In Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan: The Confessional, the live-action film adaptation of Hirohiko Araki’s JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure spin-off manga, a new main footage clip has been released ahead of the film’s theatrical premiere on May 23. In this scene, the main character Rohan Kishibe (played by Issey Takahashi), a popular manga artist visiting Venice for research, activates his supernatural ability Heaven’s Door—entirely in fluent Italian.

While wandering through a back alley, Rohan is approached by two pickpockets who quickly realize he's Japanese. They try to distract him by showing him a manga volume and exclaiming, “We love Japan! You know this? Pink Dark Boy! Japanese manga is huge in Italy—I love it too!” They exaggerate their gestures to mask their suspicious hand movements.

However, the moment they proclaim, “It’s not just manga—it’s art!”, Rohan's previously indifferent demeanor shifts drastically into fury. Although the men cannot fully grasp his words, they are overwhelmed by his intense aura. One of them tries to defend himself, saying, “We didn’t steal anything!”, but Rohan continues his verbal onslaught in Italian before finally striking them with Heaven’s Door as they attempt to flee.

According to the production team, it was Takahashi’s own idea to perform this dramatic monologue in Italian. Having already impressed audiences with his French in the previous installment Rohan au Louvre, he challenged himself this time with the Italian language.

Regarding the experience, Takahashi shared, “Compared to French, Italian pronunciation is closer to Japanese katakana sounds, so I found it a little easier to speak. That said, when translating from Japanese, the lines became much longer than expected... (laughs). Still, I wanted to preserve the rhythm of the dialogue, so I went with Italian as-is. I’m curious to know how it comes across to viewers.”

He also reflected on how delivering the longest foreign-language monologue of his acting career enhanced the mood of the film’s Venice shoot, resulting in a quintessential “Kishibe Rohan” scene.

Meanwhile, special makeup artist Soichi Umezawa commented on designing prosthetics for the two Italian actors who were the first non-Japanese characters to be affected by Heaven’s Door. “Because Italian facial features are more deeply set, we had to reduce the areas around the eyes to prevent any skin from peeking through,” he explained, noting the subtle adjustments compared to Japanese cast members.

Synopsis

Manga artist Rohan Kishibe visits a church in Venice, where he hears a terrifying confession from a masked man. The man tells of a strange curse cast after he accidentally caused the death of a vagrant—one that dooms him to experience utter despair at the peak of happiness. After years of avoiding joy, the man finally feels true happiness upon seeing his daughter play—only to face a surreal trial involving popcorn. Drawn into the story, Rohan uses his special ability to read human memories and experiences by turning people into books—only to realize the “curse of happiness” may be coming for him next.

Movie: Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan: The Confessional

Source : ORICON NEWS