On October 19, 2025, Netflix announced that the live-action adaptation of Shohei Manabe‘s best-selling manga Sins of Kujo will be on the streaming platform worldwide in spring 2026. This live-action series dives deep into the complexities of the legal system through the lens of those who operate within—and beyond—it.
Manabe is known for the Shogakukan Manga Award-winning series Ushijima the Loan Shark, which ran in Weekly Big Comic Spirits from 2004 to 2019 and spawned four live-action films and a TV series that ran for three seasons. Notably, the manga was also one of the official 2009 selections at the Angoulême International Comics Festival in France, and in 2020, it won the “Social Impact Award” at the Japan Media Arts Festival.
Building on the success of previous live-action adaptations of Manabe’s work, Netflix is now bringing fans a live-action adaptation of another of the manga creator’s series, Kujō no Taizai, known as Sins of Kujo in English. Like its predecessor, the series has been serialized in Shogakukan‘s seinen manga magazine Weekly Big Comic Spirits, as well as having been collected into individual tankōbon volumes. Since its debut in October 2020, Sins of Kujo has sold over 4 million copies across 14 volumes, quickly cementing its place as a modern crime drama phenomenon.
Yuya Yagira is set to play the lead character, Taiza Kujo, a “guardian of darkness” who is a fearless and controversial lawyer who takes on the cases no one else dares touch. Guided not by ideology but by duty, Kujo’s mantra is stark: “A lawyer isn’t guided by ideology; my duty is simply to defend my client.” With the law as his weapon, he defends even the most morally bankrupt clients, challenging viewers to question where justice ends and corruption begins.
Joining Yagira is Hokuto Matsumura as Shinji Karasuma, an elite University of Tokyo graduate with a sharp legal mind; Elaiza Ikeda as Hitomi Yakushimae, a compassionate social worker with a nuanced view of crime; Keita Machida as Kengo Mibu, an auto repair shop owner with deep ties to the underworld; Takuma Otoo as detective Yoshinobu Arashiyama, who has a personal vendetta against both Kujo and Mibu; and Tsuyoshi Muro as Kiyoshi Kyogoku, the intimidating second-in-command of the Fushimi-gumi gang.
Yagira shared via the official Netflix announcement of the series, “The original manga was a work of fiction, but it also offered 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.’ Where do the principles and beliefs behind the actions of the so-called ‘corrupt lawyer’ Kujo ultimately lie? I hope audiences will notice how Kujo grows and develops while interacting with Karasuma, as portrayed by Hokuto Matsumura. It felt exhilarating to collaborate with my trusted colleagues on this project, like director Doi, producer Nasuda, Netflix, and all my fellow actors, and I was truly excited to help bring it to life. I hope you will enjoy it as much as we did.”
The series is directed by Nobuhiro Doi (We Made a Beautiful Bouquet, The Voice of Sin), alongside Takeyoshi Yamamoto and Hiroshi Adachi. Acclaimed producer Atsushi Nasuda (The Full-Time Wife Escapist, The Voice of Sin) makes his Netflix debut with this project, marking his first collaboration with the platform. Together, this powerhouse team reimagines Shohei Manabe’s gripping manga in a bold and cinematic new form.
Doi added, “A lawyer who stands on the dark side, Yuya Yagira and Hokuto Matsumura paired up to play the buddy, and streaming worldwide on Netflix – at this point, there isn’t a single creator who wouldn’t be interested in this project. As we recreated the setting and mood of the original manga with all its unforgettable thrills and heart-pounding excitement, we focused on interactions between flesh-and-blood actors to make the most of the exuberant vitality that is only possible with a live-action shoot. Just like in the original manga, you won’t find a simple or easy-to-understand character in Yagira’s Kujo or anyone else. Every character has their own nuanced perspectives and complex circumstances that aren’t simply black and white. I hope that all of you will join us on this journey to discover what exactly ‘sin’ and ‘justice’ mean to Kujo through this incredible drama shaped by these characters. I’m confident that you’ll find the experience worthwhile.”
Sins of Kujo premieres globally in spring 2026, only on Netflix.
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