One of the best things about the streaming boom is that it has made it much easier to watch foreign content. Streaming platforms are keen to give subscribers as much content as possible for their fee. Now a new corporate partnership is going to bring a live-action version of one of Japan's most popular manga series to America for the first time.
Nippon TV Holdings, owners of Nippon TV, the station that has aired classic anime like My Hero Academia, Ouran High School Host Club, and Parasyte, has signed a deal with Walt Disney Japan. According to the two companies, this deal will see the companies working together to produce original content, and this content will be released for the global market. The first show coming from this project will be The Files of Young Kindaichi, a live-action adaptation of The Kindaichi Case Files. This drama will air on Nippon TV before being globally released via Disney Plus.
The Kindaichi Case Files started life as a manga in Weekly Shōnen Magazine in 1992. Written by Yōzaburō Kanari and illustrated by Fumiya Satō, the series follows Hajime Kindaichi. The grandson of legendary detective Kosuke Kindaichi. Despite being generally unmotivated, Hajime is very clever and adept at sleight of hand, making him an expert detective. Hajime teams up with his friend Miyuki Nanase and homicide detective Isamu Kenmochi to solve various crimes and whodunnits. Unlike other mystery series, The Kindaichi Case Files doesn't have an overarching plot, with most mysteries being self-contained.
The series was extremely popular with both audiences and critics. The manga won the Kodansha Manga Award for shonen in 1995 and got rave reviews. The Kindaichi Case Files' popularity also led to several follow-ups and spin-off series. This included the currently running 30th Anniversary manga and the 37 Year Old Kindaichi manga. The latter series featured an older Hajime as the protagonist. A second writer, Seimaru Amagi, handles many of these other series, with input from Yōzaburō Kanari. Overall, it is estimated that there are 100 million copies of The Kindaichi Case Files and its spin-offs in circulation.
The Kindaichi Case Files has also moved into other media. In 1997, Toei Animation produced an anime version of the series. This series ran for 149 episodes. Then, in 2014 a new anime called The File of Young Kindaichi Returns was broadcast. There have also been several feature-length movies and ONAs released based on the franchise. The series has also moved into live-action. Nippon TV has run four seasons of a live-action adaptation, with the most recent series broadcasting in 2014. There have also been several live-action specials based on specific cases from the manga.
The newest live-action version of The Files of Young Kindaichi will see Shunsuke Michieda take the title role, with Moka Kamishiraishi stepping into the shoes of Miyuki Nanase. The core cast will be rounded out by Ikki Sawamura, who will take the part of Isamu Kenmochi. Hisashi Kimura is directing the show, and Yuuko Kawabe and Tetsuya Ōishi are handling the scripts. According to the press releases, the show will focus on several cases from the manga. But it will update the setting, with Hajime and friends solving crimes in modern-day Japan.
However, despite being very popular in Japan, American audiences have had little chance to enjoy the franchise. Tokyopop licensed the series in 2003 and released 14 volumes before stopping. While The File of Young Kindaichi Returns was simulcast on Crunchyroll, the episodes were later removed from the platform. This means that this live-action version will likely be many Americans' first introduction to this legendary series.
Hopefully, the Disney and Nippon TV Holdings partnership leads to many more people learning about and enjoying The Kindaichi Case Files as the series is overlooked in America. Hopefully, this partnership allows more Japanese shows to get an international audience. As this will let many more people enjoy them.
