Top 10 Live Action Anime Movies that are True to the Originals

As an anime fan, I truly hate when the live adaptations are messed up. To be honest, whenever I hear that a new live action movie based on anime is being produced, I always expect a fail. I am a bit picky in this because real life anime is the main topic of my YouTube channel. The things that the creators add to the plots often are nonsense, and the original anime is used just as an advertisement for this new generic live movie. But there are exceptions! I did not watch all live action adaptations that exist, but from those that I did watch, I can tell that the following ones are true to the original anime or manga and will definitely not disappoint even the most devoted fans.

10. Arakawa Under the Bridge 荒川アンダー ザ ブリッジ (2010)

The anime was crazy, the live action is crazy. This movie is just something that can't be messed up.

9. Mushishi 蟲師 (2006)

The anime is a nice peaceful story about a guy who sees the spiritual beings that nobody else can see. He travels the world and helps others who are in trouble because of these beings. The live action movie is very similar to the episodic feel of the anime and everyone who likes the Japanese myths and legends would be nicely surprised by this movie.

8. Fullmetal Alchemist 鋼の錬金術師 (2022)

This movie is very nostalgic and the characters are very well portrayed. The original anime was quite long, and these movies are a bit rushed but still a great remake. The plot is a fantasy about two brothers who are using the ancient art of alchemy which cause both joy and suffering in their family.

7. Boku dake ga Inai Machi - Erased 僕だけがいない街 (2017)

This dark anime thriller about a boy who can return to his child self to prevent some terrible events in the future got a decent live adaptation. The movie is as dark and thrilling as the anime and deals really well with the task of turning a serious anime into a non-cringey live action movie.

6. Blade Of The Immortal 無限の住人 (2017)

The anime is quite dark and gory. So is the remake! The changes in the plot are just little and this live movie is a great gift to the fans of the original. The plot is about an immortal warrior who helps a young girl to get her revenge.

5. March Comes in Like a Lion 3月のライオン (2017)

3-gatsu no Lion is a great slice of life anime about a genius boy who plays the Japanese chess shogi but has problems with social life. Fortunately, he meets a nice family which helps him to stay in the reality. The remake is both serious and funny and very well imitates the kind of profound psychology of the original anime.

4. Gintama 銀魂 (2017-2018)

Gintama is a legend in Japan. This anime has a unique sense of humor which breaks...nah wait...there are not fourth wall at all! Gintama contains a lot of references to famous things in Japan like other anime, products, history, famous people, etc. This live action remake is priceless adn as funny as the original. One of the most mindblowing things is that even the voice actors of Kagura and Madao actually appear in the live action films! The voice actor of Madao even plays his own character! The plot is about aliens invading feudal Japan and bringing modern technologies (parallel to the foreigners who came to Japan from the West).

3. Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day あの花 (2015)

The most emotional anime of all time for me. Prepare a lot of tissues cause this show will make you cry a lot and even more than the anime. This show even uses the same OST and some scenes are almost identical to the anime. This show feels like a dream of a cosplayer who tries to imitate the anime as much as possible. The plot is about a group of young kids who lose their precious friend who even after death misses her dear comrades.

2. Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju 昭和元禄落語心中 (2018)

This live adaptation is another almost precise remake of the original anime. The actors did a great job and the whole show is a great picture of Showa era Japan. If you like historical Japanese drama regarding traditional arts and anime, this is an awesome combination. The main plot is about a Rakugo artist who is one of the last true masters of this old Japanese one-man-show theater.

1. Rurouni Kenshin るろうに剣心 (2012-2021)

This might sound like a blasphemy, please forgive me. I tried to watch the original anime, watched a few episodes and dropped it. It just didn't really catch my attention. Then, for some reason I watched thie live action movies! I was amazed!!! In this case I have to say that these movies are to me even better than the anime. The actors, music, cinematography, all thisngs are incredibly epic in these movies. Later I started watching the remake of the original anime and I started comparing the movies with it and I have to say that these movies are a perfect live action remakes! Not as accurate as other remakes but the changes made by the creators actually make sense and are not degrading the result in any way. The plot is about the new Meiji era after the end of samurai class where the main character tries to live a new life after his bloody past.

This was actually hard to write. There is not enough of remakes that I'd really mark as successful. Maybe I am too strict when rating anime remakes but I really want to see something close to the original and respecting the art. I also heard that the real life remakes of Assassination Classroom and Kaiji are good. I also saw Tokyo Ghoul and Black Butler remakes which were decent but not as good as the ones listed in the article. I am also waiting for the Monster and Steins Gate live action which were announced and might not be bad. The Attack on Titan live action was not bad either in terms of VFX and the amotsphere but the plot was changed significantly and didn't make any sense. One special mention, if you like Samurai Champloo and Afro Samurai with the combination of hip-hop and anime, you might be interested in the Afro Samurai Champloo live action mini series.

Keywords: real life anime, live action, Japan, cosplay
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