[Séries] When Japan hits the screen

Fueled by successes such as the Shogun series, the appetite of Western producers for adaptations of Japanese works encourages Japanese creators to organize themselves to better export their programs.

Mangas, TV series, novels, the success of foreign adaptations of Japanese works, long criticized for their lack of fidelity, is today unprecedented. Last year, the adaptation of the juggernaut One Piecea manga with more than 500 million copies sold, with a Mexican actor in the main role, was praised by spectators and critics alike. Other adaptations of major mangas into films and series are in preparation, such as the adventures of the ninja Naruto or the adventures of the superheroes of My Hero Academia. France is not left out: the television series inspired by the manga Drops of God was crowned at the end of November Best Drama Series at the International Emmy Awards, and a rereading of the work Cat’s Eyes by Tsukasa Hojo, mangaka behind City Hunterwas broadcast at the end of November on the TF1 channel.

“Demand from Western markets is clearly increasing” for Japanese works, popularized in particular thanks to streaming platforms, explains Kaori Ikeda, director of Tiffcom, the audiovisual content market organized on the sidelines of the Tokyo International Film Festival. To help supply meet this demand, and aware that “Japan still lacks know-how” in negotiating rights, Tiffcom set up the Story Market system last year, in which six people participated this year. Japanese publishing houses.

Staying true to the original work

Many foreign producers have struggled with adaptations in the past, such as the Hollywood version starring Scarlett Johansson of Ghost in the Shell in 2017, accused of “whitewashing”, the practice of choosing white actors to play characters in this case Japanese. The same year on Netflix, Death Notea screen transposition of the famous eponymous manga, was also panned, deemed too far from the original material.

“Manga authors are very respected and the fan communities are very vigilant,” underlines Klaus Zimmermann, producer of the television series adapted from the manga. Drops of Godwhich takes place in the world of oenology. This Franco-Japanese adaptation allows itself some liberties, in particular by introducing a French protagonist. But it was developed in close collaboration with the authors of the original work, explains the producer. “It was about finding the spirit of the manga so as not to distort it.” “At each stage of production, there was great understanding” on the part of all stakeholders, greets Yuki Takamatsu, responsible for negotiating rights at the publisher of this manga, the Japanese giant Kodansha.

For him, past failures are partly explained by the difficulties of publishers in explaining their wishes to foreign producers, but also by a less good knowledge of manga and anime than today. “15 or 20 years ago, the big studios said to us: ‘Hey, I know Dragon Balldo you have the rights? “They were only interested in this mega content.” “But today, especially since covid, producers watch anime with their children” and “are looking for increasingly diverse content.”

“Game changer”

Japanese television channels are also benefiting from this demand. Long focused on the domestic market, these have become “much better at selling their content”, particularly during global events like Mipcom in Cannes, thinks Makito Sugiyama, a manager of the Japan Association for the Export of Programs television (BEAJ).

If Japanese broadcasters have long been accustomed to selling their program concepts, such as the one – exported to more than 100 countries – known in France under the name Video Gagcertain Japanese series now also find a wide echo abroad. Motheran original fiction from the Nippon TV channel which evokes parenthood and abuse, has been adapted or broadcast in around fifty countries, including France.

For Masaru Akiyama of the BEAJ, Western spectators have also overcome their initial reluctance to watch series with Asian actors: “They have gotten used to it, they don’t care now. What interests them are stories.”

The historical series Shogunwho triumphed in September at the Emmy Awards by winning a record 18 awards, also “changed the game” for Japan by attracting the attention of the whole world, believes Masaru Akiyama. This 17th century Japanese fresco^e century, adapted from a novel by the writer James Clavell, but produced with a Japanese cast, producers and authors, is “a very strong stimulation for Japanese creators who saw that such success was possible”, underlines Ken Muratsu, one of the managers of Tiffcom. For Kaori Ikeda, “that a samurai tale with such attention to historical detail can become mainstream entertainment is proof of the potential” of Japanese works.