At some point in everyone’s life, they had a morbidly common thought pop into their heads: what would people taste like? It’s a simple question, but the taboo subject of cannibalism has been mired in controversy for eons. For most, it’s simply not right to gnaw on someone’s leg. It’s a stomach-churning proposition, and while characters like Hannibal Lecter make it look suave and sophisticated, it’s still something most people will, thankfully, never have to partake in. While we won’t find out if people taste like pork or chicken, Hulu’s upcoming live-action Japanese horror series, Gannibal, will tackle cannibalism’s effects on a remote forest village.
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Gannibal will adapt Masaaki Ninomiya’s titular manga series for the streaming world, which originally hit shelves around early 2020. Per The Hollywood Reporter, the series is part of several other Japanese projects arriving to Disney+ (and by extension, Hulu) that will “open new doors of entertainment for everyone.”
Gannibal: The Plot
The official plot synopsis for Gannibal is as follows.
From the synopsis alone, we have a typical horror setup: a peaceful remote village has something deeply wrong with it under the surface. Whatever that “major incident” may be, the mystery of Kuge will give Agawa an opportunity to rectify his past mistakes and possibly save the village from meeting a gruesome fate. It’s an idea that’s been touched on in other horror productions, like 2016’s The Wailing, but the reveal towards the end of the trailer gives an idea at what will make Gannibal stand out.
“After causing a major incident, police officer Daigo Agawa takes his wife Yuki and daughter Mashiro to live in the remote mountain village of Kuge. It seems the perfect place for the family to recover from the ordeal, despite the mysterious disappearance of a previous officer posted there. The village thrives on forestry, with the residents making their living from cypress timber. In charge of this whole operation is the Goto family, who own most of the village. One day, the body of an old woman is found on the mountain. The Goto family says she was attacked by a bear, but Daigo notices a human bite mark on the arm. Daigo begins to suspect something is not quite right with the village.”
Throughout the trailer, we see Agawa witness more and more bizarre phenomena in the village, as eventually things escalate to violence and repeated punches to the head. As the trailer ends, Agawa looks over his shoulder to see a haggard man with sallow gray skin, looking more like a walking corpse compared to the healthy inhabitants of the village. It’s hard to tell if the haggard man is a zombie, a cannibal, or something from another plane of existence entirely; all that we can infer is that he has a chip on his shoulder. The man reels back to swing a sickle at Agawa’s head, just before the title card drops. As the haggard man drags an unconscious Agawa up a hill, we can see someone staring blankly at the event in the background, unmoving, as if it’s business as usual.
Rather than being a gross-out horror series, it looks as if it’ll lean more heavily into the thriller genre, taking the viewer on a wild ride as the secrets of Kuge are unwound piece by piece. From the mystery of the Goto family and their influence over the village, to why the haggard man looks and acts the way he does, there’s a lot to potentially unpack as the series continues.
Gannibal: The Cast
Hulu
The series will be led by Yûya Yagira (Daiga Agawa), a prolific Japanese actor whose previous work includes the live-action Gintama film and television miniseries, as well as films like Nobody Knows and Sakana no Ko. Agawa’s wife, Yuki Agawa, will be played by Riho Yoshioka. She has played a variety of roles in the past, from the live-action XxxHolic film to thrillers like The Witness and Crow’s Blood.
Several members of the Goto family have confirmed actors as well, including Shô Kasamatsu (Keisuke Goto), Mitsuko Baishô (Gin Goto), and Seiji Rokkaku (Kiyoshi Goto).
Release Date
Gannibal is currently set to premiere on Hulu and Disney+ on December 28, 2022.
Everything Else We Know
According to Mashable, Gannibal will be adapted for streaming by Takamasa Oe and produced Teruhisa Yamamoto. The duo have previously collaborated for the Oscar-winning 2021 film Drive My Car, a three-hour emotional drama that won over the hearts of many. Gannibal, in comparison, is a surprising deviation from their previous work.
The series will also be directed by Shinzo Katayama, whose previous work includes the films Siblings of the Cape and 2021’s Missing. This series will be familiar territory for the director, given his experience with the thriller genre.
