With the rise in popularity of anime, it makes sense that Shonen Jump would look to capitalize on the medium, riding high in Japan, North America, and worldwide. With American projects such as the live-action One Piece tearing up the charts, Japan is still making live-action adaptations of its own. In the past, examples of this have included Bleach, Rurouni Kenshin, and too many others to count. In a wild twist, one of Shonen Jump’s latest popular series is bypassing the anime route and jumping right into the live-action world, as a new look at its upcoming movie has made its way online.
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High School Family first hit the pages of Weekly Shonen Jump in 2020, introducing a story that was far different from the likes of Dragon Ball, Jujutsu Kaisen, My Hero Academia, and many of the other world-shattering series the publication has been known for. Instead, the series, which actually ended in 2023, decided to follow a more comedic path by focusing on a family that is all attending their local high school at the same time. To show just how absurd the premise is, even the family cat is inducted into the university with a uniform of its own. You can check out the new trailer for the High School Family movie that will arrive in Japan in January of next year below.
Live-Action Without The Anime
Aside from giving every member of the Ietna family a hilarious reason as to why they are joining the eldest son, Kotaro, in high school, High School Family also held quite a few heartfelt moments to help it become a major player for Shonen Jump during its time. The ending of the series in 2023 was all the more surprising because of this fact, though the conclusion could be attributed to the readership never quite gelling with the manga series. Without any prior announcement, the final chapter took place in the future, bringing to a close the story of Ietnas, though it might find new life in the live-action environment.
As for the upcoming movie, High School Family has yet to announce if it will arrive in North America. While many live-action Japanese anime adaptations have eventually arrived in the West, they often aren’t granted the same theatrical run in the States as in Japan, often arriving as direct-to-video on streaming platforms. Luckily, the director of this film, arriving early next year, knows their way around bringing anime to life. Director Toichiro Ruto previously worked on the likes of The Way of the Househusband and Komi Can’t Communicate’s live-action adaptations. While Hollywood has yet to confirm whether any Western studios will take a crack at the Shonen story, perhaps High School Family will find longevity past its manga cancellation all the same.
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