A special video featuring making-of footage and interviews from the film "Demon's Bride" (directed by Chihiro Ikeda, scheduled for release on March 27, 2026), starring popular group King & Prince's Nagase Ren and actor Yoshikawa Ai, as well as four stills have been released.
The series is based on the novel of the same name by Kureha, published in 2020 (Starts Publishing Bunko). A comic adaptation illustrated by Jun Togashi began serialization in the digital magazine "noicomi" (Starts Publishing) in 2021, and the total number of copies of the series, including novels, comics, and digital versions, has exceeded 5.8 million. It won first place in the "Comic Seymour Annual Ranking" for girls' comics for two consecutive years in 2022 and 2023, and won the Grand Prize (including both the men's and women's categories) in the "Comic Seymour Everyone's Choice!! Digital Comic Awards" in 2023.
Nagase, who will be starring in his first leading role in a full-scale love story film, will play Kiryuin Reiya, the next head of the demon clan, which is at the top of the ayakashi clan, and is endowed with noble charisma. Yoshikawa will play Shinonome Yuzu, an ordinary female college student who has been unloved and abused by her family. The live-action adaptation will be directed by Ikeda, who has directed dramas such as "Osamada Towako and Her Three Ex-Husbands" (2021) and films such as "You Are Afterschool Insomnia" (2023) and "Kowloon Generic Romance" (2025).
The story is set in a world where ayakashi and humans coexist. Ayakashi, who captivate people with their beautiful looks and abilities, sometimes choose a bride from among humans. To an ayakashi, a bride is one of a kind, and once they set their eyes on her, they will devote their love to her alone for the rest of their lives. Yuzu, who was unloved and oppressed by her family, meets a demon, the pinnacle of the ayakashi clan. "I've found my bride," says Reiya, the next head of the demon clan, as he suddenly finds Yuzu as his bride. This encounter sets the two of them on a dramatic course...
The Teaser trailer released the other day has already been viewed over 1 million times and is a hot topic, and this special video includes interviews between filming between Nagase and Yoshikawa, who are appearing together for the first time, as well as footage from the making of the film.
The interview took place in the middle of filming. Nagase, who plays Reiya, the next head of the demon clan that stands at the top of the ayashiki and captivates people with her beautiful looks and abilities, said, "It's my first time acting in a straightforward love story, and I was really looking forward to the fantasy-infused worldview of a world where ayashiki and humans coexist." Yoshikawa, who plays Yuzu, the one and only bride to be chosen by Reiya, commented on the film's visual beauty, saying, "It's a mysterious world where you marry an ayashiki, but I thought we could capture some really beautiful footage."
The making-of video reveals the dignified atmosphere of the filming, centered around the Kiryuin family mansion where Reiya lives. It includes scenes of Nagase and Yoshikawa, dressed in traditional Japanese clothing, standing in front of a large group of servants, and Reiya speaking tenderly to Yuzu with a beautiful, shadowy gaze. The footage is captivating, with meticulous production design, lighting, and cinematography, creating a "love story set in a mysterious world where spirits and humans coexist." Director Ikeda and the two stars are also shown exchanging words and becoming immersed in their roles.
Additionally, four stills that capture the worldview of the original work were also released for the first time. One scene shows Reiya and Yuzu dressed in the iconic black attire of demons, gazing lovingly at each other amidst a mystical landscape of autumn leaves, as well as live-action shots that express the worldview of the work, such as the stately mansion of the Kiryuin family, the white spider lilies that are given only to brides chosen by ayakashi, and signs for "Ayashiki Special Zone" and "Kitsune Valley."
