"Tron: Ares" Japanese voice actors include Junichi Suwabe, Maaya Uchida, Kaito Ishikawa, and Mutsumi Tamura

The Japanese voice actors for Tron: Ares (released October 10th), the latest installment in the American film series Tron, known as the world's first feature-length film to fully utilize CG (computer graphics), have been announced. In addition to Junichi Suwabe and Maaya Uchida, Tsutomu Isobe has also been confirmed to reprise his role as Kevin Flynn, following on from the previous film, Tron: Legacy.

"Tron" (1982, directed by Steven Lisberger) became a social phenomenon, depicting the story of Kevin Flynn, a genius programmer who is sent into a digital world and takes part in a life-or-death game. 28 years later, in 2010, the sequel "Tron: Legacy" (directed by Joseph Kosinski) was released, featuring Kevin's son Sam as the main character, and captivated many fans with its cutting-edge visuals at the time, based on a pale blue neon glow.

The latest film, "Tron: Ares," will be directed by Joachim Rønning, who has worked on films such as "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales" (2017) and "Maleficent 2" (2019). An AI program is successfully materialized in the real world, resulting in the development of the most powerful humanoid AI soldier, Ares. As the AIs become uncontrollable and begin to run wild, and the digital world begins to encroach on the real world, something strange happens to Ares, who has come into contact with "humans" in the real world. Will Ares actually become the savior of humanity? This is the story. Kevin lost his life in "Tron: Legacy," and it will likely be interesting to see how he will be involved in this film.

Suwabe, who plays the lead character Ares, saw the first "Tron" movie in theaters when he was in elementary school and was "extremely excited by the CG images, which made full use of the latest technology at the time." He commented, "In the previous series, the story unfolded as a human entering the world inside a computer, but in this film, the program enters the real world. How will Ares, who is normally just a being that faithfully carries out the orders he is given, change as he encounters the various things in the real world? The appeal is... you'll have to watch it to find out!" He continued, "If you're asking what the highlights are, the answer is of course 'everything'! Just watching the trailer for this film gets you excited, doesn't it? I'm super excited! I hope you'll experience the world of Tron, which has entered a new era, with the big screen and great sound of the theater."

Uchida plays the role of Eve, who will become deeply involved with Ares. She is a genius programmer who serves as an executive and researcher at Encom, and for certain reasons becomes the target of a rival company. Uchida said, "Eve is smart, curious, and family-oriented. She is a fascinating character who makes you want to peek inside her head. Her honest feelings for her sister are filled with pure emotion, and she really captured my heart." She continued, "The visual world is simply cool and captivating! I hope you enjoy the world from Eve's perspective. Please come and witness the future world where the real world blends with the digital world!"

The casting of Kaito Ishikawa and Mutsumi Tamura was also announced. Ishikawa will play Julian Dillinger, the CEO of Dillinger Corporation, which is targeting Eve, and the developer of Ares. Ishikawa, who has known the "Tron" series since he was a child, said that "Tron" influenced him to get his large motorcycle license, and he commented about Julian, the character he plays, "He is a talented person who develops a program that is important to the story of this work, and he also has the ambition to aim even further. I think he also fully demonstrates his charisma, which allows him to capture people's hearts in his presentations."

Tamura plays Athena, an AI soldier who is sent into the real world just like the main character, Ares. "Athena is an AI, so she has no emotions... but she also has the air of something budding within her, so I thought it was a difficult role," she commented. "Perhaps because of the image of cyberspace, the neon lights are shining and the screen is very beautiful. There's also a sense of speed, perhaps because it's electrical signals. It's also interesting that the AI ​​and programs are personified, and it's a work full of highlights that will show us one interesting answer to the theme of how we should face AI!" she said, talking about the highlights of the latest work.