A New Thriller from the Genius Behind Odd Taxi, Kazuya Konomoto: Spinner Bait Becomes a Live-Action Series
Kazuya Konomoto, the mastermind behind dialogue-driven, cleverly crafted stories like Odd Taxi and Seto Utsumi, is preparing to draw fans into a mysterious world once again. According to an official announcement by NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan, Konomoto's manga titled Spinner Bait, which was published between 2010 and 2011, will meet audiences in a live-action series format on Fuji TV in June 2026.
The story centers on Kōta Mitsui (played by Seishirō Katō), a character bored with his ordinary high school life. Mitsui joins a group called Spinner Bait, which he believes is a fishing club; however, he soon discovers that the group is actually a vigilante organization that traps criminals through blackmail. There is a strict hierarchy within the group based on a point system, and Mitsui finds himself at the bottom of the chain with zero points. A sudden outbreak of serial murders in the city will drag Mitsui and this strange group into a dangerous, irreversible game of cat and mouse.
The series is directed by Ryotaro Hirase, while the screenwriting team includes names such as Tomomi Ōkubo, Masaki Nishigaki, and Shintaro Mitani. Joining Seishirō Katō in the lead roles are young talents such as So Okuno (as Daiki Terayama), Mamoru Hagiwara (as Shinjirō Uchi), and Asahi Ito (as Kiyono Takahiro). Kazuya Konomoto's unique narrative style, capable of delivering twists at any moment, makes this production one of the most anticipated works of the season.
This adaptation is not the first time Konomoto's works have been brought to live-action. Previously, works such as Seto Utsumi and RoOT/Route of Odd Taxi were also successfully adapted for the screen. The original Spinner Bait manga was serialized in Gentosha's Comic Birz magazine and published in a total of 3 volumes. If you enjoyed the tense yet intriguing atmosphere of Odd Taxi, we recommend you do not miss this crime drama starting in June. In addition to Fuji TV in Japan, the series will also be available to watch on the FOD and TVer platforms.
