A girl who traded her life for an absolute contract and a demon who became her butler. Directed by Kentaro Otani and Keiichi Sato, Yana Toboso's hit manga "Black Butler" is now a film, opening the 18th. Stars Hiro Mizushima and Ayame Goriki—suspicious charm intertwines on screen.
Films make you wonder about locations.≪photo lower right≫ shows one shoot site: Zwinger Palace in Arita Porcelain Park, Saga. Sets for the Genkō family's living room, home of Goriki's Shiori Genkō, were built here—more Baroque than Gothic ♪ The real Zwinger Palace rents salon space for weddings and parties—worth a visit on a northern Kyushu trip.
Film commissions nationwide now; this one got location support from Kitakyushu Film Commission. Last year's stage greeting and preview in Kitakyushu drew 250 extras and public applicants. Mizushima said at the greeting: "For ~1.5 months Apr–May I stayed in Kokura shooting. Tried to go to ChaCha Town (mall near Mainichi West Hall) but my manager stopped me—'It'll cause a riot'"—sharing stay episodes.
Director Otani on Kitakyushu highlights: cityscapes were VFX-transformed into "some Asian city"; in a rooftop scene near Kokura Station, "Kanmon Strait in the background looks like Hong Kong"; climax filmed in a set at the former print factory under Mainichi West Hall—"near-future atmosphere."
Main photo backdrop is that near-future cityscape.≪three photos upper left≫ show Mainichi West Hall's former print factory. Compare them. Yes—you noticed? This is the basement of Mainichi West Hall that Director Otani introduced. Mainichi West Hall houses Mainichi's West headquarters—a sister building to Palaceside. The print factory long printed Mainichi; printing moved to satellite plants (Kokura Minami-ku and Tosu, Saga). While "Black Butler" filmed there, West Hall colleagues passed Goriki
in hallways many times—naturally, she was cute, they say.