Oda and Yanagiba Refute Feud Rumors: What’s Next for Bayside Shakedown?

The latest installment will be released in 2026.

The latest installment of the popular series Bayside Shakedown, the first in 12 years, is currently playing in theaters. The film, Shinji Muroi: The One Who Continues to Live, stars Toshirô Yanagiba (63) as the protagonist, Shinji Muroi.

This movie is the second part of a two-part series, and upon its release on November 15, it topped the weekend movie attendance rankings for two consecutive weeks. On December 4, the official Bayside Shakedown Project website announced that the next installment, Bayside Shakedown N.E.W., is scheduled for release in 2026.

Additionally, starting from December 6, a special theater-only preview of N.E.W. will be shown after the main feature of The One Who Continues to Live.

“The protagonist of N.E.W. will be Toshiro Yanagiba’s character Shinji Muroi, with Yuji Oda (56) returning as the original protagonist, Toshitsugu Aoshima. Aoshima also appears in The One Who Continues to Live, and a scene of Oda and Yanagiba exchanging an enthusiastic hug was released as a making-of video, causing a stir.

From November 30, attendees of The One Who Continues to Live have been receiving a postcard featuring a two-shot of Aoshima and Muroi as a special gift. Initially, it was believed that Aoshima would not appear in the two-part Muroi series, but he does, contributing to the movie’s draw as well,” said a representative from the film distribution company.

The making-of video in question was first aired on the information program Mezamashi TV (Fuji TV) on November 25.

During a break in filming, Oda approached Yanagiba, who was standing by a pond, and cheerfully greeted him, saying, “Hey! Long time no see!” Yanagiba responded, “Long time no see!” and the two shook hands firmly. The scene then showed them smiling and exchanging a heartfelt hug.

This video caused a major reaction on social media, with comments such as “This alone makes me cry,” “A historic hug scene,” and “The rumors of a feud were lies.”

The reason for the rumored feud was a confession Yanagiba made in a 2007 newspaper column.

“Oda-kun said, ‘Isn’t that wrong?’ and I just snapped. After the second episode of the drama aired, I begged the producer, ‘Let me have a heroic death.'”

 

There have been previous instances showing that the feud was not true.

Yanagiba’s confession was shocking to Bayside Shakedown fans. Since then, rumors of a feud between the two have been raised multiple times. However, during the promotional campaign for the two-part Shinji Muroi film, Yanagiba was asked about the true meaning of his statement “Let me die heroically,” and he responded:

“Because it was such a static role.”

There have been moments in the past showing that the two were not actually at odds.

“In June 2010, at a completion event for the third film Bayside Shakedown THE MOVIE 3: Release the Yatsura! held in Tokyo, the main cast of 15 gathered and the two exchanged a firm handshake on the red carpet.

Additionally, just before the release of the fourth film Bayside Shakedown THE FINAL: A New Hope in 2012, a two-shot interview with them was published on the web media site Cinematoday,” said an entertainment reporter.

N.E.W. is said to stand for “NEXT.EVOLUTION.WORLD.”

In the next installment, where Oda, who took the baton from Yanagiba, will take center stage, a completely new world of Bayside Shakedown may be depicted.

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