A Great Adaptation to a Great Manga

As someone familiar with the original manga, the live action is a strong adaptation that also cleans up the shortcomings of My Home Hero's "Hangure" arc, its first act.

Tetsuo is still the meek salaryman who loves writing mystery web novels on the side. When he discovered that his daughter, Reika, was being abused, his paternal instincts drove him to confront and ultimately kill her "hangure" boyfriend. The man planned to kill Reika in the first place, so what else could he do? What I love about My Home Hero is not Tetsuo's mystery novel knowledge-turn-applied skill but his chilling moral descent to protect his family. He's a great anti-hero, one you're not sure whether to cheer for or not.

Kuranosuke as Tetsuo is the perfect casting. He makes Tetsuo very lovable, and his quips with Kasen are very funny. I'm glad they kept the comedy of the manga instead of going full-on dramatic (loved the final episode for this.) The comedic side of Tetsuo was key to humanize him, especially considering the lengths he goes to for Reika. Kasen is this super mysterious character, especially early on. You can feel the lovelessness between husband and wife before they started working together to save Reika. Why is she so quick to jump onto Tetsuo's plans? Tae plays that mysterious role well, and I love it when she is "acting out", considering it's an important character trait moving forward. But my MVP has to be Eisaku as Matori. How maniacal of a man Matori is in the manga isn't obvious outside of his manic episodes, but here, every time Matori talks, you know the type of man he is. A very unstable man who never knew how to love until Nobuto, his son, turned to a life of crime. I love his characterization of Matori because you can see what type of father he would become if Nobuto led a normal life. Maybe he and Tetsuo would've been good friends.

There were a few tweaks that occurred from manga to live action, like replacing Takeda's RV, but my favorite was how they treated the final conflict. They skip the whole "noise complaint" subplot, which honestly felt unnecessary, and give the climax the breathing room it deserves. The lighting and cinematography in that scene, not to mention Tetsuo's exhausted yell, make the live-action version blow the anime adaptation out of the water. To the anime fans that felt cheated by how the series was portrayed: watch this instead.

The live-action ends at chapter 48 of the manga. Act 2 follows Tosu Textiles: why the hangure wanted Reika in the first place.

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"Dodes-kaden, dodes-kaden!"

This show took me by surprise with how much I enjoyed it! The concept of a colorful cast in a makeshift community never really resonated with me when watching Arakawa Under the Bridge. Mind you, some characters here border on caricature, but what grabbed me was how human their stories were. The people in this town aren’t normal, nor is the way they live their lives normal, but they’re individuals struggling with problems that normal people have. Unlike the outside world, in this town, they aren’t shunned.

I love how Shinsuke discovered more about himself throughout the show. He wasn’t one to join in with the antics of the townspeople, but you can see how happy he becomes when he starts opening up, to the point where he becomes implicit to the goofiness of the situation, especially towards the end. He becomes so goofy, and it’s great. This compliance with goofiness is also reflected in a different character, and their evolution was also heartwarming, considering the darkness they’ve experienced in their arc.

For a supposedly goofy show, it tackles very dark themes. The first episode provides a good introduction to how deep the themes can go. Thankfully, the first spotlight character has a more hopeful tone to their story, which, unfortunately, isn’t the same for some. I’m sure you’ll be able to empathize with some of the people in the town.

The comedy in this show is special. It’s not as in-your-face as I originally thought. I've mentioned the term "goofy" a lot, but that tone is necessary to present the dark, human experiences the people in this town have. Behind the dread, the goofy tone tells us that, yes, we can still look forward to the future and have hope.

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A different rendition of the end of My Home Hero.

Part 2 of the manga is one of my favorite pieces of media. It was harrowing, disgusting, and a massive low point for the Tosu family. However, Part 3 didn’t live up to my expectations. It dragged and didn’t feel like a satisfying conclusion to the story. But this movie, for me, is how My Home Hero should have ended.

Since they excluded the second arc, they had to rework some key plot points to fit the story they were telling. Unfortunately, the biggest casualty of these changes is Kasen, considering the second arc revolved around her. Shino and Ozawa’s personalities also took a hit, probably because there just wasn’t enough time to flesh out their subtleties. Making them more extreme versions of their characters works, too, I guess.

That said, the movie does have plenty of positives. There were a few major throughlines. One was Tetsuo’s confession letter-turned-novel. It’s what caused everything to spiral for him, and the way they tied it back at the end? SO GOOD! Another was Reika’s childhood vacation story, where she had to save Tetsuo, even though he was supposed to be the one saving her from drifting too far from shore. That same beach ends up being where Tetsuo stashed the Mano group’s money after taking Kyoichi’s freedom. All roads led back to that beach, and it’s also where Tetsuo loses his own freedom. It’s such a good final set piece, and I’m really glad they included Kasen in that scene. It’s a good farewell for him. I also love the contrast between Tetsuo’s scream to the heavens in the live-action series and his quiet, pained look from behind the prison walls here. He lost his freedom, but he protected his family.

It’s a really well-done, streamlined version of the end of My Home Hero. If you have the time, read the manga too!

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