Hirayasumi’s Double Adaptation: The Slice-of-Life Manga Set to Divide Fans Twice Over
Hello everyone. Today we have yet another case of “popular manga gets adapted twice” — because apparently one adaptation is simply not enough, and the industry has decided the cure for all things is a double dose. Hirayasumi, Keigo Shinzo’s genteel little slice-of-life about doing very little with your life, is getting both an animated series and a live-action drama. A two-pronged assault on your senses, whether you wanted it or not. It’s like ordering one cup of tea and being served two – one warm, comforting brew, and one lukewarm tap water pretending to be tea. No refunds.
The Story: Tranquility, Tea, and Tortured Souls
Now, before anyone sharpens their pitchforks, let’s recap. Hirayasumi is about a thirty-something man coasting through life. Part-time job? Check. Lazy afternoons? Check. A serene existence in a house inherited from a neighbour? Double check. But then — cue dramatic gasp — his cousin Natsumi moves in, disturbing the sleepy equilibrium like a cat knocking a mug off the table. She brings with her a change of pace, and soon he’s meeting people with significantly more mental baggage than a carry-on suitcase. So far, so slice-of-life. The plot reads like a cozy Sunday afternoon… which is adorable, until you realise the anime and drama industries have now decided to slice it not just once, but twice, and serve it on two different plates for maximum exposure.
The Animation: Powered by the Orbital Guys
On the anime front, Viz Media and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions have hired Production H+, better known for The Orbital Children and Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction. They’re clearly going for that “gentle, beautiful, heart-tugging” angle. Which is fine, but I’ve seen enough so-called “gentle adaptations” to know they can end up more like waiting in an eternal loading screen: pretty visuals in the background, but not much happening. Given that the project is barely greenlit, we might be staring down the barrel of an announcement trailer that says everything except the release date. Classic industry foreplay — they tell you enough to tease, but never enough to satisfy.
Live Action: The Mystery Box
As for the live-action version… crickets. Not a peep beyond “it exists.” Which could mean anything from “we have a script” to “Steve from accounting accidentally leaked this and now we have to actually make it.” The history of live-action adaptations of manga is littered with glorious failures, the kind you’d expect from trying to play a high-end PC game on a toaster. Sure, it might run… but should it? Without knowing the cast, crew, or production tone, this feels like walking into a medical examination blind — “You might feel some discomfort” is the understatement of the year.
The Manga’s Credentials
To be fair to the source material, it’s done splendidly. Released in 2021 in Weekly Big Comic Spirits, it’s racked up over 1.1 million copies sold and multiple awards. It’s famed for its delicate storytelling and stunning art. From a purely commercial standpoint, it’s an obvious choice for multi-format milking. If it were a game, this would be a hit indie title suddenly getting both a remaster and a full AAA cinematic adaptation in the same year, because if you’ve got a winning loot drop, you farm it until it breaks.
Diagnosis: Double Vision
As a doctor of all things pacing and presentation, I must issue a prescription: one adaptation at a time, people. Splitting the creative and marketing energy between two simultaneous projects risks producing two underwhelming end products instead of one standout. It’s like queuing for a raid and then realising your guild is running two half-teams — nobody’s clearing the boss today. The anime has the potential for delicate, atmospheric storytelling; the live-action could surprise us with grounded, human intimacy. Or, alternatively, both could end up like identical twins with the same bad haircut.
Final Thoughts
So here’s where I land: it’s not the end of the world. Hirayasumi is a solid foundation, and the care of the anime studio inspires some guarded optimism. But doing both adaptations at once? That’s a gamble. This could be a beautiful double KO in the best sense — two hits, both stunning. Or it could be a tragic double KO in the worst sense — two hits, both flops. I’ll keep my scalpel ready to dissect the results when they arrive.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is entirely my opinion.
Article source: L’un des meilleurs manga “slice of life” bientôt adapté
