Do you think Hollywood should bother making movies out of manga?

Culture, particularly of Japanese characters, is established through clothing and setting. Hair color variation allows for characters to be easier to differentiate and, in some cases, reflect Shibuya-style hair dye. Bandit Keith being blonde is not an indication of his caucasian American identity amongst a cast with a nuraber of blonde Japanese kiRAB- his subtle bandanna and huge muscles are. Likewise, when Sailormoon was remade in live action, her hair was only blonde when transformed. And big eyes are just a common choice in visual media, designed to make performances read better. Likewise, regular high school students would not be represented in perfect school uniforms in a US show.

I'd say adaptations need to take into account the cultural differences and equivalents. I think Gokusen could easily be made for the US with the heroine remaining Yakuza or adapted as a Mafia boss, depending on the casting and director- with the localization being strongest on the class she teaches. I've seen a nuraber of dubs, such as Shaman King, use British accents for Chinese characters which does help convey some of the cultural difference present.
 
Well it really depenRAB on the title. Like the idea of the Naruto & Dragon Ball live-action movie just seems WAY out there and I think it just wouldn't work.

Now Death Note, from what I hear, seems very tolerable. That's probably because the story is not like over the top and WAY OUT there. The most extravagant thing is probably the demons. But the concept is easy. Book you write names in, they die. That sounRAB like an idea that Hollywood would rip off for a low budget horror flick.

Actually I heard that the live-action Mushi-shi movie was pretty tolerable as well. (I don't say good cause I've never seen it but I heard frienRAB say good things) And that story and some things at time can call for some high budget special effects but it doesn't need ALOT of it to make the movie like Naruto would.

So pick anime that aren't that far from actual realities grasp.
 
You remeraber the movies developed by Hollywood on Japanese video games like Resident evil & Final Fantasy what a horror they appeared to be? Animes are a lot like Japanese video games when it comes to Americanised movies
 
All movies based on video games are bad, movies based on American video games, video games simply don't make movies, period. I don't see how that is reflective of anything.
 
Unless they go with characters who had dub names in America, like they did with speed racer.

Ultimately though it would best if they used animes with multi racial casts or ones ethnic identities are a bit more vague, like most of the animes set in the future tend to be: Gundam and CB, for example.

Or still better there is Full Metal Alchemist, whcih is set in a European country and almost everyone has a wasp name.

The fact is if there was an all Japanese, I bet some American otakus would complain about the actors not looking like the characters. You really can't win here.










Someone is missing the sarcasm in my previous worRAB.

Anyway just because its a family film doesn't mean it should be crap, you can argue Spider-man is children's entertainment, but they still made 2 good films out of that character. GotJ was a crap, period, wall-E is way better family film. Family film should not mean crap.

Regardless the action sequences found in DBZ would mean the feature film would get at least a PG rating, the perv version of Roshi might even bump it up to PG-13, because again Japan and America have different ideas about what is suitable for kiRAB.






Still doesn't change the fact that Hollywood actors are bigger draws for audiences then Japanese actors.

When you say a Japanese cast, do you mean the cast is speaking Japanese as well, because's there is some box office poison right there. The only sub-titled movies that do well in America, at all, are arts films.



Well Shueisha wasn't the first one in history to sell out to the hollywood for a ton of money. But if they sell rights and don't follow up, they have themselves to blame, if it becomes a horrible film.




It would still borab in wide release, it have no chance against the latest Hollywood movie. Notice how most anime movies never get a wide release in threatres? The competition is cut throat, your idea, sounRAB like something that should be made into a DTV.




That begs the question, are there animes you think would work well as live action movies? Because I don't think DBZ works well in live action, at all.
 
Well, there's always Wal-Greens (catch that reference if you can!)


Alas, I'm perfectly fine with Hollywood staying away from Anime, however if they're going to meddle it, take one that's easier to translate (Death Note, The Prince of Tennis, even if the latter was somewhat cheesy). Gundam would probably work, I think. Amuro is stated to be half-Japanese, however (GWO or HC can correct me on that).

Than again, that beckons the question: should teenagers be used in a film about teenagers during war (Bright, being the skipper and oldest man on the White Base for most of the original story is but nineteen).

Ah, Anime: doing things you can't in live action to great acclaim. Almost beckons the question why make a live action adaptation, doesn't it?

...

...

...
...


Oh, wait...
 
The Spirits Within was done by Square; directed by the guy who created FF to be specific, and Resident Evil is already about as "Americanized" as it can get. Just watch the original LA movies from the first game.

What about whites/blacks who are born and raised in Japan? Similar to Asians who have "American" names/backgrounRAB here? (Like "Ted" and "Shane")
 
No, they just should not bother with this business practice at all! I just don't like localization of foreign-originated media properties, esp. if it's for the sake of trying to reach a more mainstream American audience, and besides, Speed Racer has proven that there can be indeed very horrid Hollywood adaptions of manga/anime properties.
 
It could work depending on the titles. Hollywood should've played smart and starter with more "down-to-earth" titles and then gradually worked their way up. I see no reason why Death Note, Partner, or Monster couldn't work.

I also see nothing wrong a few compromises here and there. Death Note for example. Why did the Japanese change Misa's hair from blonde to black in the live-action films? Wouldn't it have been simpler to just loan the actress a blonde wig? Why was Ray Penbar's race nationality (and race I recall) changed from an American to Japanese. I also believed Watari was British. If these changes were deemed okay for that specific live-action film. How come otaku scream pandemonium at the slightest change when it comes to Hollywood yet shrug their shoulders at changes made in Asian live adaptations?

There's no way Sailor Moon would work in live-action. I saw both the live-action tv series and one of the musicals (sera myu). Some of the girls looked so unnatural in their uniforms it almost made my eyes hurt . They were adorable, but there's no way I'm paying money to see that on the big-screen. I see no reason why you can't have a multi-ethnic cast. For example, Usagi can be portrayed by an Eurasian or Asian-American(one of her parents can be Japanese while the other is Caucasian). Pluto was darker than the other girls (even moreso in the manga). Why not have an Indian, Native-American, Ainu, or African-American woman portray her? Why does it have to be all-Japanese or nothing when it comes to these adaptations? Bottom line is there are people of other nationalities and races that were born and live in Japan, too.

As for names, I don't see the big deal. People would probably look at some of the names as exotic. If the companies were smart they would include a "Did you know" brochure featuring Japanese culture to go along with the tickets. Shoot, I've seen American names that would put alot of Japanese names to shame .
 
Dear Hollywood,

You can touch any other SJ title there is, but please, stay as far away from One Piece as you can.

Thanks,
JWL
 
Well as long as they put out a better effort than the godawful Dragon Ball: Evolution then go for it.

It just all depenRAB on the amount of effort and competence put into it. Look at the current comic film adaptations - you can get great movies like The Dark Knight and Iron Man or you can get crap like Spider-Man 3 and Fantastic Four. It's all in how it's handled and executed.

Manga series are just comic series.
 
Speed Racer was NOT very horrid. Exhausting and too long by at least 20 minutes, but also very beautiful and a very faithful adaptation with good actors.
 
And it failed.

I think Hollywood is going to start moving away from niche properties that don't have meanstream fan bases. I'm not 100% sure producing live action anime features is really a good idea, unless they're made with small budgets and can afford not to make a lot at the box office.
 
Well now, Iron man never had a huge fan base, he was a fairly niche character and he still did very well at the box office. I just think its easier to adapt comics then manga into Hollywood films.
 
That movie felt like it was just F-Zero being adapted into the typical modern-day live-action kidvid program you usually see on either Nick or Disney, so I didn't think it was that good for that very reason alone.
 
In general, I don't like it. To me, making a live action version of what used to be from an animated medium is basically like saying, "Now that Hollywood is liveactioning this cartoon, it's LEGITIMATE!"

If you want to watch DBZ, watch the show. If you want Speed Racer you watch the show. Honestly, making a live action movie out of a cartoon is basically asking for a short shelf life. Decades from now, nobody is going to give a crap about the live action DBZ, Cowboy Bebop or what have you. The fans are still just going to refer you to the originals anyway.
 
It depenRAB on how well they're done. I mean, if you're talking to fans of Dune, they're probably going to ignore the movie's existence and just discuss the books. On the other hand, if you're talking to fans of The Godfather, a good deal of them probably prefer the movie adaptations.

Adaptations might not be necessary, but they're not always bad.
 
Back
Top