The official website for the French-produced anime film adaptation of The Summit of the Gods manga illustrated by the late Jiro Taniguchi (Kodoku no Gourmet) has posted a full trailer introducing its two main Japanese dub cast members, Kenyu Horiuchi (Mashymre Cello in Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ) as Makoto Fukamachi and Akio Otsuka (Batou in Ghost in the Shell) as Joji Habu. The film, directed by Patrick Imbert, was released in over 300 theaters in France in 2021, and its Japanese dub edition is finally set to be released in Japan on July 8, 2022.

The manga was based on Baku Yumemakura‘s (Garouden, Onmyoji) 1998 novel of the same name, which on the 11th Shibata Renzaburo Prize. Taniguchi’s manga adaptation also won the Excellence Prize of the 5th Japan Media Arts Festival’s manga category in 2001. The novel was previously adapted into a live-action film in 2016, directed by Hideyuki Hirayama (Sword of Desperation).

Its story follows a lone climber, Joji Habu, and a cameraman, Makoto Fukamachi, as they attempt the oxygen-free solo ascent of the Southwest Face of Mount Everest in winter, which is considered impossible, while approaching the greatest mystery in the history of mountaineering, “Did the mountaineer Mallory succeed in making the first ascent of Mount Everest?”

Taniguchi, who passed away in 2017, traveled to France twice before his death to participate in the production of this film. Regrettably, he was unable to see the completed version, but after seven years of work, this big project was completed. The original novel author Yumemakura says, “If you see it twice, you will be moved twice, and if you see it three times, you will be moved three times. This is that kind of film. I wish Jiro Taniguchi could have seen this film.”

Source: “The Summit of the Gods” Japanese official website

(C)Le Sommet des Dieux – 2021 / Julianne Films / Folivari / Melusine Productions / France 3 Cinema / Aura Cinema