The three sisters of Cat’s Eyes are currently breaking all audience records on TF1. But what does the mangaka of the original series, Tsukasa Hōjō, think of this French-style adaptation?
In the 1980s, they were the stars of Japanese animation, sneaking across rooftops to steal all the paintings and other works of art in their path: the heroines of Signé Cat’s Eyes thus enchanted the childhood of thousands of viewers, fascinated by their adventures.
More than forty years later, the three sisters return under a new appearance, more modern, with strong French influences, for TF1. And since its debut on November 11, 2024, Cat’s Eyes enjoyed immense success with the public. But is this live-action adaptation really faithful to the original manga and animated series? Japanese author Tsukasa Hōjō, who created the characters, was able to give his opinion on the matter during filming.
This content is blocked because you have not accepted cookies and other trackers. This content is provided by YouTube.
To be able to view it, you must accept the use carried out by YouTube with your data which may be used for the following purposes: allowing you to view and share content with social media, promoting the development and improvement of products from Humanoid and its partners, display personalized advertisements to you in relation to your profile and activity, define a personalized advertising profile, measure the performance of advertisements and content on this site and measure the audience of this site (find out more more)
By clicking on “I accept all”, you consent to the aforementioned purposes for all cookies and other trackers placed by Humanoid and its partners.
You can withdraw your consent at any time. For more information, we invite you to read our Cookies Policy.
I accept everything
Manage my choices
A 50-page document to convince
Five years: this is the time it took the teams of Cat’s Eyes to convince the representatives of Tsukasa Hōjō, in order to adapt the famous Japanese animated series, in France. In the press kit put together by TF1, the two producers of Big Band Story, Mehdi Sabbar and Benjamin Dupont-Jubien, say that they had to develop a very detailed 50-page document to describe their project.
In 2018, they then went to Rome to meet the mangaka's closest collaborators, to whom a retrospective is dedicated. “They were checking if we were serious and if we really knew the subject”says Benjamin Dupont-Jubien. “We had to show our credentials! His team was very curious and open to proposals, but wanted to know the smallest details of the project. »
Tsukasa Hōjō imposed essential rules
For five years, production was therefore in contact almost every week with Tsukasa Hōjō and his teams, to develop the French series. “The most important thing was to build a relationship of trust”dear Mehdi Sabbar. “There are few manga adaptations in Europe and the United States because there is often a misunderstanding between the Japanese and Westerners, a real clash of cultures. We were in competition with other European and American producers. We finally obtained the rights because the rights holders appreciated the artistic approach. »
The idea of developing a origin story of the three main characters of Cat’s Eyeswhose past was until then very vague, particularly seduced the mangaka. Transposing the plot to Paris was also a determining factor in obtaining his agreement, since he really liked the location. But before validating the project and actively participating in the creation of the series at each stage of filming, Tsukasa Hōjō still imposed a few rules that seemed essential to him.
“For example, Cat's Eyes don't kill”analyzes the author. “They are also very careful about the works of art they steal and only steal the paintings that are linked to their father. Still in the same vein, they buy the tools they use for this. Tam, Sylia and Alexia are not thieves at heart, they are ordinary young women. »
“Find your own identity to reach people”
Apart from these few conditions concerning the personality of his heroines, Tsukasa Hōjō offered total freedom to the creators of Cat’s Eyesversion 2024. Regularly present on the set of the TF1 production, the author thus believes that this French-style adaptation was successful. “offer a new look at this history”.
“It is not by trying to stick to a drawn image or a manga that we manage to transcribe something “right””he says. “You should not try to make a direct link, but on the contrary find your own identity to reach people. As it happens, I think this series succeeded in doing that perfectly. » It would be difficult to pay a greater compliment to Cat’s Eyeswhich continues to be broadcast until December 9, 2024, on TF1.
What SVOD service is right for you?
Netflix, Disney+, Canal+, Max: comparison of the best streaming platforms
Discover our comparison
