The worldwide appeal of manga and anime has led to a rise in live-action anime adaptations. From One Piece to Dragon Ball Evolution, to the upcoming Netflix project, Avatar: The Last Airbender, a range of adaptations of popular manga have joined the mainstream in recent times.
At the same time, there are a ton of lesser-known adaptations that perhaps deserve more attention than have received, at least on a global scale. From the Korean remake of Old Boy to an anonymous Shinsuke Saito offering, we look at five such adaptations that might just be worth a watch for Manga fans.
1. Inuyashiki
The sci-fi tale Inuyashiki explores the nature of total power and how it may either build or destroy, depending on who has it. Based on the manga of the same name by Hiroya Oku, a manga creator renowned for series including Gantz, Gigant, and Hen, this live-action adaptation deserves more viewers than it has received since its release.
Although Netflix made a brave endeavor in producing the show, which is praiseworthy, the movie arrived without much fanfare. Thanks to director Shinsuke Saito, who is also renowned for his live-action anime adaptions of Gantz, Bleach, and Kingdom, Inuyashiki is an amazing manga adaptation that stays faithful to its original material.
2. Old Boy
Many versions of the film Old Boy have been produced all over the world, but the version that stands out the most was directed by Park Chan-wook from Korea and released in 2003. It’s possible that not many young Otaku fans know about the movie, and even those who do might not realize it’s an adaptation of the well-known manga created by Garon Tsuchiya and drawn by Nobuaki Minegishi.
Though regarded as one of the best Korean films ever made, the film is definitely not for the weak-hearted. The main character of the narrative, Oh Dae-Su (played by Choi Min-sik), is abducted and held hostage for 15 years without cause.
One day, Dae-Su is let free from captivity and given an envelope containing directions on where to find his abductor. Unlike earlier live-action adaptations, the movie is too genuine, delving into the darkest recesses of human psychology to show the extent people would go to, for retribution.
3. Lady Snowblood (1973)
The well-known Japanese cult classic film Lady Snowblood is based on the manga written and drawn by Kazuo Koike and Kazuo Kamimura. The intriguing aspect of the film is that Lady Snowblood served as inspiration for Kill Bill, a film directed by Hollywood’s renowned Quentin Tarantino, who is also a passionate fan of Japanese art and culture.
Under the direction of Toshiya Fujita, the story focuses on Yuki Kashima, portrayed by Meiko Kaj. Yuki is a beautiful young woman who has been trained as an assassin since she was a little kid, with the goal of exacting revenge on the four bandits who killed her family and violated her mother. The movie is a bit different from its source material but is still a masterpiece and served as an inspiration for several action films starring women.
4. Battle Royale
A dark and original perspective on Japanese school culture, Battle Royale is a hidden treasure that is also viewed as the Japanese Hunger Games. The movie is an action thriller that is based on a manga series that Masayuki Taguchi and Koushun Takami wrote and drew. The narrative centers around a group of high school kids who are abducted and taken to a remote island.
They are instructed to battle it out for three days straight or until only one student is left. The victor will then be allowed to return home with the winnings. Thanks to director Kinji Fukasaku, who is renowned for his gritty and grim films, the film manages to do a fantastic job of adapting the manga despite its minimal budget.
5. I am a hero
Even though I am a Hero is a zombie flick, it discusses how everyone aspires to be the hero of their own story. The movie is based on the critically acclaimed manga series created by Mangaka Kengo Hanazawa. Shinsuke Sato has once again created a fantastic live-action version of the film, which stays faithful to its original source.
The protagonist of the story, a middle-aged assistant manga writer named Hideo Suzuki (played by Yô Ôizumi), is a failure in life who lacks confidence and uses his manga stories to escape reality by being the hero of a fictional world. When returning home one day, he discovers that zombies have taken over the globe, and it is now his turn to become a real hero.
