Good Morning, Sleeping Lion

Remi Watanuki is an unpopular Japanese idol who aspires to become an actress. However, the childhood trauma of being abandoned by her father made her unable to cry, instead resorting to laughter as a defense mechanism, which severely limits her acting range. Unbeknownst to her, her father was actually a mercenary and has died in an unnamed war, and her manager, Kazuma Kujo, fought with him in the war and was asked to give her his bracelet as a keepsake. Kujo genuinely supports Remi in her career and blackmails an assistant director into inviting her to an audition for a role in a famed director's upcoming film. Despite her condition, Remi passes the early stages of the audition.

One day, Remi is harassed by members of a gang called Grim Reapers. Kujo comes to her aid wearing a Kamen Rider mask to conceal his identity, and a young man named Ryosuke helps her escape. A few days before the final audition, Remi becomes frustrated about her condition and gets into an argument with Kujo in front of the event hall. Ryosuke appears, claiming to have wanted to watch her show, and persuades Remi to go somewhere with him. It turns out that Ryosuke is actually a leader of Grim Reapers nicknamed "Heart" and he takes Remi to their hideout to present to his brother "Spade" Naoto, her fan who has been banned from her shows due to his stalking behavior. Remi is then restrained at the hideout.

On the final audition day, Kujo learns of Ryosuke's true identity and invades the office of a yakuza group at war with the Grim Reapers in order to find out their hideout location. After being cornered by the yakuza's strongest fighter, Kujo reawakens his dormant full fighting power and manages to defeat the thugs and get the hideout location from the yakuza leader. He assaults the hideout and incapacitates Spade, and knowing that they wouldn't make it back in time for the audition, sets up the equipment for a remote audition. Remi proceeds with the audition while Kujo fights off waves of Grim Reapers members, including Heart and the other two leaders, Diamond and Club. When Remi is about to begin the acting section, Spade regains consciousness and attempts to stab Kujo, which he willingly takes in an attempt to get Remi to overcome her condition. He defeats Spade and his plan turns out to be successful, as Remi becomes able to cry again. He gives Remi the bracelet, which image of a sleeping lion becomes a symbol of her awakening from her "curse". Remi completes the audition while Kujo fights Heart, who confronts him again to avenge his brother. Kujo defeats Heart and collapses from his injuries.

In the epilogue, Remi did not get the main role, but the director takes a liking to her and has given her a prominent supporting role instead. Kujo survives his injuries, has quit his job as her manager and watches Remi on television with his friend.

• Seiji Takaiwa as Kotaro Kujo
• Miho Watanabe as Remi Watanuki
• Shun Nishime as Naoto "Spade" Hayama
• Takayuki Tsubaki as Masaru Kioka
• Masahiro Inoue as Yu Hiraga
• Gaku Sano as Ryosuke "Heart" Hayama
• Saki Tateno as Momoka Shiraishi, popular actress who also participates in the audition
• Miyuki as Totsuka Toko, director of Remi's agency

Good Morning, Sleeping Lion was first announced on January 17, 2022 as the first starring role of Seiji Takaiwa, best known for his work as suit actor in more than 20 productions and nicknamed "Mr. Heisei Kamen Rider" for his prolificness in the Kamen Rider franchise.[2] He was first approached for the role in late 2021 by Toei producer Hideaki Tsukada, who wanted to put him in a starring role.[3]

On January 26, it was announced that Miho Watanabe would appear as the female lead, and four actors who portrayed the human form of Kamen Riders would also appear as the antagonists: Takayuki Tsubaki (Kamen Rider Blade) , Masahiro Inoue (Kamen Rider Decade), Shun Nishime (Kamen Rider Ghost), and Gaku Sano (Kamen Rider Gaim).[4] Watanabe would also perform the theme song, "Hitoribocchi no Kakumei" (ひとりぼっちの革命, lit. 'Lonely Revolution'), which is also her character's song in-universe.[5]

Takaiwa commented that the fighting styles were more realistic than in his previous works, combining combat and self-defense and incorporating elements of Wing Chun, aikido, and submission wrestling, and as he was already in his fifties, he also asked the action directors to adjust the scenes accordingly. Takaiwa also described his on-set relationship with Watanabe as "like father and daughter", as she is the same age as his son. On doing the wotagei scene, he commented that it was "more difficult" than the fight scenes.[3]

• Official website