Minami Hamabe

Minami Hamabe is a rising female actor in commercial Japanese cinema, her fame was sealed with her win as “Newcomer of the Year” in 2018 at the Japanese Academy Awards. Renowned Japanese auteur Takashi Miike cast a pre-teen Hamabe in her first big-screen role in Ace Attorney (2012), followed by a supporting role in the Junichi Ishikawa-directed comedy-drama, April Fools (2015), released by Toho.

Hamabe scored her first lead role in the manga adaptation, the Yuichi Onuma-directed Saki (2017). Minami Hamabe’s Academy Award came with her acclaimed lead performance in Sho Tsukikawa’s and Yoru Sumino’s Toho production, Let Me Eat Your Pancreas (2017), grossing over $39 million globally. Hamabe played support in the first trilogy of sci-fi movies, Ajin: Demi-Human (2017), an adaptation of Gamon Sakurai’s manga series from Paragon Pictures.

Hamabe then acted under Sho Tsukikawa in two movies—first, My Little Monster (2018), in support, and the second, My Teacher, My Love (2018), in lead. Hamabe acted in her first movie with writer-director Takashi Yamazaki the military drama, The Great War of Archimedes (2019), earning nearly $18 million at the domestic box office.

Minami Hamabe starred in GAGA Pictures’ manga adaptation from writer-director Tsutomu Hanabusa, Kakegurui/Compulsive Gambler (2019), with Mahiro Takasugi and Aoi Morikawa, and grossing under $3 million domestically. In her first animated feature voice casting, Hamabe co-starred in Tomohiko Ito-directed and Mado Nozaki-written sci-fi romance, Hello World (2019), which proved to be an international hit with a global gross of over $25 million.

Hamabe then co-starred in another popular manga adaptation, the live-action version of Love Me, Love Me Not (2020) co-written and directed by Takahiro Miki and produced by A-1 Pictures, spawning an anime feature version in which Hamabe appeared in a cameo voice role. Minami Hamabe starred in co-directors Yuichiro Hirakawa’s and Jun Shiozaki’s adaptation of the graphic novel, The Promised Neverland (2020), ranking as one of the highest-grossing Japanese releases that year with a nearly $18 million gross.

After appearing in the feature version of the popular manga, Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! (2020) and as a voice in the large ensemble for the TMS/V1Studio/Toho animated mystery feature, Case Closed: The Scarlet Bullet (2021), Hamabe starred in the sequel again directed by Hanabusa, Kakegurui/Compulsive Gambler Part 2 (2021). Hamabe starred as Sarah in a vocal performance for the anime film version of Gold Kingdom and Water Kingdom (2023), directed by Kotono Watanabe.

Hamabe co-starred with Sousuke Ikematsu in writer-director Hideaki Anno’s third feature in his “tokusatsu” series, Shin Masked Rider (2023), produced by Cine Bazar and released by Toei Company and Amazon, earning a $16 million gross. Hamabe co-starred in her biggest movie to date (and with the widest U.S. release), Godzilla Minus One (2023), reuniting with writer-director Takashi Yamazaki and deemed one of the best entries in the 37-film Godzilla series on its 70^th anniversary. Hamabe then starred in director Hideki Takeuchi’s political drama, What If Tokugawa Ieyasu Became Prime Minister? (2024).