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Ginga Nagareboshi Gin Manga Creator Draws Illustration for 2020 The Call of the Wild Film

Manga creator Yoshihiro Takahashi, who is best known for the animal adventure series Ginga Nagareboshi Gin, drew an illustration to promote the 2020 The Call of the Wild film starring Harrison Ford. The artwork shows the iconic dog Buck from The Call of the Wild living an idyllic life with the pack of dogs depicted in Takahashi's currently ongoing Ginga Densetsu Noah manga.

Takahashi commented: "Humans tell lies, but dogs don't. These endlessly devoted partners will make you cry manly tears!"

The 2020 film adaptation of the classic 1903 novel by Jack London was directed by Chris Sanders. The story follows the companionship between a dog named Buck and a human man named Thornton, who is played by Harrison Ford. The film first opened in the United States on February 21, and was released digitally in Japan on June 17. The Blu-ray and DVD set will release on July 3.

Five copies of Takahashi's artwork will be distributed as part of the film's Twitter campaign in Japan until July 17. Residents of Japan who submit a review or tweet with the hashtags #思わず泣けた名シーン (A scene that made me cry) and #野性に還る瞬間 (The moment of returning to the wild) will enter a draw to win a Blu-ray and DVD set with the artwork bundled with it.

Takahashi's original Ginga Nagareboshi Gin manga ran from 1983 to 1987 in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. The story centers on an Akita dog named Gin who joins forces with dogs from throughout Japan to battle the man-eating bear Akakabuto. The sequel manga Ginga Legend Weed then ran in Weekly Manga Goraku from 1999 to 2009, followed by the Ginga Legend Weed Orion manga from 2009 to 2014 and Ginga: The Last Wars from 2015 to 2018. Ginga Densetsu Noah launched in May 2019.

The original manga inspired a television anime adaptation in 1986, and the Ginga Legend Weed sequel inspired a television anime in 2005. ComicsOne released the Ginga Legend Weed manga in English.

Sources: Anime! Anime!, Buzzes!