Live action adaptations of anime and why they are so bad.
To get started I'm not against the idea of adapting things like anime, video games, etc. and bringing them to a live action setting, it's a good concept. That's all though just a good concept, it's definitely not something that should ever be followed through with.
A lot of people see potential in anime because if they can do it with comics, then why not with this as well ?? However, because of it's very niche audience and it's focus around Japanese culture, stories written in/spoken in Japanese, that most anime movies aren't portrayed very well and there are several reasons why that happens.
Let's hit up the first reason.
CASTING
A bold statement for sure but to look at some of the examples I have of recent & upcoming movies: Dragonball Evolution, Attack on Titan, Rurouni Kenshin, Ghost In The Shell, Netflix's Death Note series, and while not fully finished: Bleach, Fullmetal Alchemist, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable, and Tokyo Ghoul. Let's take a look at some of these examples and point out the flaws and just WHY decisions in the casting. And while a lot of it may sound like a race thing, that actually has a lot to do with the miscasting of characters.
I'm going to start with Attack On Titan because I figure I'm going to beat Dragonball to death during this article so might as well go after the second worst movie. Ok, so ignoring the horrendous dub of it, Attack On Titan is spoken in Japanese and they decided to do an in country production so they could create acting jobs for Japanese actors and to adapt their own medium of animation into live action. Yet a major point is missed in this during casting, it's very very clearly stated in both the anime & manga that the only Asian character is Mikasa Ackerman (there's one more but I won't spoil who) while everyone else: Eren Jaeger, Armin Artlet, Annie Leonhart, Reiner Braun, etc. are all white characters of German descent. I understand that it is an anime, that they speak Japanese in the show, but to gloss over such a huge main plot point just to do an in country movie didn't help the movie at all. There's a lot worse that occurred in that movie than the casting so it wasn't what butchered it but it certainly did not help. Would we as fans taken it less seriously if they spoke English, maybe, but at the same time it's not the character selection and development you had in the source material when it's all Asian actors that are used. It deviates too much from what is supposed to occur. Also, if you watch any scene from that movie the Japanese actors selected to play their parts are awful, just dreadful. They deliver dialogue at the wrong times, genuinely seem disinterested with what's going on around them, none of the people cast for the roles have the proper personality to suit the corresponding character. It's just shit.
Now I've ragged on AoT and I know some of you are going to want to criticize me for saying that regardless of it being made in Japan that Mikasa should be the only Asian character based on the source material. We've never done it right in the West either, we've butchered anime worse than this Attack On Titan movie that's for sure with our choices in casting. Yes, Hollywood has a tendency to whitewash characters when you look at them in Avatar:The Last Airbender, Ghost In The Shell, and Dragonball Evolution all had white main characters when they should've been Asian and there's no excuse for miscasting that badly that's awful casting decisions. Justin Chatwin should not have been Goku, sorry nope not in a million years. Noah Ringer should not have been Aang in Last Airbender truthfully the entire cast was mostly white when they shouldn't have been (a reverse Attack on Titan we'll say). With Ghost In The Shell, The Major being a cyborg the only person I will cut casting slack to is Scarlett Johansson (right now) so we'll see how she does. Goku and Aang should have been roles for Asian actors as that's legit what they are in their respective shows. Speaking of respective shows, Asian characters and total miscasting I will now get to Hollywood and the West's newest anime adaptation of shit the Netflix Death Note series. Death Note take place in Tokyo, Light Yagami is an Asian high school student and not an emo blonde kid, L is a white American neurotic detective not a black American neurotic detective. Just a lot of no, when I saw the teaser and heard about the casting my immediate reaction was fuck sakes. Except for Willam Dafoe as Ryuk, great decision, the man is a genious, creepy, and I support that 100%.
But now I've mentioned it a few times and this is a big crime in anime adaptations and why they are so awful and often why these casting choices are brought about:
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Yes, imagine you want to create something that is based on pre-existing material that people put they blood, sweat, and tears into and you decide: no that's not good enough I want to add this, change that, take this out, re-write this, etc. It ends up coming to the point after all those changes you wanted where some things are unrelated and unrecognizable from what they started from. That's most anime adaptations while some stray entirely from the source material some only make slight changes. It may seem like I'm picking on the same movies but they are the easiest examples.
Let's start off with Dragonball Evolution where we have Goku in high school, a wimpy kid that gets picked on, who really likes this cute rich girl named Chi-Chi. That right off the bat is deviating from the source to begin with sure they kept dead Grandpa Gohan, brought in Master Roshi and Bulma but you're fast forwarding to an age where Goku was already in martial arts tournaments against Tien and a teenage less-evil Piccolo. Goku beats up King Piccolo when he's a kid and his overwhelming strength despite his age is a staple going forward through the entire series. Never was he a total wimp in high school that liked a rich girl, in fact, he was a care free rather stupid kid that never went to school and was absolutely clueless about girls when meeting both Chi-Chi and Bulma for the first time.
Attack on Titan isn't much better because in that movie you have show that both the Armored and Colossal Titans are shifter Titans like Eren, which they don't learn until way later on, this seems to be closer in time to the first anime. They mix and mash different plot points together into one like fighting the Armored Titan is the first time Eren shifts into Titan form and not when he's "killed" saving Armin. The military tribunal is where they just strap Eren to a slide and he's grilled by the Military Police rather than brought before a courtroom and has Captain Levi kick the shit out of him. My biggest issue is during that tribunal which is a mix of the courtroom scene and the cannon scene (where he saves Mikasa and Armin by half transforming) is that Mikasa, a character who has in the source material put her life on the line and been willing to sacrifice herself to save Eren numerous times becomes afraid of him and cowers rather than trying to rescue him. If you look at the two clips below it's night and day shift between Mikasa's attitude and that is what makes up her entire personality in the source material a tough as nails, yet sweet girl, who'll do anything to protect Eren.
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Other anime adaptations tend to follow that same deviation of source material as well but one thing I can't point out enough is the last thing I want to talk about when it comes to adaptations. Japanese or Hollywood, especially Japanese though, movies have one glaring issue with anime.
ABSOLUTE GARBAGE CGI EFFECTS
CGI can sometimes make or break movies and television and I don't even have much to SAY on this other than it's easier for you to just watch in some clips. Effects like how Titans look, how the Kamehameha wave looks, how well blood and gore are rendered, characters that aren't human are made. Speaking of not human characters, I've grilled him on this for years but my friend Kyle did some of the CGI post production work on Dragonball Evolution's Ful-um characters and they were so awful I've never let him forget it. Sorry bro. At least you didn't make the shit looking Titans in Attack on Titan !!
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If you want another, funnier opinion. Here's the Honest Trailers guys on Dragonball Evolution and Avatar: The Last Airbender.
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And sorry Chow Yun Fat, I'm so sorry that your illustrious career has Dragonball Evolution in it, I can just imagine your face sir.