First announced by Is Plus.
Following the successful release of a new manga adaptation of Parasyte, Netflix’s Parasyte: The Grey, a Korean horror/drama series from Yeon Sang-ho (Train To Busan, Peninsula), it was announced on May 7th that Toho would be co-producing a remake of their classic science fiction tokusatsu film The Human Vapor with Korean company Wow Point. Yeon Sang-ho was approached by Toho to write and produce the show, with Shinzo Katayama (Ginnabal, Life of Mariko in Kabukicho) helming the director’s chair, and Yu Aoi (Vampire, Tokyo Ghoul, “Rurouni Kenshin” series) co-starring alongside Shun Oguri (Godzilla vs. Kong, Gintama, Lupin III).
The Human Vapor is a 1960 science-fiction film from Toho starring Yoshio Tsuchiya (Matango, Invasion of Astro-Monster, Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah) and is considered the third film in Toho’s Transforming Human Series (alongside The H-Man and The Secret of the Telegian)
In The Human Vapor, “The film tells the story of Mizuno, a librarian who has been given the ability to become vapor after a scientist performs an experiment on him. Mizuno uses this power to engage in criminal activities, robbing banks to give the money to his love interest, the dancer Fujichiyo. Police Lieutenant Kenji Okamoto and his reporter girlfriend Kyoko work together to solve the criminal case and attempt to bring things to a peaceful conclusion.” (Gojipedia)
Filming is expected to begin early this year in Japan, with the latter half of the year being shot in South Korea. This series, along with Parasyte: The Grey are part of a push to introduce Japanese IPs into the Korean content production system, which is expected to slowly increase as these series continue to be successful both domestically and internationally.
The synopsis for the show is:
“What happens when a bank robbery occurs, and a man who surrenders himself as the real culprit confesses that he became a gas person through illegal human experiments andcommitted the crime for the woman he loved?”
