Feature Film Marks Acting Debut for Combat Sports Star; Pre-Production Underway

TOKYO, June 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The LeMarco Group GK today announced that celebrated Japanese kickboxing champion Honoka Tsujii has been cast as the lead in Rain, the inaugural feature film in The Shinsei Saga cinematic universe. The film will be directed by Courtney LeMarco, Executive Producer and Showrunner of the Emmy-nominated A&E series Hoarders. Pre-production is currently underway.

Rain is the entry point into The Shinsei Saga — a six-project cinematic universe set in near-future Japan, produced entirely in-country with a Japanese cast and crew. The saga spans feature films and vertical series, building a sprawling world where the architecture of power — corporate, technological, and political — is quietly dismantled by those society has overlooked. At its center are young Japanese women who refuse to disappear.

Tsujii will portray Sachiko, a 19-year-old at the edge of something she cannot yet name — a young woman whose instinct to protect the people around her sets her on a collision course with forces far larger than herself. Rain is a psychological sci-fi thriller rooted in atmosphere, dread, and an unshakeable sense that the world is not what it appears to be.

Rain marks Tsujii's acting debut. Known for her explosive athleticism, mental precision, and championship pedigree in the ring, she was selected for the rare intensity and physical command she brings to high-stakes performance — qualities that translate directly to the demands of the role.

"Honoka doesn't just play Sachiko — she is Sachiko," said LeMarco. "What she carries into every room — the focus, the controlled power, the silence before the strike — is exactly the energy this story demands. She's going to be extraordinary."

The Shinsei Saga is produced by The LeMarco Group GK, a Japan-registered production company.

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