Top Japanese Manga Live-Actions
Here are my favorite Japanese live-action manga drama and movie adaptations. I have also not read the majority of the actual manga for these live actions thus, my rankings are solely based on the movies alone.
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1. Hot Road
Japanese Movie - 2014
I was reluctant to watch this at first as although the male and female lead are supposedly only one year apart in the plot, they are actually about seven years apart in real life! I eventually got over that fact in 2016 and did not think much about it upon completing it, but I'm glad I came back to it. After rewatching it again for the second and third time I found myself being sad that I could not watch it for the first time again. The plot is nothing special but the acting is what makes Hot Road so great especially the flurry of scenes between the leads where their chemistry truly shines. Hot Road unlike many other "romance" manga live actions, finds a way to perfectly fuse romance and adolescence in a non-cringe way.
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2. Sky of Love
Japanese Movie - 2007
One of the first Japanese language movies I watched (outside of Anime) and perhaps one of the first Asian language movies I watched ever! I thought the leads Yui Aragaki and Haruma Miura (may he rest in peace) had great chemistry. I have not seen the Japanese drama adaption of Koizora but, based on covers/trailers alone I prefer the movie more
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3. I Give My First Love to You
Japanese Movie - 2009
Another Japanese movie that also has a Japanese drama adaption. I have seen both adaptations where I personally prefer the movie once again as I felt that it had more emotion and chemistry in it despite being a movie. I also often found myself rewatching the movie as the main leads Mao Inoue and Masaki Okada are so cute together!
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4. Today's Kira-kun
Japanese Movie - 2017
This is another Japanese live-action that I find myself rewatching simply because of the great chemistry between the two main leads and cute storyline.
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5. Love Shuffle
Japanese Drama - 2009, 10 episodes
At first, I was reluctant to watch this J-Drama as the plot seemed out of my realm of interest/comfort but I'm glad I eventually watched it. Love shuffle includes unique storylines and couples that perhaps other J-Drama rather lack as well as a great soundtrack I might add. My personal favorite coupling in this drama was Yuriko Yoshitaka and Shota Masuda.
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6. Itazura na Kiss: Love in Tokyo
Japanese Drama - 2013, 16 episodes
The comments here will apply to the Itazura na Kiss 2013-2014 Japanese adaption as a whole. Out of all the adaptations that Itazura na Kiss manga/anime has received I feel that this version is the best as it depicts the entirety of the storyline that the anime did (keeping in mind I did not finish the Taiwanese adaptation as I found it too long). Also, athough there is a rather large age gap between the main actors I felt that they fit their roles well.
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7. Itazura na Kiss: Love In Tokyo 2
Japanese Drama - 2014, 16 episodes
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8. BLEACH
Japanese Movie - 2018
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9. The Black Devil and the White Prince
Japanese Movie - 2016
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10. Close Range Love
Japanese Movie - 2014
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11. 5-ji Kara 9-ji Made
Japanese Drama - 2015, 10 episodes
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12. Blade of the Immortal
Japanese Movie - 2017
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13. Shanai Marijjihani
Japanese Drama - 2020, 7 episodes
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14. Marmalade Boy
Japanese Movie - 2018
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15. The Boyfriend Who Can't Kill and the Girlfriend Who Won't Die
Japanese Movie - 2019
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16. I'm Underage But I'm Not a Child
Japanese Movie - 2017