The success of Miike's live-action "Yatterman" leads to a return to its animated roots

by Chris MaGee

Takashi Miike's live-action adaptation of the 1970's animated series "Yatterman" has been one of the biggest box office successes in Japan thus far this year. Debuting at number one in early March it held that place at the box office for the next three weeks and ended up hanging onto a spot in the top ten box for the next five consecutive weeks. This far it's brought in ¥2.9 billion yen (over $34 million CAD) in ticket sales, so with that kind of money-making power you just knew that we'd be seeing more from Gan-chan, Ai-chan and their armada of Yatter machines, but it looks like that will happen sooner than anyone would have thought.

Anime News Network is reporting that "Yatterman" will be returning to its roots with a feature length animated film set for release in Japan on August 22nd. This new animated incarnation of the series will feature some of the new Yatter hardware, including the Yatter Mecha from Miike's film. If this one does even half the business that the live-action "Yatterman" has done so far then you just know that we'll be seeing Miike return for a live-action sequel.