Inuyashiki is one of the best live action adaptations of all time.

 

After having watched Ajin and thoroughly enjoying the movie, I decided to give another live action adaptation a shot. Sometimes you get pleasantly surprised as was the case this time and I may have stumbled upon one of the greatest adaptations of all time. That's right, the focus of today's blog post is none other than the 2018 live action movie, Inuyashiki based on the great Hiroya Oku manga which started in 2014 and finished publication in 2017. 

Inuyashiki follows the story of Ichiro Inuyashiki. Inuyashiki is a 58 year old sales company rep who isn't the best at his job and is quite downtrodden as he's constantly berated by his boss. At home, he's also berated by his family who see him as a loser that can't look after them, even with him paying the mortgage! Just when it seems his life couldn't get any worse, he receives a diagnosis from his doctor that he has a terminal illness, cancer. The poor man attempts to inform his family and perhaps confide in them, but his phone calls are ignored and his other efforts also falter due to their bad perception of him. It's then that a lovely dog, Hanako enters his life. Hanako was abandoned by her previous owner and is taken in by Inuyashiki. Unfortunately, the man's wife doesn't share any sympathy for the dog and orders her husband to get rid of her. Just as Inuyashiki is attempting to abandon the poor dog against his own wishes, he ends up in a park where a mysterious bright blue light renders both him and the nearby Hiro Shishigami unconscious. The very next day upon awaking, it is discovered that Inuyashiki has new powers as well as a robotic body. As he discovers that he can save lives with his ability, he finds a new sense of self worth which had been sorely lacking as well as a true purpose. He vows to save as many people as he possibly can. Meanwhile, Hiro has also developed a similar set of powers. Unlike Inuyashiki, Hiro uses his powers for death and destruction. He goes on a murder spree that sees many innocent victims lose their lives. This puts the 2 on a collision course as their differing views on their powers and the world in general clash. 

What I love about Inuyashiki is the fact that it is more than just a simple superhero story. There's much more to it than the average MCU movie for example. It's a story of a man that had no reason to live, a man down on his luck who finds a purpose in life. Inuyashiki doesn't even think of his powers selfishly at all, he only uses them to save others. He becomes known as the miracle man due to his abilities curing illnesses and diseases, yet he never takes the credit. His face is still unknown to almost everyone he helped and the media also afford him no attention. 

There's also the family that think of Inuyashiki as a waste of space. The constant insults drive him to tears and it's not until he saves his daughter that things change slightly. The 2 bond over their shared experience and secret which can be seen as his redemption as far as his daughter is concerned. 

The contrast between Inuyashiki and Hiro Shishigami is tremendous. The obvious being the fact that Inuyashiki is 58, past his prime and no where near as physically fit as the younger, teenage school kid, Hiro Shishigami. Both have difficult situations at home, but see life vastly differently. This is evident by how they use their powers when they first discover them. Inuyashiki saves the life of a dying bird whilst, Hiro indiscriminately murders a happy family. The happy family are the unfortunate victims of Hiro's wrath in part due to his home life. His own family are separated with him living with his mother, whilst his father had moved out and made a new family. The most tense scene in the movie is when he almost murders his father's new family and this could have come about due to his love for his mother and resentment of his father for moving out. Conversely, Inuyashiki preserves through the hardship that his family put him through and tries his best to protect them as he still loves them. 

The direction of the movie deserves a ton of credit. Shinsuke Sato knows how to shoot a movie and have you care for the characters within it. As previously mentioned, Inuyashiki is a cut above the average superhero movie and Sato's direction definitely helped accomplish that. He uses a wide variety of angles and shot types in order to make the most out of any scene. The train scenes feel very claustrophobic and for good reason, they were designed that way. Sato was also behind the live action Gantz movies and as such, it's not his first experience with adapting a Hiroya Oku manga. Sato's partnership with cinematographer Taro Kawazu is a joy to behold and I'm really glad that they've stuck together in various projects. They've nailed a solid blend of static and moving shots. It's clear that they know how best to shoot the big moments as well as the more subtle, understated parts. Hiroshi Hashimoto also deserves credit for his screenplay as it's not easy to condense a multi-volume manga down into a comprehensible, palatable 2hr movie.

The movie also excels in the action department with credit going to Yuji Shimomura, the man behind the action and stunts in Alice in Borderland, bringing a raw intensity to the choreography. There's a lot to love about the action, including the very necessary bare chested melee at the end of the movie. There's some absolutely brutal moments in the fight scenes such as the attempted crushing of the skull with a heavy metal support beam. The special effects are also top notch during the action with credit going to Atsushi Doi, the visual effects supervisor who also worked on the Death Note series. The use of slow motion in the final fight really showcases just how well put together the movie is as a whole. 

As for the performances, Noritake Kinashi is fantastic as Inuyashiki. He brings such a depth to the role to the point that it's impossible not to feel sympathy for him. As the movie progresses, his performance makes you root for him and tugs on the heartstrings. He elevates the movie above the average superhero movie just by his sheer dramatic acting range. What's really fun about Inuyashiki is that we get to watch Takeru Satoh perform as the villain. It's such a breath of fresh air as I've become accustomed to seeing him portray the protagonists. Satoh-san delivers a tremendous performance in which he feels like a huge threat to Inuyashiki and all of Japan. He's cold, ruthless and vicious at times especially when his only attachments to humans in the form of his mother and Shion Watanabe both die. Ayaka Miyoshi excels in her role as Mari Inuyaskiki. She's excellent at portraying the contrasting emotions that her character views Inuyashiki with throughout the course of the movie. Fumi Nikaido was solid as Shion Watanabe in a short, but meaningful role. Yusuke Iseya put in a seasoned performance as Detective Hagihara and Kanata Hongo did well with a difficult role as Naoyuki Ando. 

I would absolutely recommend Inuyashiki for those that want to see a brilliant live action adaptation of a fantastic manga series. I'd also recommend it to anyone that wants to watch a superhero movie done right even if you suffer from superhero movie fatigue. The same goes for those that want to watch a solid action movie. It's absolutely one of the best movies that came out in 2018 and one of the best live action adaptations of all time.