Netflix has released a new series that reboots the 1960 Japanese film "The Human Vapor," updating the classic tokusatsu story for a modern audience while retaining its core anti-authority themes.
The original film, "The Human Vapor," belongs to a niche category within tokusatsu known as Toho’s “Transforming Human Series.” These films often featured scientifically altered individuals who, imbued with amoral or villainous traits and supernatural powers, would steal, kill, and defy authorities. In the 1960 movie, Mizuno, a librarian discharged from the air force, becomes the victim of a scientist's failed astronautical experiment. This transformation leaves him without guidance, compelling him to fund performances for Fujichiyo, a Noh and Kabuki dancer, through a series of bank robberies.
The filmmakers of the original, Honda and Tsuburaya, delayed the reveal of the vaporous man, building suspense before unleashing the special effects. The latter half of the film showcased the Human Vapor effect through various techniques, including dry ice and optical compositing, often in the same sequence. While the mystery plot was straightforward, it effectively highlighted the key relationships, particularly between detective Okamoto and his reporter girlfriend Kyoko Kono, who investigated the robberies independently. Their dynamic served as a counterpoint to the doomed devotion shared by Mizuno and Fujichiyo.
The new Netflix series expands upon the narrative framework of the 1960 film, adapting its elements for contemporary times and incorporating several homages to the original work.