Why Im Worried About Netflixs Next Live-Action Anime Adaptation (Despite One Pieces Success)

While One Piece was great, I am worried about Netflix’s next American live-action anime adaptation – BET, based on Kakegurui. Warrior Nun creator Simon Barry is helming a live-action adaptation of Kakegurui for Netflix (via THR), with production having already started in Toronto. BET will join the long list of live-action anime adaptations made by Hollywood, some of which worked much better than others. The series, whose cast will be led by Miku Martineau as Yumeko, will have 10 episodes and is described as an English-language adaptation of the Kakegurui manga by Homura Kawamoto and Tōru Naomura.

One Piece season 1 was a game-changing release for Netflix when it comes to live-action anime series. Not only was One Piece Netflix’s most-watched show from July to December 2023, but it also pleased both fans of the anime and new audiences. Netflix has released a couple of live-action anime adaptations since One Piece came out, namely Yu Yu Hakusho and Parasyte: The Grey, neither of which were Hollywood productions. Although One Piece made me hopeful about future live-action anime movies and TV shows, Netflix’s upcoming Kakegurui adaptation has a few challenges to overcome.

Kakegurui Has Had 3 Live-Action Adaptions Already

BET won’t be the first Kakegurui-inspired live-action show

Kakegurui is among the most popular manga and anime series of recent years. Three years after Kakegurui’s first chapter was published, the manga about an elite school where everything revolves around gambling received an anime adaptation from studio MAPPA. Kakegurui ran for two seasons until 2019 and was followed by a spinoff anime web series, KakeguruiTwin, based on the manga prequel of the same name. In addition to the multiple anime adaptations, Kakegurui also has three live-action adaptations, all of which are Japanese productions. This is why the announcement of yet another Kakegurui live-action surprised me.

Kakegurui’s first live-action adaptation was a Japanese series that premiered in 2018 and ran for two seasons in a total of 15 episodes. The J-drama followed the events of the manga relatively closely and recreated the anime’s most important scenes, although some changes were made to the story. In 2019, Kakegurui received a live-action movie, which also retold the manga’s story from the start. In 2021, the Japanese Kakegurui movie received a sequel, Kakegurui 2: Ultimate Russian Roulette. This time, however, it was an original story building up from the previous film’s ending.

Netflix’s Kakegurui Live-Action Could Be A Major Departure From The Manga

The story will not take place in Japan

The fact that Netflix’s BET will be an English-language version of Kakegurui already suggests that the upcoming series could be a major departure from the source material. Although One Piece proved that Hollywood adaptations of famous manga and anime can work, I can sadly think of way too many examples of when they did not. For example, the disastrous Dragonball Evolution took Dragon Ball’s unique, timeless setting and turned it into an early 2000s American high school movie in the worst possible way. Another example is Death Note, which moved Light and L’s story from Tokyo to Seattle.

From the new title to the fact that Yumeko is presumably the only Japanese main character on the show, BET might not be as faithful to the source material as One Piece was. The Netflix show will see Yumeko as a transfer student who just arrived from Japan, combining the manga’s original premise with a new story. Yumeko’s character is described as having “a dark secret and a gambling prowess,” which matches her manga counterpart. How the rest of BET’s characters will compare to the ones from the manga remains to be seen.

Why Netflix’s Kakegurui Live-Action Can Still Be Good

It’s too soon to say whether Netflix’s BET will work

Taking Kakegurui’s concept and making it into an American high school series is a risky approach following the failures of live-action adaptations like Death Note and Dragonball Evolution. That said, Netflix’s BET can be a good show on its own even if it is not a perfect adaptation of Kakegurui. There have been three live-action Kakegurui projects already, meaning BET has room to try something new. Yumeko’s story has been told in multiple different formats and media, so I am curious to see how different Netflix’s BET will be from previous Kakegurui series and movies.

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Simon Barry’s previous Netflix show, Warrior Nun, was canceled after season 2 but received good reviews and built a strong fanbase that continued to campaign for the series to be renewed. Even if BET does not follow the same storylines and characters as the anime, Kakegurui’s premise of a gambling-addicted protagonist who loves the unpredictability of bets and games can make for a fun series. Not all anime concepts translate well into English-language movies or TV shows, but I hope that Netflix’s BET can do its source material justice like One Piece did.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Stream Kakegurui on Netflix

One Piece (Live-Action)

Based on the popular manga/anime series, One Piece is a live-action Netflix adaptation of the story from Eiichiro Oda. The show follows the exploits of a band of pirates, the Straw Hats, led by the energetic and adventure-loving Monkey D. Luffy. Luffy is a young man cursed with strange powers after accidentally eating a mysterious fruit. With his friends Zoro, Nami, Usopp, and Sanji, Luffy will head across the vast ocean to find the legendary treasure, the One Piece.

Cast

Iñaki Godoy , Mackenyu , Emily Rudd , Jacob Romero Gibson , Taz Skylar

Release Date

August 31, 2023