Manga typically winds up getting adapted into an anime but on some occasions, the comic becomes a feature-length live-action film. These films have to walk a tightrope when trying to balance remaining faithful to the original work while adding something new and exciting that won't upset longtime fans or alienate newcomers (Screen Rant in particular raised the question of whether live-action adaptations could work).
This is a list for those newcomers who never realized a film they watched was actually based on a wealth of source material from a manga! Wondering what are some of the most surprising films based on manga? Find out in our list of 10 Live-Action Movies You Never Knew Were Based On Manga.
10 City Hunter (1993)
An action/romance filled with comedy, City Hunter was directed by Wong Jing and starred Jackie Chan and Joey Wong as private detectives Ryo Saeba and Kaori Makimura. The two needs to find a CEO's daughter and instead get into fights that lead to Ryo boarding a luxury cruise ship that is targeted by an international crime syndicate.
Even if you're unfamiliar with the film, you've probably seen videos floating around featuring one of the highlights in the movie: Jackie Chan dressing up as various Street Fighter characters; most notably, Chun-Li! And really, what else do you need to know about this film besides that? It's based on the manga by the same name, which was recently adapted again in the animated film City Hunter: Shinjuku Eyes (2019).
9 Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
The Tom Cruise action movie Edge of Tomorrow is based on the Hiroshi Sakurazaka manga All You Need Is Kill (Originally published in 2004, then published in 2014 as cross-promotion with the movie). The story follows a private in United Defense Force (UDF) in a world where an alien race has invaded Earth. The twist? The private can relive his day Groundhog Day (1993) style.
There were a lot of differences between the manga and the live-action adaptation. Instead of the main character is a new private named Keiji Kiriya, the main character is demoted, Major William Cage. On The Odyssey, Hiroshi talked about not minding the changes in the film, and said, "In the film, the cycle of life and death, the sense of the scale of the battlefield and the realism of the exoskeleton suits really brought the story to life. The film was woven from these elements, which were chosen from what I wrote."
8 Oldboy (2013)
Actually a remake of the 2003 film, which was based on a manga, Oldboy is a Spike Lee film starring Josh Brolin as Joey Doucett, a man who was kidnapped and kept in solitary confinement for 20 years. The movie follows his search for answers. This psychological drama was considered a disappointing film, which was not helped by the somewhat cult status of the original Oldboy (2003). Unsurprisingly, most people suggest passing on this American remake and instead go straight to the source.
The original manga, Old Boy by Garon Tsuchiya and Nobuaki Minegishi, was originally serialized in Japan in 1996-1998. Then Dark Horse Comics picked up the manga and localized it in North America. It was released in 2006-2007 and won an Eisner for Best U.S. Edition of International Material — Japan in 2007.
7 Kite (2014)
Based on a cult classic manga of the same name, KITE is an action movie starring India Eisley as Sawa (and featuring Samuel L. Jackson), an orphaned assassin who attempts to break free from the abusive relationship between her and the corrupt cop that took her in and trained her to kill.
The film was not well-received and has a 0% on Rotten Tomatoes, with reviews like the LA Times saying "Ziman struggles mightily to weave hot-girl assassin shtick, trendy exploitation style, and future-shock grimness: The default setting seems to be whatever you've seen in a hundred other movies" and the New York Post calling it "A kill-a-minute gore-a-thon".
6 Road to Perdition (2002)
Technically based on the comic book of the same name, Road To Perdition was initially inspired by the manga series Lone Wolf and Cub (1970). Unlike the manga, which took place in 1931, the graphic novel and movie extend from the Great Depression to a post-Vietnam America.
In Road to Perdition, after a mob enforcer's son sees a murder, they have to go on the road to survive. The film has a star-studded cast including Tom Hanks, Daniel Craig, and Paul Newman. It also won an Oscar for Best Cinematography.
5 Preist (2011)
Slightly cheating with this one, as it's a manhwa (Korean comic) and not a manga, which was later published in English by Tokyopop. This horror-thriller starring Paul Bettany as a Warrior Preist hunting vampires in a post-apocalypse.
Cities not overrun with vampires are ruled by the church, and when the priest's niece is kidnapped by vampires, he disobeys the church and tries to get her back before she is turned into one of the undead. The manga by Hyung Min-woo ran from 1998 to 2007. It combined Westerns with supernatural horror and dark fantasy. Plus it had art so angular it could poke your eye out.
4 Ping Pong (2002)
This sports film is about--what else--ping pong! The film chronicles Tsukimoto (played by Arata Iura), a ping pong player who doesn't beat anyone at the game because he doesn't want them to feel bad, and his friend Peco (played by Yôsuke Kubozuka), who is an arrogant ping pong player planning on going pro. The two learn a lot when they enter into a ping pong tournament though.
The table tennis manga is by Taiyō Matsumoto serialized from 1996-1997 and became an anime series in 2014. The animation has won numerous awards, including the Grand Prize award for Television Anime of the Year at the Tokyo Anime Awards.
3 Speed Racer (2008)
When most people hear Speed Racer, they think of the cartoon about the race car driver. But originally, Speed Racer was Mach GoGoGo, a manga released in 1966, shortly followed the year after with a 52 episode television series, which ran from 1967-1968.
The film took forever to produce, having been in development hell start in 1992 and not landing in theaters until 2008. The family film was a collaboration between Joel Silver and the Wachowskis, starring Emile Hirsch as Speed Racer, who wants to become a champion racer. Unfortunately, the film bombed with negative reviews. However, despite all of that, it has become a cult classic.
2 Alita: Battle Angel (2019)
The recent Robert Rodriguez film, Alita: Battle Angel, takes place in the year 2563. It has been 300 years since Earth was the site of an interplanetary war. Now, cyborgs are commonplace, and Dr. Dyson Ido finds a bust female android with a human brain in the scrapheap.
This is Alita, played by Rosa Salazar, who turns out to be a fantastic fighter when she faces off against a group of cyborg serial killers. It's based on a cyberpunk manga called Ganmu (2001), translated in English to Alita: Battle Angel, which in turn became a popular two-episode OVA in the 90s.
1 Blood: The Last Vampire (2009)
This action horror film starred Jun Ji-hyun as the half-vampire half-human. While on the hunt for vampires, she goes undercover as a student at Kanto High School in the 1970s. The Chris Nahon movie is actually based on an anime movie in 2000 in which Saya posed as a student on a military based in 1960s Japan.
A sequel to the 2000 movie was written in manga form with Saya in the year 2002 followed by three Japanese light novels, a video game, as well as the anime series Blood+ (2005-2006) and Blood-C (2011) followed by Blood-C: The Last Dark (2012).