Negima Live Action!?

[Shiroth]

Its been mentioned over at Anime News Service that Negima shall be adapted into a live action drama.

There's a huge "OH NO" surrounding all this, but the basic story is a 10 year old wizard travels to Japan to teach a class full of 31 female students. That alone could work as a live action --- and people would enjoy that, its just everything else that happens in the manga, that i can't see working. I can see casting not being a problem, but then again i can't see the characters hair styles not crossing over. Though you've gotta be a crazy fool to see that working. :3

I'll probably check this one out when the time comes, just to see whats been done for the series to work as live action drama.. though i won't be seeing the characters i love.

[monir]

I admit I'm curious though I'm one of those people that don't like to mix up their anime characters with live action ones. Anime is too flexible to be bound by the laws of reality. Still, a 10-year old's making out with high school girls do sound intriguing.

[Vexx]

Between the nudity de-tuning and the special effects requirements .... can't see this resembling "negima" a whole lot. Might be interesting though (casting hell).

[NoSanninWa]

My biggest concern with watching this would be that it would be really tough to learn how to recognize all 31 different girls... without the benefits of anime style hair to distinguish them.

I'm sure quite a few of them will be distinctive, but they won't all be so recognizable. And we're not talking about learning just 5 or 10 or 15 or 20 girls. It would be like learning the entire class from scratch. Without anime hairstyles to make them distinctive.

Ug.

[Shiroth]

Originally Posted by NoSanninWa

My biggest concern with watching this would be that it would be really tough to learn how to recognize all 31 different girls... without the benefits of anime style hair to distinguish them.

Yeah, i think they'll have to change the characters a good bit for it to work as a live drama. Still --- they're going to completely change Chachamaru, i just know it. ;_;

& i know he doesn't appear in the original manga, but if they need someone to play Motsu --- i'm the man.

[TnAdct1]

Personally, despite the fact that Ken Akamatsu does have some big Negima news is April (and the fact that fellow Shounen Weekly titles GTO and Cromartie High School have received the live-action treatment), I have a feeling the live-action Negima series is a hoax a la the Azumanga dorama rumor a few years back.

[Vexx]

ahhhh, o yeah, the AzuDa live-action hoax. heh.

Wouldn't it be a hoot if his big news is an actual straight treatment of the manga story in animation format, in other words, a 3rd try. Not expecting that, but it would be a first as best as I can recall.

edit: I've gotten some fairly good info that it may indeed be a live-action series to be announced (the info is thirdhand but comes from someone in Japan I trust who has some connectivity).

I’d call that a “wtf?” moment. Considering the cast size, the special effects and makeup, and the CGI needed — they’d need a whopping budget. Noise says its destined for a late night slot. I think its going to be a big disaster but then it’ll be fascinating watching them try, fail or succeed.

[Deathkillz]

Originally Posted by Vexx

and the CGI needed —

thats the thing that i would be most worried about...now how to make negi fly and Eva freeze the entire set? (and making crappy CG jobs will be a huge mistake...there is no room for errors here on visuals)

[Vexx]

I know anime is still considered "alternative" by JoeJapanPublic ... but live-actioning this puppy will take some serious cash I don't think they're prepared to spend.

[garra113]

Well we all know one thing for sure. A HELL LOT OF CG IS BEING USED.

[Danny_river]

2 words..... Hell no.....

It's bad enough the 2nd anime makes a totaly mockery of the manga and 1st anime, but do they really have to make a LA series?

[Abbott]

Hairstyles wouldn't be a problem, since you can get some pretty elaborate wigs these days. But facial and body appearance? No chance they can find people that look like the girls in the manga on that front, especially if they go for girls of the right age.

There's multiple ways they could make a Negima Live Action series, but the only ones that spring to my mind are ones that don't follow the Manga. Having a permanent cast of over 30 people is tough for ANY series, so I imagine they'd have to find a way to use a smaller cast. This would mean making some sort of original storyline, or maybe going on beyond where the manga is at now, ie, a story about Negi and the Pactio girls searching for Nagi. Something like that may work.

Ultimately, it's going to take a lot to make this work.

[Vexx]

Actually, at some point its no longer Negima.. its a different thing using that title. I'd reckon just from screen budget logistics they'd immediately pare down to a core group of actors (the rest just wandering through on cameos or for special purpose missions).

All you can hope for in terms of the actors is personality and some general attributes (size, build, expressions .... ). It'll be interesting to see how close they get (pauses to zone out thinking of Kaede and Mana).

Actually I remember Ken A. going on and on about the VA selection process (he obviously enjoyed that) -- makes me think this is some grand schtick so he can interview hundreds of cute actresses

All the arcs have big budget effects (Eva, Kyoto, Tourney)... and again, I just don't see a live-action japanese television budget pulling that off. So if you think, scale down..... Negi vs Eva, collecting basic pactio girls in small events, perhaps him training with Eva&the others - seeking Nagi (or something important), but character-driven rather than big-action.

Okay... so who's going to play a 10 year old English Boy and carry the weight of the series? That thought has me thinking perhaps Negi would be peripheral and the story focus might be from the girl's perspective.

Just brainstorming here while waiting for a process to finish. Technically, this is still just a rumor -- just well-founded so far.

[NoSanninWa]

Originally Posted by Abbott

Hairstyles wouldn't be a problem, since you can get some pretty elaborate wigs these days.

Sure they can wear wigs, but can they wear such wigs without looking completely stupid? I doubt it.

Originally Posted by Abbott

But facial and body appearance? No chance they can find people that look like the girls in the manga on that front, especially if they go for girls of the right age.

Quoted for truth.

[Vexx]

I suspect they'll be using 16-21yr olds.... just petite ones (except for a few of them who look adult anyway: Kaede, Mana, Incho-san, with marginals in the way of Asuna/Konoka/Setsuna.

I dare them to find anyone who can pull Eva off.

[stormy001_M1A2]

Don't think the concept will work.

[FatPianoBoy]

Originally Posted by Vexx

I dare them to find anyone who can pull Eva off.

This worries me more than the CG, actually

[-Breakthrough-]

Oh my dear fucking god. That's the only things I can say about this news from my opinion.

[2H-Dragon]

Lol just get the pop group AKB48 to do it. You get enough girls in one go. I haven't read the manga, so does the 10 year old kid really make out with one of the girls? O_o

pic of AKB48 xD

[Shiroth]

Originally Posted by Vexx

I dare them to find anyone who can pull Eva off.

They won't even try --- remember, there is the chance that they'll change the story so that it'll work in the live action scene.

;_;