Adaptation will stream on new streaming service this year

The official website for the live-action adaptation for Hikaru Nakamura 's Saint Young Men (Saint Onii-san) manga announced on Tuesday that Ken'ichi Matsuyama (live-action Death Note , Gantz ) will play Jesus and Shōta Sometani (live-action Parasyte , Bakuman. ) will play Buddha. In addition, the staff revealed that the adaptation will debut this year on a new video streaming service.

Kodansha 's Morning two magazine teased that the manga will have a special announcement this Thursday.

Actor Takayuki Yamada is producing and Yūichi Fukuda ( HK/Hentai Kamen , Super Salaryman Mr. Saenai ) will direct the project and pen the script.

Nakamura launched the manga in Morning two in 2006, and Kodansha shipped the manga's 14th compiled volume last September. The manga imagines if Buddha and Jesus shared a low-rent Tokyo apartment.

The manga inspired an anime film that premiered in Japan in May 2013. The manga's eighth and ninth volumes both bundled original anime DVDs when they shipped in December 2012 and July 2013, respectively.

The manga won the Short Story award at the 13th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2009, and was also nominated for a Manga Taisho award in the same year.

Source: Comic Natalie

Update: Cinema Today's report of the news also notes that the original manga has more than 16 million copies in print.