fame, the death of an enemy, the erasure of a criminal record, or even ownership of a national monument.

The show attracts huge audiences, and even the forced labor awaiting eliminated contestants is treated as entertainment in this cheerfully dystopian society. At the center of it all is KK, the show's iconic host and main instigator of the audience, played by Takayuki Yamada.

A cast full of familiar faces

Takayuki Yamada is a familiar face for those who follow live-action adaptations of manga and anime: he was the "Train Man" in Densha Otoko, Akira Hattori in Bakuman. and Elizabeth in Gintama. Here he plays KK, who ends up getting involved with a group plotting to take down Quiztopia, triggering an incident that could wake up people consumed by this seductive nightmare.

He is joined by Masahiro Takashima as Commander Murakoshi, leader of the Rewards and Punishments Squad tasked with carrying out the sentences dictated by the show's results; Eiko Koike as Shoko Kamijo, the producer behind Quiztopia; and Riko Ishida as Marii, a mysterious girl determined to kill KK.

The cast also includes Kana Kurashina as Ayako, Mari's mother and a central figure in the story; Kōji Seto as Seiji Nanbara, an activist conspiring to overthrow Quiztopia; and Renji Ishibashi as Takeshi Gokumazawa, the prime minister of Japan.

Direction is handled by Teruyuki Yoshida, known for the live-action adaptations of An Older Guy's VR First Love and My Brother's Husband, who also writes the scripts alongside Maggy. The music is composed by Yasunori Nishiki.

Image released by Netflix Japan.animenewsnetwork.com

A manga from the nineties

Sugimoto and Kato serialized the manga in Kodansha's Morning magazine between 1993 and 1995. Kodansha published four collected volumes, and Ohta Publishing reissued it in two volumes in 2001.

The series arrives on Netflix on December 17 with all eight episodes.