Summary

• Live-action adaptations of anime and manga have found more success outside of Hollywood, with Japanese cinema producing some of the best depictions of anime stories.
• Films like "Attack on Titan," "Grand Blue," and "Ace Attorney" have managed to capture the essence of their source material through impressive special effects, faithful recreations, and compelling narratives.
• The success of live-action adaptations like "Blade of the Immortal," "Bleach," and "The Promised Neverland" demonstrate that these films can please both existing fans and new viewers by staying true to the original while making necessary changes for the medium.

Where live-action adaptations of anime and manga are concerned, there is a much wider world of movies than the often disappointing offerings of Hollywood films. Anime was widely considered a touch of death in Hollywood, although One Piece season 1 has seemly broken this curse, offering the best Netflix live-action anime adaptation. But movies with origins in anime and manga have always had success in other parts of the world.

As the origin of the medium, Japanese film has been eloquently taking the offerings of anime into the real world with a multitude of live-action films for a long time. With a storied history of making excellent films, it makes perfect sense that Japanese cinema has some of the best live-action depictions of anime stories. Even though Hollywood has recently overcome its struggles with making faithful depictions of some of the most beloved manga and anime, as seen with Alice in Borderland season 3 happening on Netflix on top of One Piece season 2, there are many strong films from elsewhere that have long represented anime better.

10 Attack On Titan

One of the most popular anime series of all time, adapting Attack On Titan for the big screen is nothing short of a daunting task. Between the dense narrative, period setting, heavy gore, and of course, the Titans themselves, the series presents a lot of moving pieces for a traditional film to juggle. Director Shinji Higuchi stepped up to the challenge, releasing a film of the same name in 2015 split across two parts.

As the complex narrative of the long-running series would be nearly impossible to convey with the short time limit of even two feature films, the script was instead largely original, presenting an alternate story with familiar characters and settings. This choice upset some fans of the source material, particularly the change in Eren and Mikasa being a couple from the start rather than sort of adopted siblings. Still, the film's impressive special effects, world-building, and refusal to shy away from the intense gore Attack On Titan is known for making an impressive effort.

9 Grand Blue

Many of the most popular manga series in Japan have been far less intense than the household-name shonen series that have come to dominate Western media. Grand Blue Dreaming is more of a slice-of-life series, following a university student, Iori Kitahara, as he embraces a new life in a diving club along the scenic Izu Peninsula. A relatively new manga, Grand Blue Dreaming circulated over 8 million volumes in only five years, prompting the creation of a live-action film.

Simply titled Grand Blue, the surreal college romp comedy was released in 2020 after being delayed due to the pandemic. Though it greatly condensed the events of the series, Grand Blue managed to convey the same tone and irreverent laughs as the original. That being said, something about seeing the same events translated to live action gave the film a surreal, fever-dream-like quality, likely amplified by its rushed retelling of the serialized story.

8 Ace Attorney

In the West, most are aware of Ace Attorney as a series of games from Capcom. Players take the role of bright-eyed lawyer Phoenix Wright, whose unique hair and iconic cry of "Objection!" made the series a fan-favorite. But Ace Attorney was also a celebrated anime series, with two seasons portraying the first three games.

Popular enough for a live-action representation in Japan, Ace Attorney was released internationally in 2012 to relatively favorable reviews. Capturing the winding plots, over-the-top characters, and physics-defying hair of the source material, Ace Attorney knew what it was, a faithful recreation of a deliciously campy series. Without the groundwork being laid by the anime series, however, the project would've been unthinkable.

7 Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable Chapter I

Originating way back with its debut in 1987, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure is one of the longest-running continuously released manga series ever. Divided into distinct parts, the series follows the lineage of the Joestar family, as they take on supernatural threats while wielding a variety of strange powers. The prospect of adapting such an aptly-named and long-running series is an intimidating proposition on its own, but the live-action film made the strange choice to begin in the middle of the series, with Part 4, Diamond Is Unbreakable.

Producer Takashi Hirano aimed to start with Part 4 due to its accessibility and popularity, and to his credit, the film went on to win the audience award at the Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival. Closely following the events of the anime and manga, the film was able to bring the famous stand powers of the Joestar family to life surprisingly well, the sound design and effects leaping right out of the original series. However, the maddening pacing left audiences unfamiliar with Jojo’s heads spinning. Sadly, the optimistic "Chapter I" of the title has thus far remained an empty promise.

6 Blade Of The Immortal

Adapting the anime and manga series of the same name, 2017's Blade Of The Immortal is an aptly named samurai action slasher that fulfilled the vision of old fans and new audiences alike. Like its original inspiration, the film follows Manji, a skilled swordsman and immortal warrior. Kept alive by the sacred bloodworms implanted in his body by a nun, Maji is a strikingly poignant character in both iterations, looking to end the suffering of his immortality.

Not a one-for-one recreation of the anime, Blade Of The Immortal wisely adapts Manji's motivations to be more suitable for an hour-and-a-half-long feature film. Rather than simply being tasked with killing 1,000 evil men to end his curse, the Manji of the film instead becomes embroiled in the revenge of a young girl, Rin, seeking blood for her parent's death. The compelling narrative, excellently bloody sword fights, and concise narrative make Blade Of The Immortal a fantastic entry in the samurai genre with no barrier to entry.

5 Bleach

Bleach is a cornerstone of the commonly trodden ground of supernatural action within the anime genre. Teen protagonist Ichigo gains the powers of a Soul Reaper, essentially a working-class Grim Reaper, defending the physical realm from ghostly influences such as the evil spirits, Hollows. A far-flung fantasy world to bring to life, conceptions of a Bleach film were at first actively opposed by its creator, mangaka Tite Kubo, who insisted manga and anime were the only acceptable formats for the story.

Eventually, Kubo relented, lending his efforts to the creation of the live-action film. Of all the big-budget movies to harness the success of an action anime with real people, Bleach is among the most successful. The fantasy action film managed to please its pre-existing fanbase while also concisely explaining the intricate mythology of Ichigo's world to new viewers.

4 The Promised Neverland

In its original 20-volume run between 2016 and 2020, The Promised Neverland made a big impression, inspiring the creation of an anime series. The books follow friends Emma, Norman, and Ray, gifted kids who live in an orphanage. The children quickly find out that they actually live on a farm, the lie of the orphanage being a front to produce intelligent children, whose brains are then fed to demons. The bleak, false utopia of the world is brought to life with excellent moody cinematography and intricate backgrounds.

The biggest change to the formula for the film was upping the overall age of the young protagonists, casting teenage actors to better capture the performances of Emma, Norman, and Ray. Other than that, the film was meticulously true to the first season, earning it points among fans of the series. The film's ending before the second season was also a great way to escape the anime's infinitely disappointing ending, making it a great way to experience the best of what The Promised Neverland had to offer.

3 Battle Royale

Long before Battle Royale was the name of one of the West's most popular multiplayer video game genres, it was a controversial book written by Koushun Takami in 1999. The granddaddy of the genre that would go on to spawn many similar stories, Battle Royale was adapted into a manga, then an anime, and finally a live-action film in 2000. The story follows a middle school class forced by the government to fight each other to the death on a small island.

Despite its age, Battle Royale is a classic ahead of its time. The film garnered controversy for its intense violence depicted with teenagers, rightly represented by age-appropriate actors. If Battle Royale sounds familiar, Quentin Tarantino's dismissal of the Hunger Games as a mere ripoff should be proof enough of its legacy.

2 Inuyashiki

An anime take on the traditional superhero genre, Inuyashiki captivated readers and anime watchers long before My Hero Academia was a twinkle in Kohei Horikoshi's eye. The series follows the intertwined fate of Inuyashiki Ichiro, a middle-aged man, and Shishigami Hero, a violent teenager. One being struck by a freak alien meteorite, the two gain mechanical bodies granting them fantastic powers, clashing with each other as Inuyashiki and Shishigami use their new abilities for good and evil, respectively.

Created only a year after the final run of Inuyashiki's manga, the live-action film went on to receive rave reviews in Japan and abroad. The shorter, more cohesive story of the original series made it a better fit than many other anime for film adaptation, being able to take its time in characterizing the kind Inuyashiki and the cold Shishigami. Though its special effects may be scrappy for Hollywood's standards, the emotional core of Inuyashiki stands with the best of the superhero genre.

1 Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends

Another period piece, the Rurouni Kenshin shonen jump series takes place towards the end of the samurai era, following Himura Kenshin, a reformed assassin. What made Kenshin unique in a market oversaturated with a wandering swordsman was his solemn vow to never take another life, a paradox for the character archetype. Incredibly popular in both anime and manga formats, Kenshin wandered his way to the silver screen with not just one film, but a movie franchise.

Though the entire series has garnered critical acclaim, Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends stands out as a bittersweet conclusion to Kenshin's story. The final entry in the saga delivered some spectacular action setpieces befitting of the beloved series, stunning critics with its choreography and stuntwork, which Kenshin's actor, Takeru Satoh, performed himself. Striking the perfect balance between paying homage to its roots while standing on its own as an epic period piece, Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends is a truly triumphant anime adaptation.