Land of Tanabata – Series Review | Disney+ / Hulu

LAND OF TANABATA on Disney+ and Hulu is a sci-fi thriller series from Japan with hour-long episodes. It’s based on a manga, which is rather obvious at times. Read our Land of Tanabata series review here!

LAND OF TANABA is a new Disney+ and Hulu series. It’s a Science fiction Thriller series adapted from the manga series “Tanabata no Kuni” (七夕の国) by Hitoshi Iwaaki.

There are 10 episodes in the season, and the three first are released as the premiere. The episodes are around one hour long, and the first and last act of episode 1 had me hooked, while the middle part wasn’t my cup of tea.

Continue reading our Land of Tanabata series review below. Find it on Hulu and Disney+ from July 4, 2024.

A hole-making skill

It might not sound like a lot, but from the opening scene of Land of Tanabata, you’ll see the damage a “hole-making skill” can inflict.

From that opening scene in the past, we jump to the present day where Yoji Minamimaru, known by his nickname Nanmaru, is a university student. He has a supernatural ability to create small holes in anything.

Very small holes. And it takes a lot out of him. Still, it is a supernatural ability!

Then Yoji discovers that the professor of folklore studies has gone missing after conducting fieldwork in Marukami Village. Also, he may be related to the professor.

In the news, they hear that a mysterious murder occurred in that very same village. A small group decides to head to Marukami Village to look for the professor. This is when they stumble upon an eerie, out-of-season Tanabata Festival.

Before long, the group of students (and a lecturer) will find themselves in the middle of a paranormal mystery.

A mixed bag of genres

If you’re a fan of the manga series, then I can imagine you would get more out of this. I am not familiar with it, and I don’t care for the silly sing-song comedy approach in some scenes. What works in manga and anime, doesn’t always work in live-action.

I love horror-comedy which definitely also mixes the darker genres with the lighter vibe. For Land of Tanabata, I just felt that the series scenes were in too stark a contrast with the lighter ones.

To me, this is when it’s rather obvious that this was adapted from a manga and attempts to keep that tone.

Of course, I can respect this, but going from the very bloody scenes (that play out differently in live-action than animated) to the funnier moments is a lot. Even too much at times. Still, those darker and very brutal scenes did work very well for me.

Find Land of Tanabata on Disney+ and Hulu now!

Takahide Sano, Hayato Kawai, and Yūsuke Taki are directing the adaption of the manga. The Land of Tanabata series has episodes written by Taki, Akiko Miyoshi, and Mari Asato with Takamasa Ōe co-writing.

As mentioned earlier, it’s based on the manga series “Tanabata no Kuni” (七夕の国) by Hitoshi Iwaaki. Other mangas from the same creator include Parasyte: The Grey which Netflix adapted into a series.

The live-action series stars Kanata Hosoda as Yōji Minamimaru. I am not very familiar with this actor, nor many other cast members. However, I did see a few faces I recognized from other productions, so you can expect to as well.

For the dark and brutal scenes in the first and last act of episode 1 alone, I would suggest that you give it a shot. It’s pretty fascinating in some of its core elements.

Land of Tanabata premieres with the first three episodes out of 10 on Disney+ (and Hulu in the US) on July 4, 2024.

Details

Directors: Takahide Sano, Hayato Kawai, Yūsuke Taki
Writers: Yūsuke Taki, Akiko Miyoshi, Mari Asato, Takamasa Ōe
Cast: Kanata Hosoda, Ryoko Fujino, Shuhei Uesugi, Mai Kiryu, Yui Narumi, Tatsuomi Hamada, Reika Nishihata, Motoki Fukami, Masato Ibu, Hiroshi Mikami, Takayuki Yamada