Anime vs. Hollywood

**Son-Goran** · 01-04-2011 02:57 PM

Approximately 15 years ago, I watched a strange cartoon. The tale was that of a strange little boy with a monkey tail and big red stick, called Son-Goku. Over the next 3 years, I watched such fantastic shows as Sailor Moon, Captain Tsubasa, Nadia and the secret of Blue Water and many others. These shows may seem outdated today and somewhat childish, but at the time they were a much needed escape from reality.

Then the rumor of a Dragon Ball live-action movie came up. I was curious but pessimistic, to say at least, knowing that Hollywood had a tendency of “creative change” regarding Asian movies.

The movie proved to be a disaster, - in every form. I was disgusted and I was furious, they’ve managed to ruin this beautiful and very nostalgic anime, totally. 3.3 stars on IMDB – speaks in volumes.

Over the next couple of years we can expect: Akira (Leo DiCaprio as a producer), Cowboy Bepop (Keanu Reeves), Bleach and an anime-live-action project by Mr. Avatar himself, James Cameron, who will make Battle Angel.

I am afraid that these projects will meet the same fate as Dragon Ball, maybe it will get more people to take interest in anime, but on the other hand, it may scare people of.

What do you think?

**Verdict** · 01-04-2011 03:13 PM

i think you are right and wrong. i think it can go either way, dragonball evolution yeah....it sucked. but i thought deathnote live action was great as well as a few others i am a very optimistic person though and hope for the best. even if the live action renditions coming up suck i dont think it takes away anything from the originals. i guess the question is would i rather they make a crappy attempt at making anime into live action or they leave it alone in the first place , my personal opinion is that they make a crappy live action and once in awhile maybe they will get it right or figure out why they got it wrong and do it again but right

on another note the gantz live action trailer looks good to me

and what is the opinion of someone who has never seen the anime that the live action movie is based upon?

**Son-Goran** · 01-04-2011 03:35 PM

Well, im not really pro nor against anime being made into live-action movies, though my post seems a bit negative. I agree that the flaws of a live-action movie can't take the beauty of the original anime. Maybe it lies in the fact, that I, as many other anime fans, are quite protective of the genre.

On the other hand, all the superhero movies lately have quite frankly killed my interest in reading Marvel and DC, so perhaps there is a consequence in making several crappy attempts.

But I will chek out the Death Note movie for sure, thx

**Verdict** · 01-04-2011 03:39 PM

it losely follows the anime and its 3 parts

and as far as comic book movies i think for the most part they are doing good.

**Son-Goran** · 01-04-2011 03:42 PM

You obviously haven't seen Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Spiderman 2,3 etc., Electra, Hulk 2 ... argh the list is long. There are several gems though, X-Men, Iron Man and the new Batman franchise are quite good.

This is off-topic though

**FluffyDango** · 01-04-2011 04:47 PM

I`ve never watched anime live actions of anime, and I`ll never do!!
Live action adaptations will never be better then the anime.

**Son-Goran** · 01-05-2011 04:14 AM

I tend to agree

**MistaCloudStrife** · 01-05-2011 06:49 AM

I thoroughly enjoyed the Guyver Live Actions movies. It's all about not being too anal about it and just enjoying what's in front of your face. I mean someone mentioned "Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Spiderman 2,3". I watched these and thought they were fun to watch. I took it with a grain of salt and didn't compare it to the comics too much. I just enjoyed what I saw and laughed at parts that were just really dumb.

This might just be me though. I mean hell, I enjoyed the Super Mario Bros and Double Dragon live action movies. I laughed at how stupid toad looked in Mario and liked at how cute Alyssa Milano in DG. But yeah, I understand this R teh intarwaibz and it R sriuz biznass. So let's all just flame the live action movies, I'll join in too! OMG look how stupid Guile's flash kick looked. That was retarded! Ugh. Goku is white! Why do even call it Resident Evil still!? They made Jin into a pretty boy with a British accent!! ONOZ!! They killed Johnny Cage in the first minute of the movie!! :O

LOLKDONE

**Son-Goran** · 01-05-2011 10:09 AM

Hehe, well it could sound a bit arrogant, actually it does, not wanting Hollywood to touch "my precious" anime.

But I do agree, sometimes it's just good watching it, for what it is, and having the whole Jean-Claude Van Damme dvd collection, i know what i'm talking about. :P

Ps. I have the Double Dragon dvd as well! It kind of rocks, i mean the mutant guy, whats up with that?!

**Verdict** · 01-05-2011 10:15 AM

will the live action be better then the original? absolutly not but that dosnt mean im not going to watch it .

alot of people will say the same thing we are talking about now when it comes to manga vs anime. i think people just need to relax sometimes and not compare stuff . no ones making anyone watch anything they dont want to.

just enjoy whatever you want

**Son-Goran** · 01-05-2011 10:29 AM

Obviously you are right, - i would not agree as to drawing parallels between manga/anime (which may be different on several accounts, but still present the same main theme/feel, for the better or worse) and the anime/hollywood production.

The question was NOT, if there should be live-action movies at all, but more, what kind of adaptions Hollywood tend to make, and if their interpretation is any good. The question of the freedom of just changing the movie, is not the real issue.

**Verdict** · 01-05-2011 10:45 AM

i dont think there is any "hollywood" adaptations of anime besides dragonball is there? i mean there is obviosly coming up and i hope for the best and i think they could do ok considering they are not anime based for kids and the people involved. to a fan of dbz yes the movie sucked but i didnt expect much and i dont think it was an absolute outrage. im sure kids love it and im guessing thats what the people made it were going for and the name of course. i think the biggest problem with hollywood taking anime and making it live action is when doing series anime because there just to much in there to make it into a single movie. and i think thats why deathnote was succesful, it was 3 full length movies and im not going to consider deathnote live action "hollywood" because its a foreign film

**Ciel_Phantomhive28** · 01-05-2011 10:47 AM

Some of the real life stuff isn't too bad even though they do leave out a lot of important stuff. And I think Dragonball Live action would have been alright if they didn't modernize it so much then i think they would had a better turn out. I've seen a few real live action doesn't phase me a bit.

**Son-Goran** · 01-05-2011 02:28 PM

Time will tell - on the positive side, James Cameron said in an interview that Avatar was a "test-run" for the technology which will be needed to make Battle Angel, - this shows promise, especially because James Cameron is a life-long anime fan ( made a review on Ghost in The Shell)!

Keanu Reeves in Cowboy Bepop - hmm this can go either way, but shows a pretty large budget for the movie. "Firefly" as a series was not that much off.

**TadashiED** · 01-06-2011 08:52 PM

As long as they get the right director....

**GuyverKnight** · 01-06-2011 08:58 PM

Havent seen the two live-action Guyver movies but Ive seen the anime and Im a HUGE fan of the series. Ive heard that the first one wasnt very good but the second was great, Im going to have to order them soon ^_^