Alternative to 'AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER', Here are Recommendations for Netflix's Live-Action Anime Adaptations

Kapanlagi.com - Written by: Lily Ariani

Netflix's series AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER has achieved great success. According to IGN, this live-action adaptation by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko has been watched 41.1 million times in just 11 days since its release. Following this success, Netflix announced that AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER will continue with seasons two and three.

AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER follows the adventure of Aang (Gordon Cormier), a young prodigy from the Air Temple who is revealed to be the Avatar. He is destined to replace Avatar Roku (C. S. Lee) from the Fire Nation. Aang only discovers this information during a critical situation, where the nations are in a struggle against the Fire Nation led by Fire Lord Sozin (Hiro Kanagawa) who seeks to dominate the world.

Live-action adaptations always capture public attention. Even before AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER, several live-action series have already achieved success. Here are a series of live-action anime adaptations that you can watch on Netflix.

1. ONE PIECE (2023)

Netflix

Before AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER, the live-action ONE PIECE series aired first in 2023. The live-action version of ONE PIECE has received many positive comments and has achieved remarkable success. For two consecutive weeks, this series has ranked first as the most-watched English-language TV series. Similar to AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER, the production team has announced that the series will continue to season two.

Adapted from the anime and manga by Eiichiro Oda, the live-action ONE PIECE brings the story of Monkey D. Luffy (Inaki Godoy) to the screen. This live-action series features the Romance Dawn arc to the Loguetown arc. Luffy begins his adventure as a pirate and is on a journey to find the greatest treasure in the world called One Piece.

To achieve his dreams, Luffy searches for a crew and forms a pirate group. Luffy's pirate group is called the Straw Hat Pirates. The group consists of Roronoa Zoro (Mackenyu), Nami (Emily Rudd), Usopp (Jacob Romero Gibson), and Sanji (Taz Skylar).

2. YU YU HAKUSHO

Netflix

Live-action series YU YU HAKUSHO is based on the anime and manga by Yoshihiro Togashi, which was published from 1990 to 1994. YU YU HAKUSHO follows the journey of Yusuke Urameshi (Takumi Kitamura), who becomes a detective in the spirit world. Previously, Yusuke was a rebellious teenager who frequently got into fights. On one occasion, he intended to save a young child from an accident. Unfortunately, he ended up dying instead.

Although Yusuke often engaged in wrongdoing during his life, he died by performing a good deed. This resulted in him not being able to find a place in either heaven or hell. Yusuke then returns to the human world as a spirit detective. His main task is to combat the crimes caused by demons in the world.

3. ALICE IN BORDERLAND (2020-2022)

Netflix

Next, there is the live-action series ALICE IN BORDERLAND. This survival-themed series is based on the manga titled 'Imawa no Kuni no Alice' by Haro Aso. In its first season, ALICE IN BORDERLAND successfully attracted a large audience and received positive comments. Following this achievement, this original Netflix series is continuing to season two and is currently being planned for season three production.

ALICE IN BORDERLAND tells the story of a young man named Ryohei Arisu (Kento Yamazaki), who enjoys playing games. One day, Arisu meets two of his friends around the streets of Shibuya. Accidentally causing chaos in the middle of the road, Arisu and his friends hide in a restroom. When they come out, the city is empty with no inhabitants, and Arisu and his friends find themselves trapped in a game world.

To survive in this unknown world, Arisu and his two friends must complete a series of deadly games. If they fail to win the games, their lives will be the price. In this game world, Arisu also encounters fellow strugglers, including Usagi (Tao Tsuchiya), Chishiya (Nijiro Murakami), Kuina (Aya Asahina), Ann (Ayaka Miyoshi), and many more.

4. COWBOY BEBOP (2021)

Netflix

Adapted from the Japanese anime created by Hajime Yatate, COWBOY BEBOP debuts as a live-action series on Netflix on November 19, 2021. This series is a science fiction genre and is set in the year 2071. The story focuses on the adventures of a group of bounty hunters who work together with the government in exchange for a reward. Thus, a group of bounty hunters named Cowboys is formed.

The Cowboys are led by Spike Spiegel (John Cho), a former member of the Red Dragon Syndicate who betrayed them. The other members are Faye Valentine (Daniella Pineda) and Jet Black (Mustafa Shakir). Faye is both a crew member and the only female member of the Cowboys team. Jet Black is a pilot of a ship called Bebop.

The three of them travel across the galaxy. Spike Spiegel and his team venture from one planet to another to hunt down criminals throughout the solar system.

5. SWITCHED (2018)

Netflix

Manga Sora wo Kakeru Yodaka by Shiki Kawabata was adapted into a live-action drama and aired on Netflix in 2018. The live-action series is titled SWITCHED. In essence, SWITCHED tells the story of two high school girls who swap bodies, Ayumi Kohinata (Kaya Kiyohara) and Zenko Umine (Miu Tomita).

Ayumi is a popular student at her school and is friends with Shunpei Kaga and Khosiro Mizumoto. On one occasion, Koshiro confesses his feelings to Ayumi and they start a relationship. Until Ayumi and Zenko swap bodies.

Ayumi tries hard to convince her friends and family that she is trapped in Zenko's body. Meanwhile, Zenko enjoys Ayumi's popularity and fulfills her dream of becoming Koshiro's girlfriend.

6. DEATH NOTE (2015)

IMDb

DEATH NOTE is one of the legendary anime. After the manga by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata was adapted into an animated series, DEATH NOTE was also made into a live-action version. The live-action DEATH NOTE has several versions, including the 2006 film version that was developed into a total of four films, the 2015 live-action drama version, and the 2017 film version. This time, we will discuss the 2015 drama version.

Portrayed by Masataka Kubota, Light Yagami is an ordinary student living a normal life. One day, he discovers the Death Note, which is claimed to be able to kill anyone whose name is written in it. Although initially considering the black notebook he found as a joke, Light uses the Death Note to kill people he hates. Light then transforms into Kira, a killer who hunts down criminals.

Meanwhile, L (Kento Yamazaki) is the world's greatest detective. He considers Kira's actions as a criminal act. L tries to prove that Light is Kira and attempts to capture the killer with the alias.

(kpl/lly)