Photo/Illutration The main characters of "Japan Sinks: 2020" are the Mutos, including, from left, Ayumu, her father, Koichiro, younger brother, Go, and mother, Mari. ((C) “JAPAN SINKS: 2020” Project Partners, provided by Netflix)

The heart of Sakyo Komatsu's original best-selling sci-fi novel "Japan Sinks" was the catastrophic destruction of the Japanese archipelago, and a spectacular scene where it vanishes beneath the sea after a series of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

But director Masaaki Yuasa's "Japan Sinks: 2020" has transformed Komatsu's book into a story about survival, which follows one family wandering about the devastated streets.

"The audience nowadays is all too familiar with such things," Yuasa said, justifying his decision to deviate from the original plot that spotlighted the disaster itself.

Yuasa's animated TV series adaptation is built around new protagonists Ayumu Muto, a third-grade junior high school girl dedicated to track and field, her parents and younger brother.

Tokyo is seen devastated by a powerful earthquake in the pilot of the new 10-episode Netflix series, currently streaming worldwide, but the spectacle is rather low-key as a whole.

The director even gives less prominence to the anguish and struggles of scientists and politicians, which were featured prominently in the book.

Instead, his attention is on the Mutos, their struggles through anxiety and fear and their encounters with various people, which remind them of their bonds as a family.

"The original novel confronted Japan with fear at a time when the country was living it up. But now, after we experienced the 2011 earthquake, the fear is real," Yuasa said. "So I thought I should portray how people think and live in a world where Japan has sunk, instead of taking an omniscient point of view."

But this is no conventional family drama. Yuasa's story unfolds in a dry and stoic manner. Death comes all too easily, keeping the audience scared stiff in suspense because any one of the main characters could die at any moment.

"I thought it would be realistic when people have no time to accept the deaths of their loved ones and have no choice but to flee from the spot, feeling the sorrow and fear that comes afterward," the director said.

The series, which introduces the character of Ayumu's mother as an energetic, optimistic woman from the Philippines, also doesn't flinch from the dark side of Japanese society, with scenes depicting discrimination against non-Japanese characters and Japanese trying to exclude them.

The director also delved into issues of division, hatred and ostracism in society in his previous work,"Devilman Crybaby," adapted from Go Nagai's manga, which was released on Netflix in 2018.

Though in reality the Summer Games have been postponed until 2021, "Japan Sinks: 2020" occurs after the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

But watching the series now makes the story feel that much more real in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and acts as a reminder of the precious and fragile everyday experiences we have been deprived of.

"Lately, when I create my works, I feel like my feelings correspond to the ambiance of society. It's just a coincidence because the series was almost complete before the coronavirus pandemic," Yuasa said.

The director has been simultaneously working on several film and TV series projects in the past three or four years, including "Ride Your Wave" and "Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!" Currently, production is in full swing to finish "Inu-Oh," which will be theatrically released in 2021.

"I'll recharge myself for a while after 'Inu-Oh.' I want to absorb many things, so I want to have some time off."

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