A live-action adaptation of Osamu Tezuka’s mature manga masterpiece MW (pronounced “moo,” like a cow), created to celebrate the 80th anniversary of Tezuka. When a top secret chemical compound called MW infects an island near Okinawa, the military is sent in to kill all the victims and cover up the incident. A survivor named Michio Yuki (Hiroshi Tamaki) grows up to become a highly-successful banker, but he is slowly being driven mad by the effects of MW. After committing a series of ruthless crimes to get revenge against the people responsible for the cover-up, he decides that the only way to truly get revenge is to unleash MW on the world and exterminate the entire human race. Takayuki Yamada stars as Father Garai, a priest desperately trying to save Michios soul—and possibly his own in the process—but not necessarily doing much to stop the crime spree.
Acting
Tamaki's unhinged elegance, Yamada's tortured restraint
Costume
Michio's immaculate suits as armor and metaphor
Direction
Iwamoto commits to every unhinged manga panel
Director
Hitoshi Iwamoto
Hiroshi Tamaki
Michio Yuki
Takayuki Yamada
Yutaro Garai
Rio Yamashita
Mika
Yusuke Yamamoto
Mizobata
Toru Kazama
Sanda
Shingo Tsurumi
Matsuo
Yasufumi Hayashi
Seiji Tachibana
Ikuji Nakamura
Shunichi Okazaki
Ayaka Komatsu
Aiko Ozaki
Yuriko Ishida
Kyoko Makino
Ryo Ishibashi
Kazuyuki Sawaki
Tōru Shinagawa
Minister Yasuo Mochizuki
Kazue Tsunogae
Mrs. Kawamura
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Tezuka's original 1976-78 manga was groundbreaking for its explicit queer subtext in a mainstream thriller, which this adaptation weirdly preserves yet softens.
The 'MW = moo' pronunciation joke is in the film itself—Michio literally explains it like a Bond villain with dad humor.
JP
