Cat's Eyes on TF1: here is mangaka Tsukasa Hōjō's opinion on the French series

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.

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.