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Hōjō Tsukasa’s famous manga Cat’s Eyes was recently dusted off from Japan’s shelves after screenwriter Michel Catz, director Alexandre Laurent, and producers Benjamin Dupont-Jubien and Medhi Sabbar decided to bring a live-action to the French audience. Thirteen years after the Korean TV adaptation of City Hunter, another of Hōjō’s most famous works, the first two episodes of Cat’s Eyes were broadcast on the main French TV channel, TF1, on November 11th. The series will consist of eight episodes and will soon be available for international streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

 

Back to the Origins

First serialised in 1981 in Weekly Shōnen Jump, Cat’s Eyes follows the story of the Kisugi sisters, Hitomi (Tamara), Rui (Sylia), and Ai (Alexia), who run the Cat’s Eye café during the day and form a group of professional vigilantes at nightfall. Their mission is simple: find and retrieve the art pieces that belonged to the collection of their father, a renowned art collector. A mystery lingers over his disappearance, but Hitomi, Rui, and Ai will do whatever it takes to elucidate it.

The series makes a good cross-cultural approach to the manga, bringing forth its original elements and Japanese culture, and navigating through the most emblematic historical sites of the French capital, such as the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Versailles Castle, and even the Guimet National Museum of Asian Arts. Thence, a new story is woven, which is what Hōjō Tsukasa precisely wanted.

 

The French Touch approved by the Mangaka

As explained by Catz, the mangaka had a key role in adapting the manga to the screen. “Hōjō insisted on the fact that the girls respected the art pieces and had knowledge in art” in addition to a well-defined and personal backstory [1]. The girls all have some expertise in Japanese art: while Sylia works at the Guimet Museum, Tam shows a lot of knowledge in art pieces, and Alex bends her gender freely by dressing as a rōnin. These character traits are not present in the initial storyline, mostly because of the cultural change, but it proves how the French screenwriters had some freedom over the story.

Not wanting to copy-paste the original story, the TV series thus opts for a prequel with Tam’s return to Paris, three years after fleeing abroad, where she found new hints about the fire that presumably killed their father. Convinced that it was intentional and that someone intended to steal the artworks, Tam sets up a plan to retrieve the first piece: a kakemono (“a vertical Japanese ornamental, pictorial, or calligraphic scroll” [2]), exhibited to the public at the top of the Eiffel Tower. Feline and sure of themselves, the three women jump on each occasion to discover more of the truth behind their father’s paintings.

 

Success story or failed attempt?

While the series received public enthusiasm after having the first official sneak peek unveiling at the annual gathering of manga enthusiasts, the Japan Expo 2024 [3], the first episodes showed qualities and flaws. Each girl’s backstory is clear and distinct. Tam is trapped in the past, putting everyone she loves in danger. She is even willing to steal her ex-boyfriend from the girl who healed his broken heart. Syl clings to the present, torn between a normal life with her fiancé and her devotion to her late father. Alex constantly envisions a future, but her secret actions cause it to slip away.

 

Mid-Season Stumbles with Repetition and Weak Plot Points

Between the third and seventh episodes, the narrative drags on and becomes repetitive, lacking suspense over the farfetched storyline and too many coincidences. Quentin, the naïve detective previously known as Toshio Utsumi in Japan. It is always on the crime scene and somehow fails to catch the Cat’s Eyes girls—something which appears also in the manga but is more cleverly developed by Hōjō Tsukasa. In this French adaptation, the hints presented to the police are too revelatory for Quentin not to suspect that Tam, Syl, and Alex are the culprits.

By comparison, Quentin’s girlfriend is a hundred percent sure that Tam is guilty and can easily put the puzzle’s pieces together. This stark contrast between these close characters only underlined the unbalance in the narrative and the characters’ profiles. Consequently, Hōjō’s wish to ensure that “Quentin takes a while before suspecting Tam” struggles to keep the audience on the hook and builds up frustration.  The characters end up stupid in the eyes of the audience, who can eventually predict each of their moves.

The audience must wait the end of the seventh episode to again feel involved in the story.

Cat's Eyes opening theme Anne Silas

 

The Verdict: I Wanted Meow-re!

This TV adaptation left me wanting more. For fans of the manga, this will be a nice watch that will bring them back into Hōjō’s universe: faithful to the anime. The directorial team decided to keep the original opening, with the French version of the song “Signé Cat’s Eyes,” sung by French singer Anne Silas. Yet, despite these beautiful visuals introducing the episodes, the viewers might end up hungry for more by half their marathon. In my opinion, the series will be more fully appreciated by people who have no clue about the original Cat’s Eyes story, that is, the future.

 

YouTube video

Sources:

[1] Radier, Jennifer. « Cat’s Eyes sur TF1 : comment l’équipe de la série a convaincu le créateur du manga ? » [Cat’s Eyes on TF1 channel: how did the directorial team convince the mangaka?] Allociné, November 11th, 2024. Available at: https://www.allocine.fr/article/fichearticle_gen_carticle=1000111783.html [translated by the author of this article].

[2] “kakemono [noun].” Merriam-Webster. Available at: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/kakemono

[3] Anonymous. « CAT’S EYES: présentation et premières images de la série TF1 / Prime Vidéo. » [CAT’S EYES: presentation and exclusive sneak peek of the TF1/ Prime Video’s series.] June 12th, 2024. https://www.japan-expo-paris.com/fr/programme/2024-07-12/cats-eyes-presentation-et-premieres-images-de-la-serie-tf1-prime-video_14256.htm?sid=10xbq7

[4 – additional] Reeb, Lucie. « Cat’s Eyes sur TF1: c’est l’une des séries les plus attendues de la rentrée et son tournage était sportif ! » [Cat’s Eyes on TF1 channel: it is one of the most anticipated TV series of this year and its shooting was crazy!] Allociné, July 16th, 2024. Available at: https://www.allocine.fr/article/fichearticle_gen_carticle=1000092223.html [translated by the author of this article].