Can live action anime work?

[DokiDokiTsuna]

And if so, how??

I can't remember a (Western...) live-action anime adaptation that didn't have mixed reviews...often skewing very negative. ^^; But I don't think it's impossible to make the concept work. And now that producing live-action series based on the anime and cartoons we all used to love seems to be becoming a trend (cue nervous laughter...) I think it's worth talking about how it could be done well. Or better...

1. Keep the heart and soul of the original narrative
I think the key to adapting/rebooting any media is focusing not just on squeezing money out of brand recognition, but on understanding what made the original so good and exploring that same concept in a new way.
So many adaptations try to make 'grimdark' narratives out of stories that were upbeat and fun, or conversely, making snarky one-quip-per-second narratives out of stories that explored serious and complex themes. It's a waste, and it shows.

2. LET THE CHARACTERS LOOK GOOD
I beg, I plead, to no avail...for god's sake, let your characters look INTERESTING AND FUN AND GOOD.
Boring, blank clothes are actually not as realistic as they seem...maybe it's just me, but when I go out, I don't see crowds of people in one-note jackets and jeans.
People wear merchandise from their favorite bands and shows and games, older clothes with bleach stains and discoloration, fashionable clothes that follow the latest trends, flashy clothes that stand out by opposing the trends, earrings, necklaces, hairclips, headphones, COLORS...the list goes on and on. USE IT!

Because it's interesting costume design that will make it matter less that you can't feasibly replicate the complicated anime hairstyles, or the weird eye and hair coloration, or the outlandish physics-defying costumes the characters wear in 2D. Anyone older than 12 won't care about that stuff, as long as you give them something else to look at that sends a similar message.

Like, for instance, Faye Valentine from the recent Cowboy Bebop adaptation-- I completely understand why they didn't use the original outfit; imo that looks uncomfortable for a drawn character to wear, let alone a real-life human being. But the dark, featureless, boring brown blah they chose to go with instead was a MASSIVE disappointment. A mustard-yellow collar alone cannot replace all the interest they took out of that design.

3. Don't be afraid to look silly
I think this bleeds into the above issue...costumes get toned down because colors and fun accessories are "too silly for our grown-up show!"
And then the same thing happens to the story: Characters can't unironically laugh and smile, that's too silly! Villains can't be cool and enjoyable, that's too silly! Powers and weapons can't be unique and outlandish, that's too silly!

And before you know it, every ounce of fun has been sucked out of the concept. T_T Pair this issue with #1, where the directors/writers don't even have any good ideas to replace it with, and you end up with a show that essentially just says 'We are [IP]. Remember [IP]? Fun times with [IP]~' in a monotone voice and expects everyone to like it.
Screw that entire line of thinking, honestly. My dearest wish is to one day live in a world where being an adult isn't associated with being as 'safe' and unremarkable as humanly possible...

Anyway, something comes to mind that goes directly against that: Power Rangers, and other live action sentai shows. They're goofy, they're corny, some even look a little stupid...but at least they're memorable. At least they try! At least they don't create a product that feels deathly afraid of appealing to its own target demographic...they look fun, and they look like they actually want you to have fun while you watch them.

And if you can't suspend your disbelief enough to have fun watching Power Rangers, then the show just isn't for you. I wish more live action adaptations could be made with that viewpoint, rather than becoming as 'realistic' and 'normal' as possible to appeal to people who would never even watch anime in the first place.

Anyway, that's enough soapbox for one afternoon. What do you think of these issues; what would you suggest? Do you know of a live-action adaptation, Eastern or Western, that you think was done really well? Why and how??

[NickRowler]

I think one of the major issues with some of the adaptions is genre. I feel like companies feel tempted to just pick what is popular instead of thinking "would this look go in live action". I think of something like Dragon Ball which is so silly and campy and them trying their hardest to make it not that. But also the issue that if you had a straight retelling, it would just look ridiculous.

I often think of the old Naruto toy ads with the awkward child trying his hardest. No way is this going to look good.

I sort of think of that live action Death Note which I get the feeling was not trying to have a straight retelling but developing it's own story off of the same concept, sort of like a "What if?" or AU. Unfortunately the writing and directing was a mess. Plus hardcore fans are just going to be fussy. I sort of wonder if the people working on it titled the film something else and allowed themselves more wiggle room from the source material if they could have salvaged it. I also think of something like Sonic who's film focused more on preserving the character instead of a one-to-one retelling of the games or lore, and people enjoyed those films.

[IndigoShirtProd]

I often think of the old Naruto toy ads with the awkward child trying his hardest. No way is this going to look good.

What are you talking about? That was a cinematic masterpiece.

Do you know of a live-action adaptation, Eastern or Western, that you think was done really well? Why and how??

I'm really trying to dig down and think of any instances where is worked out well but I really can't think of many. Was Ghost in the Shell good? I didn't watch the anime or live-action, so it could be good one that I just don't have any experience in. Uhh... I think some of the Mortal Kombat movies were good but those were games not anime. I do think it's possible just on the basis of western live action remakes being taken seriously and finding success (Transformers, TMNT, and Pacific rim, while don't think its a remake, it is reminiscent of Gundam).

[JaveCraze]

honestly, I think it could work, it depends on the anime. western comics get turned into movies and that works, and they're silly as hell. I don't really know what anime could turn to live action, because even in manga/animated format if a character tries too hard to make me laugh or does le epic funny face among many other anime things that annoy me I'd just roll my eyes, so probably one without those. a serious drama?

[darthmongoose]

Personally... this may be a controversial opinion but, the live action version of Sailor Moon is my favourite version of Sailor Moon.

Yes, the effects are cheesy, yes, the wigs look absolutely terrible, and yes, they only had budget for two pop songs and they really overstay their welcome... BUT... It is, in my opinion, the best paced version of the Sailor Moon story (falling nicely in-between the speedrun through the plot of the original manga and the "monster of the week" filler-tastic grind of the anime), and has the best characterisation, with the most interesting arcs for Venus and Mercury in particular. In the manga and anime, Minako, having been originally a sort of proto-Usagi, doesn't have a strong identity of her own, and Ami just kind of vanishes into the background early on as "the smart, quiet one", but the live action series gives them stuff to do.

But... well, even live action Sailor Moon never got the planned sequel series with the outer senshi... so I think the cheesy presentation put people off so they couldn't appreciate that it genuinely does do some interesting stuff.

Some things maybe just do work better as anime, where the character designs can be sort of... symbolic rather than literal. I know I've said before, I don't think my comic would be good in live action, and as a series, it would be better animated. Sailor Moon is the same, and honestly it's a shame that such a fantastic take on it by a really skilled writer (who also wrote my favourite super sentai series ever, Samurai Sentai Shinkenger) with such skill for crafting well-paced stories with well-realised characters, has largely fallen into obscurity as a weird thing from the early 00s with terrible wigs.

[NickRowler]

What are you talking about? That was a cinematic masterpiece.

I love how over the top and cheesy that ad is.

I also unironically like the YouTube vid Hood Naruto, where a bunch of people came together to recreate Natuto in their backyard. Maybe that is how live action anime needs to be made, by a bunch of fans to be posted on YouTube.

[IndigoShirtProd]

Yea, what they lack in quality they make up for in heart.

Edit: on the hood naruto front, I did not realize they made a 30 min movie, thought you were just talking about the video series. The cinematography in the first two minutes is better that anything in ATLA live action movie.

[TheLemmaLlama]

Do you know of a live-action adaptation, Eastern or Western, that you think was done really well?

Not really adapted from an anime and it might just be nostalgia goggles talking here, but Balala the Fairies was a live action series that wasn't afraid to be silly and over-the-top anime, and I remember rewatching it maybe 2 or 3 years ago as an adult and still liking it Unfortunately only the 1st episode has English subtitles

[conventurecomics]

You can search on youtube Sailor Moon Live Action - All Sailor Henshin. They did a good job.
Here is a search on youtube for act zero
[Vietsub.vn] [Sailor Moon Live Action](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPSLKJXAEMo) - Act Zero: The Birth of Sailor V
And Street Fighter Live action could work if done right. I just had to add this link a very well made Street Fighter ALPHA fan made live action Ryu VS Sagat.

[powerplantanimations]

I remember liking Speed Racer a lot. That's a cult classic. I still need to see the Jojo anime movie. I know the director of No More Heroes nerds out of the director of that film so much that he references him throughout 3 and even brings him as a cameo.

But personally, THIS clip sums up why my problems with anime adaptions nowadays in general (specifically Netflix).

1) I think anime costumes can work even if stuff looks uncomfortable. After watching like.... almost every superhero film, I see cool workarounds with how they make stuff work even if it SHOULDN'T make sense (after I learned that Catwoman's heels in Batman Returns collapse everytime she does a backflip I was literally like "Oop, well... the sky's the limit then"). I'm wondering who made the costumes for Cowboy Bebop. Like seriously HOW can you make Robotman and Negativeman man work in Doom Patrol, a show that's around the same budget, but not a bunch of random bounty hunters who have more grounded designs?

2) Stahp with the constant swearing. I see this a lot with Netflix adaptions. You're not mature just because you say the f word. I never saw May as a hyperactive sailor mouth. I saw her as a lazy intergalactic trailer park chick squatter who's just dead inside. In fact, I barely remember Cowboy Bebop for the swearing. I think what's crazy is my father would most likely take the animation adaption more seriously than the live-action series just because the swearing would drive him crazy the most lmao.

[irresponsiblepics]

I liked Crying Freeman, Fist of the North Star, Alita and Speed Racer. They worked well enough for their respective budgets. 50/50 on GITS.

[Darth_Biomech]

Shittiest thing one might do to adaptation (any adaptation, not just anime) is go "yeah so we're keeping most of the stuff, but completely change the whole plot\message". Like GITS did, americanizing its themes but keeping the visual imagery of the OG films in order to lure in fans.

It just ends up looking and feeling like some thing that wears the skin of your friend as a disguise. even if it would be not bad on its own, it still reads as a betrayal.

[NickRowler]

That is sort of a lot of people's criticism of Dragonball Evolution. They changed everything except for the character's names and Goku's outfit. It also doesn't help that some of these writers really want to pitch original screenplays but those get rejected, so they sort of leech off of other IPs.

And what makes it even weirder is, if they really wanted a story set in high school, they could have just made the film about Gohan as a teenager.

[Kuma]

If you're going to make a live-action anime movie at the very least you need to go crazy stylish.

You need to go this hard and never half-ass it (Even if the movie isn't a 1:1 adaptation)

Good-ish Anime movies

Jojo Part 4 was a pretty great movie

The 5 movies of Kenshin are also a good example of a decent adaptation.

Alita was much better than I expected

GTO has a bunch of more or less decent adaptations.

Inuyashiki is pretty great

Kingdom is pretty great

Bleach is surprisingly good.

Gintama had a good run

Saiki also had a more or less decent movie

I actually really like Speed Racer

[river121693]

what are you talking about? live action anime has been perfected for over 20 years!

[irresponsiblepics]

I wonder if anyone knew of this obscure adaption (I kind of like it haha)

[NickRowler]

I have seen the Chinese Dragon Ball film years ago. I remember there was a funny bit where Roshi just starts dancing.

[conventurecomics]

I wish this would be a real series. During the early 2000's the BBC made Walking With Dinosaurs. Nintendo and Game Freak should make a live action cgi Walking With Pokemon series. That would be fun and interesting to see how realistic Pokemon live.

[system]

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