ADAPTING any long-form story for the screen is always tricky, as the (usually) shorter run time makes it harder to cover the depth of the plot. Anime has revolutionised art, creating a myriad of styles and techniques in the world of motion picture animation, filled with beloved characters who boast an assortment of human and inhuman experiences, which is what makes them so beloved.
Previously, directors and producers have tried and failed at successful live-action adaptations of anime – for instance Dragon Ball Evolution and Attack On Titan – because they only managed to scratch the surface of the story and failed to capture what made fans love them in the first place.
Anime can be considered especially risky to adapt, given that most fans might prefer that many of their favourite characters stay in 2D form, but despite this hesitant audience, the film industry never stops trying to find the perfect balance of bringing anime to life and capturing these characters’ emotions, actions, and stories, so here are the best live-action adaptations of anime that are worth checking out.
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable Chapter 1 (2017)
With a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, this remake is a live-action adaptation of the hit manga by Hirohiko Araki is about a teen with supernatural powers discovering not only unexplained evil lurking within his town, but mysteries within his bloodline.
Written by Itaru Era and directed by legendary director Takashi Miike, the film is one wild ride, a typical Miike film in that it is completely nuts, insane, and fun.
He takes this story and adds his personal touches, and manages to capture the style, costumes, and colourful environments of the manga and anime.
Death Note (2006)
Not to be confused with the US Netflix remake, the Japanese live-action remake is about Light Yagami (Tatsuya Fujiwara), a normal, undistinguished college student, until he discovers an odd notebook lying on the ground.
He soon discovers that the notebook has magic powers, and if someone’s name is written on it while the writer imagines that person’s face, he or she will die. Intoxicated with his new godlike power, Light kills those he deems unworthy of life. But a mysterious detective known only as L (Ken’ichi Matsuyama) becomes determined to put a stop to his reign. A sequel titled The Last Name was released in 2006.
Death Note does a good job of summarising the entire story without making you feel it’s lacking something. In a lot of ways, the Japanese live-action of Death Note is an immense success for live-action anime adaptations, and it went on to become Japan’s number one blockbuster.
Rurouni Kenshin franchise (2012-2021)
Rurouni Kenshin is a Japanese period action-adventure film based on the manga of the same name written and illustrated by Nobuhiro Watsuki. It is set in 1868, after the Bakumatsu war ends, and follows the ex-assassin Himura Kenshin (also known as Battosai) who traverses Japan with an inverted sword to defend the needy without killing.
The live-action film showcases Battosai’s incredible sword fighting skills with the Sakabato, or a reversed blade katana, one of the most enigmatic swords in popular culture. The first movie was a success, and was followed by four more films, known as Kyoto Inferno, The Legend Ends, The Final, and The Beginning, which was a prequel.
Bleach (2018)
Based on the manga and anime series of the same name, Netflix‘s Bleach follows the life of Ichigo Kurosaki, a young man who can see ghosts. But when his supernatural prowess puts him in touch with a woman who’s essentially a Grim Reaper, his life changes forever.
Ichigo will have to decide whether to listen to this Reaper and embrace his destiny, or try to return to his old life, possibly risk preventing her from ever returning home.
This live-action adaptation of Bleach is more faithful to the manga than the anime itself, with the casting working as a major plus to match the likeness of most of the characters from the source material. Instead of struggling to contain the entire manga or anime into a sub-two-hours-long film, they twisted the story in their own way to deliver what actually sounds like a blockbuster-scale superhero origin story. If you enjoy special-effects-filled action fantasies, Bleach is for you.
Blade Of The Immortal (2017)
A samurai film starring Takuya Kimura and Hana Sugisaki, and the second film on this list directed by Takashi Miike, Blade Of The Immortal is based on the successful manga series by Hiroaki Samura. The story is about the samurai Manji (Kimura) who is turned immortal by an 800-year-old nun, and ends up becoming the bodyguard of an orphan teenager named Rin Asano (Sugisaki). The duo go on a journey of revenge against the members of the Itto-ryu, the band of mercenaries who killed the Rin’s parents.
This blood-soaked action epic is a must-watch for die-hard fans of the genre. The movie is intense from the very beginning, and is reminiscent of Leon: The Professional, given the unlikely father-daughter bonding between the two lead characters. All in all, the movie is terrifying and above all, pure unadulterated, action-packed fun.
