entertainment

Japanese version of '24' in production; set to air in 2020

18 Comments
By SoraNews24

Previously on "24," American counterterrorist operative Jack Bauer took the world by storm and made curbing civil liberties fun and exciting again. It grew into a rip-roaring eight seasons full of nuclear bombs, weaponized viruses, and even the occasional mountain lion attack.

But all things must end eventually, and the series wrapped up in 2014, leaving us dry of real-time torture and loud whispering, save for the occasional spin-off and pseudo-season.

But now, reports have surfaced that TV Asahi and 20th Century Fox are working together to make a Japanese version of "24."

This new day will be set in Japan but still adhere to the real-time plot development. It will also follow a similar story to the American version’s first season in which an African-American presidential candidate was targeted for assassination. Although it would be really interesting to have a black candidate for the Prime Minister of Japan, they are unfortunately going for the more likely scenario of a female frontrunner this time.

However, no lead has been determined to play the part of Jack’s Japanese counterpart yet. Also undecided is the nature of the threat to Japan in this iteration of "24." The past incident that will trigger the events of the new first season is tentatively planned to be Japanese Jack’s involvement in a hostage rescue and bombing of a chemical weapons factory in an undetermined country.

So how do potential viewers in Japan feel about this import? Let’s hear from the online reaction to the news.

“What’s with all the remakes?”

“Stupidity. I lost interest the moment I heard ‘Japanese version.'”

“There are no guns or torture in Japan, so this will be a boring 24.”

“I can see the lame, cheaply produced CGI explosions already!”

“I can’t imagine how a 24 taking place in Japan won’t look ridiculous. Someone running down the street shooting at terrorists…in Japan?”

“They’re going to get some idol to play Chloe.”

“Jack has to be a balding, grizzled-looking guy, so Ken Watanabe?”

“Female prime minister? I smell a love story…”

Needless to say, people are skeptical. Still, they raise some valid concerns and I think there are three big hurdles Japanese "24" will have to overcome to stand a chance of not being stupid.

The backbone of the 24 franchise was the non-stop cavalcade of famous Hollywood heavies such as Peter Weller, Joaquim de Almeida. and when you least expect it; Bam! Here comes Dennis Hopper out of nowhere.

It elevated the rest of the cast’s game too, to the point that by season eight even computer nerd Chloe had the seen-it-all swagger of a WWII vet. So, does Japan have the same roster of badasses to keep the series going?

For Japanese Jack, many people have cynically assumed it will be an aging boyband member like Takuya Kimura…and they might be right. However, the perfect guy would be Hiroki Narimiya, if they can get him out of hiding.

▼ Here’s Narimiya playing the titular role in the live-action "Ace Attorney."

He’s probably about the right age for it now, and after getting railroaded by the tabloids he’s probably full of that inner-rage needed to really pull off the role of a strung-out, repeatedly screwed-over government agent.

A lack of terrorism

It’s kind of hard to base an entire series on a counterterrorist unit, when there hasn’t been a major terrorist attack in Japan since the Tokyo subway attack in 1995. On the other hand, with the revisions to the Japanese constitution that allows the country to get involved in foreign wars, the prospects for terrorism in the future are brighter than ever…hooray.

Furthermore, there are no cougars here to terrorize Japanese Jack’s daughter in the second season. So they’ll have to replace that with a wild boar or giant salamander or something.

A badass name

There’s also an unescapable charm in the name “Jack Bauer.” It’s got those syllables that make the name itself sound like a guy getting punched in the face. It’s even plausible that "JoJo’s Bizzare Adventure" could have used it as an onomatopoeia at some point.

Can that kind of a name translate over to Japanese? “Duke Togo” would have been perfect, but that’s already taken. Asao Fukuda? Mamoru Goda? Dai Hama? Bunji Dobashi? Tetsu Bessho? I don’t know, but it needs to be good.

So, there is a chance for a Japanese revival of "24" to be good if they put in the proper effort. However, knowing what Japanese TV tends to do, there’s an equally likely chance "24" will devolve into a romantic romp featuring figure-skater Yuzuru Hanyu protecting the future prime minister of Japan, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, and a mandatory catchy dance at the end of each episode – in real-time of course.

Source: Oricon News, Itai News

Read more stories from SoraNews24.

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© SoraNews24

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

18 Comments
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Drink a shot everytime Jack says "yes, Mr President".... you wont be able to watch to the end of any episode. Lets hope the Japanese version is just as bad.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

The new tactic of the entertainment industry, even internationally, seems to be recycling material. Everything is going to be a remake, to recycle old material, to capitalize on the popularity of already strong franchises, to line the pockets of old franchise property holders. I understand that the high rate of television and movies being made has dried up the water well of creativity a great deal, but the giant leap towards replacing new work with old things is a bad practice. We are at risk of watching the entertainment industry go from riding the old horse to give a break to the fresh horse, to the point we are going to be beating a dead old horse we can not longer ride. I hope we don't reach the point where every show is a reboot of a show that was rebooted 3 years ago.

Even when they make "new" Star Wars films, they are simply reusing the same exact stories and scenes from the original movies from the 1970-80's. Its getting so bad that even sequels are just poorly made, hack job reboots. No new stories, no continuity, nothing. Just expect people to rebuy the same worn out things that were once good. Don't be surprised if people get on their streaming services and watch the old versions of the show or movie instead of the hack new ones.

Although it would be really interesting to have a black candidate for the Prime Minister of Japan, they are unfortunately going for the more likely scenario of a female frontrunner this time.

If a foreign president is the plot line of the new show, the story should center around the Japanese people revolting to take their country back.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

First Japanese version of Suits and now 24. Happens when the media runs short of creative people.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Thank goodness for books..,,,

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Awesome. 24 will need to be changed to 48 due to the never ending talking/meetings involved before moving forward with any plan. And of course a lot of yelling and crying which every Japanese tv/movie MUST have.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Oh just what we need, as if 24 wasn’t CHEESY enough with Jack Bauer and his exaggerated gestures, now we have to deal with even cheesier Japanese gesture.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Guess I'm in the minority, but I thought "24" stank from the very first episode. Worse than a waste of time.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Although it would be really interesting to have a black candidate for the Prime Minister of Japan,

Zero chance of that.

they are unfortunately going for the more likely scenario of a female frontrunner this time.

It's a possibility. They should go all-out though and have someone of Korean or Chinese ancestry be the PM candidate.

They’re going to get some idol to play Chloe.

The only Japanese actress who might be able to pull this off would be Chiaki Kuriyama.

Chloe was a key player in 24 - without her Bauer would have been dead nearly every episode.

Chloe's greatest moment -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y600JlDWYtA

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Awesome. 24 will need to be changed to 48 due to the never ending talking/meetings involved before moving forward with any plan.

Or 72, lol.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Guess I'm in the minority, but I thought "24" stank from the very first episode

No, it stank.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Well, Fizz, you and glenn are definitely in the minority bein' as how 24 was a rip-roaring eight seasons.

Will admit though it stank when Jack killed Curtis who was going to kill a terrorist who was cooperating with CTU.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

But, but, I want a black prime minister. How about half, blackanese?

Chris Tucker joke, so its kosher.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

They should remake the British comedy "Yes, prime minister" to laugh at their own politics.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Let me guess what'll happen:

At least five minutes of every episode will involve the hero Jacku Bauwa-san staring sternly into space while the female character that's a rip off of Chloe stands in the background, slightly off focus, looking at him with a mix of fright and attraction.

There will be at least 4 episodes ending at night, with someone walking off into the rain while another character looks after them or stares up into the sky screaming in sadness or pain or anger or... well, we're not really sure. Doesn't matter, next episode will start the next morning anyway.

The CTU will be made up of eight steel US Army surplus desks pushed together into a large rectangle.

The theme music will be done by some act from Johnny's.

Chloe will have a tearful, silent crush on Jack. We'll never talk about it, but she'll spend half her time with that look in her eyes that says she wants to help on the childbirth rate with Jack.

Jack will be able to make logical connections that nobody, not even God himself, could have made. Meanwhile, everyone else will be slightly less inept than Laurel and Hardy... just without the comedy.

Somehow, there will be either a sushi bar, a yakiniku stand, or whiskey involved in half the episodes.

At least half of the lines will be someone going "Hmph!" in a determined way when Jack says something somehow meaningful.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Ripoff artist Japan at it again

I got into an argument with wifey about the song YMCA the other day. She was convinced that it was written by a Japanese dude.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

To all those crying about Hollywood rip-offs of Japanese comics/cartoons, here's yet another example of Japan remaking a Western TV show. And wow, is it going to suck. Almost a worse idea than a Japanese CSI. 24 was not that great to begin with, but what's the show going to focus on here?

Jakku Tanaka: Prime Minister! An American chopper landed badly on a deserted stretch of land. Damnit!

PM: What are we going to do?? Taro, this is a dilemma only you can solve. Hop on the JR Shinkansen from Tokyo down to Hakata. Then transfer to the Sakura Line down to Kagoshima. From there, rush to the scene. It should take you 8 hours or so if you hurry. Get to it! Grab a bento from the station and take some Tokyo Bananas as souvenirs. Excuse me, thank you!

Jakku: Yes, sir! Thank you. Excuse me. I'll get on the JR website now and... Damnit! Tokyo is JR East and I can't make reservations for JR West through the system! They probably won't even let me use my Suica card! I'll make a new profile for JR down there.

PM: Here's a form to use your paid holiday time. Do you have your hanko?

Jakku: (slaps wall over dramatically) I must have left it with Kumiko whom I just divorced yesterday. Damnit! I'll call her from my AU phone, which is great.

etc.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Can anyone else imagine the Japanese guys playing the villains doing their over exaggerated mean faces ?

what about the fight scenes!?

:-/

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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