Here’s The 5 Most Anticipated Live-Action Anime Adaptations Coming In 2017

In just a few weeks, 2016 will be making its way out the door while the new year rolls in. 2017 will bring along plenty of surprises, and the world of anime is surely in for a doozy or two. Next year, a slew of live-action anime adaptations are set to reach cinemas, and only time will tell whether the features break status quo and break the curse of rotten anime adaptations.

And, yes, we’re looking at your Dragon Ball Evolution.

Here at ComicBook.com, we are counting down the five most anticipated live-action anime adaptations of 2017. If you have the time, grab a seat and get your head in the game; We’re about to dive in the less-than-pleasant world of anime IRL.

Gintama

Last year, the world learned that Gintama was being made into a live-action adaptation thanks to director Yūichi Fukuda. The hero Gintoki will be played by Shun Oguri, and fans are interested to see how the beloved series will transform under their guidance. The anime follows Gintoki in an alternate Edo timeline where aliens have taken over the Earth. The invading race has subjugated humans, but Gintoki pays little mind to their reign. The eccentric samurai is too busy helping others and taking freelance jobs to pay his rent, but that all changes when he meets an alien girl named Kagura. Gintoki saves her from a gang who wanted to use her supernatural gifts, and the show follows the pair and their friends as they explore their world in episodic arcs.

Blade Of The Immortal

Directed by Takashi Miike, Blade of the Immortal will roar into theaters in 2017. Takuya Kimura will play Manji, the anime’s samurai protagonist. The show follows Manji who is a reformed, invulnerable criminal who was granted immortality by a nun. The man has vowed to make amends for his past by killing 1,000 evil men, but he is thrown from his life of penance when Manji meets a young girl named Asano. The samurai offers to avenge the orphan’s murdered parents, and the two head out on a dangerous quest and form a dojo where they train future generations of kickass do-gooders.

Death Note

If you want to watch an Americanized version of Death Note, then you will soon be able to. The critically acclaimed anime series will be adapted into a live-action film for Netflix by director Adam Wingard. The movie will see Nat Wolff play Light Yagami and Keith Stanfield as Detective L. The story follows the two boys as they play a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse. When Light stumbles upon a mysterious journal that has the power to kill anyone just by having a name written in it, he grows drunk on its power. It falls to L to stop Light and his god-complex before he goes one step too far.
 

Ghost In The Shell

Anime fans will have no doubt heard that Ghost In The Shell is being turned into a live-action film thanks to Hollywood. Director Rupert Sanders brought his own vision to the cyberpunk franchise, and Scarlett Johansson will bring his indie charm to heroine Major Motoko Kusanagi. While fans have criticized the film for its casting choices, the Hollywood blockbuster has been praised by anime director Mamoru Oshii. The film will follow Kusanagi, a fully cybernetic detective who works at an anti-terrorist organization called Section 9. Set in a futuristic world, Kusanagi and her fellow operatives are tasked with culling threats before they appear, but they are left blind when a mysterious enemy begins hacking into the large population of cybernetic humans and using their bodies without permission to wreak havoc across the country.

Fullmetal Alchemist

After years of waiting and wondering, fans of Fullmetal Alchemist learned that a live-action feature based on the anime would arrive in 2017. Fumihiko Sori will direct the action-packed film while Ryosuke Yamada brings Edward Elric to life. So far, the film is set to follow the events of its source manga closely and tell the story of Edward and Alphonse Elric. The two brothers are orphaned at a young age and attempt to bring their mother back using alchemy. When their attempt fails, the brothers leave on a journey to reclaim their bodies and lives by becoming State Alchemists who can wield an object known as the Philosopher’s Stone. But, when the brothers close in on the fabled item, they learn the deadly weapon has a much darker past than they could have ever imagined.