Midnight, a suspense manga series from legendary mangaka Osamu Tezuka, has received a short live action adaptation which was fully shot using the iPhone 15 Pro. The film is part of Apple’s “Shot on iPhone” series in Japan.
The 19-minute live action adaptation was conceptualized alongside TBWA\Media Arts Lab Tokyo and was directed by Takashi Miike. Misako Saka served as the executive producer, Nobuyasu Kita as the director of photography, and Koji Endo composing the music.
The film was also produced by OLM, with screenwriting by Yusuke Watanabe, known for his work in two Attack on Titan movies as well as on the 2008 film adaptation of 20th Century Boys. The cast included Kento Kaku as Midnight and Konatsu Kato as Kaede.
“Mr. Tezuka is something of a god among manga artists so it was an honor to take on the challenge of expressing his work using only iPhone. As we were shooting, I naturally began to challenge myself to think about how we could make a work unique to iPhone, beyond the usual approach to a film. I truly felt that the iPhone has the power to do things that a conventional movie camera can’t.”
Statement from Director Takashi Miike
The Midnight live action adaptation was first released on YouTube on March 6, followed by subsequent releases on apple.com/jp, Abema TV, and Apple TV the next day.
Midnight by Osamu Tezuka was serialized by Weekly Shonen Champion in two parts: the first released from May 1986 to June 1987 while the second one released from July to September 1987. The official website for Osamu Tezuka describes the manga as:
This is a suspense drama depicting odd passengers that a taxi driver encounters while making his midnight rounds.
“The night has a myriad of different faces, and there is a man who peers into them one by one. His name is Midnight.”
Starting with this prologue, each independent episode tells us about the strange passengers that the central character Midnight encounters. Midnight drives a specially built taxi: it has a fifth wheel underneath the chassis that enables him to navigate any roads. The taxi and Midnight are one being, and no one but Midnight can drive it.
But why does he choose such a lonely occupation?
He works as a taxi driver because at one point, when he was leading a motorcycle gang, he caused an accident while he was driving with a girl named Mari. Because of the accident, Mari went brain dead, becoming a vegetable.
Midnight drives his taxi in the wee hours of the morning, looking for passengers that will earn him money for Mari’s treatment.
Source: Press Release
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