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“Sins of Kujo” on the way in TBS x Netflix deal; first live action adaptation of Shohei Manabe’s manga, global debut set for 2026
27 October 2025
Netflix has added Tokyo Broadcasting System Television Inc’s (TBS) live-action series Sins of Kujo – an adaptation of Shohei Manabe’s (Ushijima the Loan Shark) manga – to its global line-up for Spring 2026.
This month’s announcement runs alongside the strong showing of Japanese anime titles on Netflix’s non-English global top 10, as well as live action series Alice in Borderland.
Sins of Kujo debuted in Weekly Big Comic Spirits (Shogakukan) in October 2020, and now has 14 volumes and over four million copies sold.
Described as a “thrilling exploration of law, morality and the dark underbelly of modern society”, the crime drama stars Yuya Yagira (Asakusa Kid) as Taiza Kujo, a lawyer notorious for taking on the most dangerous, morally ambiguous cases.
Hokuto Matsumura plays Shinji Karasuma, a University of Tokyo graduate and elite lawyer, with Elaiza Ikeda as Hitomi Yakushimae, a social worker who sees criminals through a different lens.
Keita Machida plays Kengo Mibu, an auto repair shop owner with deep underworld ties; Takuma Otoo appears as detective Yoshinobu Arashiyama; and Tsuyoshi Muro is cast as gang boss Kiyoshi Kyogoku.
Yagira talks about the series as fiction that offers “an impressive kind of realism and immediacy”.
“Reading through it, you sense the constant push and pull between the ideas that ‘ignorance is bliss’ and ‘ignorance is a sin’,” he says, asking: “Where do the principles and beliefs behind the actions of the so-called ‘corrupt lawyer’ Kujo ultimately lie?”
Sins of Kujo is directed by Nobuhiro Doi (The Voice of Sin), with Takeyoshi Yamamoto and Hiroshi Adachi. Shinichi Takahashi is the executive producer for Netflix.
Written by Nonji Nemoto, the show is produced by TBS’ Atsushi Nasuda. The production company is TBS Sparkle.
Doi said there “isn’t a single creator who wouldn’t be interested in this project”, which he said featured no simple or easy-to-understand characters.
“Every character has their own nuanced perspectives and complex circumstances that aren’t simply black and white,” he said, talking about the journey to “discove...
Netflix has added Tokyo Broadcasting System Television Inc’s (TBS) live-action series Sins of Kujo – an adaptation of Shohei Manabe’s (Ushijima the Loan Shark) manga – to its global line-up for Spring 2026.
This month’s announcement runs alongside the strong showing of Japanese anime titles on Netflix’s non-English global top 10, as well as live action series Alice in Borderland.
Sins of Kujo debuted in Weekly Big Comic Spirits (Shogakukan) in October 2020, and now has 14 volumes and over four million copies sold.
Described as a “thrilling exploration of law, morality and the dark underbelly of modern society”, the crime drama stars Yuya Yagira (Asakusa Kid) as Taiza Kujo, a lawyer notorious for taking on the most dangerous, morally ambiguous cases.
Hokuto Matsumura plays Shinji Karasuma, a University of Tokyo graduate and elite lawyer, with Elaiza Ikeda as Hitomi Yakushimae, a social worker who sees criminals through a different lens.
Keita Machida plays Kengo Mibu, an auto repair shop owner with deep underworld ties; Takuma Otoo appears as detective Yoshinobu Arashiyama; and Tsuyoshi Muro is cast as gang boss Kiyoshi Kyogoku.
Yagira talks about the series as fiction that offers “an impressive kind of realism and immediacy”.
“Reading through it, you sense the constant push and pull between the ideas that ‘ignorance is bliss’ and ‘ignorance is a sin’,” he says, asking: “Where do the principles and beliefs behind the actions of the so-called ‘corrupt lawyer’ Kujo ultimately lie?”
Sins of Kujo is directed by Nobuhiro Doi (The Voice of Sin), with Takeyoshi Yamamoto and Hiroshi Adachi. Shinichi Takahashi is the executive producer for Netflix.
Written by Nonji Nemoto, the show is produced by TBS’ Atsushi Nasuda. The production company is TBS Sparkle.
Doi said there “isn’t a single creator who wouldn’t be interested in this project”, which he said featured no simple or easy-to-understand characters.
“Every character has their own nuanced perspectives and complex circumstances that aren’t simply black and white,” he said, talking about the journey to “discover what exactly ‘sin’ and ‘justice’ mean”.
Original author Shohei Manabe weighed in on the story’s place in a bigger landscape and larger goals.
“Today’s rapidly changing, complicated world is an endlessly fascinating time to work as a creator, but life is neither simple nor easy.
“These days, the overwhelming flood of information has caused many people to simply close their weary ears. Truth is being crushed by what the loud majority deems justice. Good and evil are interchangeable, depending on your perspective. In these times when we aren’t quite sure how to live our lives, Sins of Kujo might just help each of us to decide”.
Published in ContentAsia's 27 October 2025 eNewsletter
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