Japanese manga is well-known for its captivating narrative and distinctive artwork. Manga-to-anime adaptations are common, although they are occasionally adapted into live-action films as well. In reality, some of Japan's most recognisable dramas are live-action adaptations of popular manga series. We've prepared a list of Japanese live-action dramas based on manga. Some of these dramas were so well received that other countries attempted to remake them. We have a plethora of Japanese live-action dramas that will keep you engaged for hours, ranging from shojo romances that will make you swoon to thrilling shonen storylines.
1. Mischievous Kiss: Love In Tokyo
Ditzy underachiever Kotoko Aihara summons the guts to write a love letter to her crush, the brilliant and gorgeous Naoki Irie, confessing her feelings for him since the first day of school. Mischievous Kiss is the remake of the original Japanese manga adaption, Itazura na Kiss (1996). The manga is so successful that there have been six live-action television adaptations so far.
2. Hana Yori Dango
Makino Tsukushi, a middle-class kid, attends the elite school Eitoku Academy but struggles to fit in with the extra-superficial students. The school gang, four hunks known as the Flower Four (F4), rules over the kids and teachers. They are the playboy offspring of the extremely wealthy, and they exert their power by terrorising pupils until they drop out.
3. Bloody Monday
Bloody Monday follows Fujimaru Takagi, a brilliant white hat hacker who goes by the alias "Falcon." The Third-I, a department of Japan's Public Security Intelligence Agency, notices Fujimaru's abilities. He is hired by the CIA but becomes involved in a plan involving Russian agents and traitors. To make matters worse, his dad, a high-ranking official in the Third-I, is wrongfully accused of murder.
4. Hanazakari No Kimitachi E
Mizuki Ashiya, a Japanese-American girl, idolises high jumper Izumi Sano after watching him compete on television. She has been following his athletic career for years and has even transferred to his high school in Japan to be closer to him. There's just one problem: Izumi attends an all-boys high school. Ashiya disguises herself as a boy by cutting her hair short and dressing up. She gets a room in Izumi's dorm and befriends him.
5. Erased
Satoru Fujinuma is an unproven manga artist, but he has the remarkable power to travel back in time and prevent impending disasters as they occur. After discovering his mother's dead in his apartment, he is transported 18 years back in time to a serial murder case involving his classmates. Satoru sets out to investigate the case, convinced that it is connected to his mother's murder.
6. The Files Of Young Kindaichi Neo
The show follows Hajime Kindaichi, the grandson of a legendary detective and a talented investigator himself, and Saki Ryuji, Hajime's dedicated sidekick, as they solve murder mysteries while attending school. There are nine episodes, each of which features whodunit puzzles and crimes that Hajime and Saki must solve. The episodes follow Lost in Kowloon, the award-winning specials & the Jungle School Murder Mystery, which aired in 2013 and 2014, respectively.
7. Kantaro: The Traveling Sweet Tooth Salaryman
Ametani Kantaro works as a book salesperson for a publishing company. He goes around Tokyo as part of his profession to visit client bookshops for sales pitches. Kantaro is dedicated and efficient in the eyes of his coworkers, but nothing else about him stands out. However, behind his efficiency is a motive: he wants to finish the job as soon as possible so that he can visit the greatest dessert shops in Tokyo and indulge in the sweets.
8. Gokusen
Yamaguchi Kumiko is a newly appointed teacher at Shirokin High, a private all-boys school. There, she is appointed as the homeroom teacher for 4-2, the school's most delinquent children. Unbeknownst to the students, she is the lone heir to the local Yakuza group. While her grandfather wishes for her to be the next Yakuza boss, she want to pursue her childhood ambition of becoming a teacher.
9. From Five To Nine
Sakuraba Junko, a 29-year-old English language school teacher, dreams of working in New York in From Five to Nine. During a funeral service, she is engaged in an embarrassing accident and meets a lovely Buddhist monk. She believes she would never see the monk again, but things do not go as planned when her family forces her to attend a matchmaking event, where she meets the monk, Hoshikawa Takane, again.
10. Alice In Borderland
Arisu, a jobless and video-game-obsessed young guy, finds himself in a version of Tokyo where he must compete in a series of perilous games in order to survive. There he meets Usagi, with whom he ends up working to solve one mystery after another, risking their lives to learn what it is to live.
