So what would be your reaction if a favorite anime was made into live action?
 

Searching live action gives me 20 pages of results, and after trying to sift through the first six pages, I don't think there is a thread that lines up with what I want to ask and since the news about the Haganai live-action film got me thinking about how I'd feel about a live action Haruhi film, I thought I'd try to at least try to get an informative discussion going.

I can at least imagine that putting a good or great anime into live action could reach a different audience and thus increase the potential knowledge or even popularity of a series. You could also see certain aspects of a show come out in live action as certain cliches in anime don't translate to live action.

I wonder, would you support a live-action adapation of an anime that you like or love? Or would you revolt in horror like Aku no Hana fans to the anime adaptation of that work (i.e They've Changed It, Now It Sucks)? Or would there be a wait-and-see approach as to casting and how the director and such would translate the thematic stuff to 3D?

It really depends on who's making the live action adaptation. I don't have any faith in Japanese TV and films right now, so I probably won't check out one of their adaptations. There are a few exceptions like Gokusen and Great Teacher Onizuka, but most of my experience with them is that they tend to be pretty amateuristic or awkward like Shinobi (adapted from Basilisk) or Azumi 1 & 2. Something really unusual like Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon is worth checking out, but they're usually pointless.

I've heard good things about manga adapted to Taiwanese and Korean TV, so they may well be worth checking out. Mainland Chinese TV and film productions can be pretty interesting as well, although it's highly unlikely that anything Japanese would ever get adapted. Hong Kong productions tend to be really cheap, but they can still be pretty charming. I wouldn't worry about anime clichés not translating to live action very well - films like My Sassy Girl are as anime as hell, but they can still be good.

For Hollywood, it really depends on what's getting adapted and who's doing it. Del Toro's planned Monster TV series is pretty intriguing, and I've waited patiently for Cameron's Battle Angel film for over a decade now (and it'll be another decade before it ever gets made :(). Adaptations of stuff like Dragonball or Nartuto or Pokemon? That kind of material can't get the talent needed for an adaptation to succeed.

So really the problem is that Japan's live action film and TV industry is in bad shape, and adaptations by other countries have a lot more potential to be good.

I don't have faith in any studio period making a live-action adaptation of any of my favorite anime. Time of Eve is reliant on its animation to achieve some impossible meaningful angles, Haibane Renmei has its work cut out for it making the wing and wall stuff good for live action, Clannad After Story would be comically simple with real people, and good luck getting that much commitment for Legend of the Galactic Heroes with its 110 episodes.

I could assume they would adjust each show for live action media but we all know that doesn't happen.

Oh and my reaction's probably :frustrated:

Fantasy anime won't fit well as a Live action series....:(

Slice of life could have more chance of making a success....:D

Harem? No.. unless we have ecchi scenes....:heh:

Yaoi/Yuri... I don't know... Maybe no.....:uhoh:

Mm, someone with Sena's proportions is gonna be impossible, sadly. :p

Though I'd imagine failure. I have one in the form of Higurashi that exists already. Live action Akagi didn't cut it.

Others have a better chance. Live action Kaiji was lulz.

My first answer to this is question is: Nothing, I steer clear of live actions anyway. Like I know that there are Live actions of Death Note and Higurashi but I have absolutely no intention to watch them.


My second answer would be: well depends, depends on the anime and depends on who makes it, but generally I don't expect anything good. Anyone besides me remember about the announced Hollywood adaption of Cowboy Bebop? Perhaps it was for the good that the project was abandoned. Now there's Alita, which apparently was postponed because Avatar sold too much and it probably would be too stupid not to milk the cow with a sequel.

Monster seems promising and it's that kind of anime that shouldn't really suffer from an adaption. Old Boy was also pretty good in my opinion, but I didn't read the manga so I can only judge it as a movie and not as an adaption.

Well, anyway whatever. I'm happy with the anime anyway.

They made worse than Live Actions for that: Teathrical version!

If it was Madoka Magica: why? That already exists in live-action.

Having watched a number of live-action adaptations, I don't feel like watching one again. Somehow, the emotion and atmosphere in the anime are distorted or somewhat misrepresented in the live-action. It feels awkward to see real life drama actors trying to replicate the attitude and characteristics of anime characters. It just doesn't meet my expectations. I would either cringe or think to myself, does this person act like this in the anime? I would say it is tough for Japanese dramas to be perfect copies of the animes. I have seen commendable adaptations like Kimi ni Todoke, but something is still lacking.

It entirely depends on the original source material.

A good amount of manga already bypasses anime and goes straight to live action. Good examples are Crows and Absolute Boyfriend.

Frankly much anime is fantasy based so unless it had a great budget it wouldn't work well.

I'll give studios the benefit of doubt...there's been plenty of hilariously bad live action anime movies, and some that are actually okay (Initial D film comes to mind.)

I don't know.

I don't care much about watching the same story twice.

So my favorite anime becoming live action would not mean much to me.
At worst I'd be worried that the live action version would be horrible and paint my fav in a bad light. ;)

Also usually my fav is in that spot because of certain characters I really like. A remake, in whatever form, is unlikely to reproduce that feeling.

However, if the live action would be the second season to an anime I like, I'd probably watch it just like I would with another animated season.

If it is Japanese live action wise I would be fairly disappointed since the Japanese live action seemed lack luster for me most of the time. Taiwanese/Korean I'm not sure how to react since I haven't experience them as much. If it is American/Hollywood then I would be screaming in horror.

With it comes to "Live Action" TV... Japan sucks -- compared to America. Granted, I just watched the movie Battle Royale (which was dated over 10 years ago). Yet, when it comes to Fimography, Japan is way behind. However, I did enjoy Great Teacher Onizuka. That was actually entertaining.

Nevertheless:

Hollywood has been producing some very very low inspired work these days.

The major problem with Japanses live action most of the time is its actors. They are downright terrible. There's a reason why Korean (and to a lesser extent Taiwanese) dramas/tv are more preferred (at least from a east Asian mainstream perspective) despite content being actually pretty similar, when it comes to the more slice of life, drama, romance, comedy series anyway. I always make fun of Korean dramas at its over the top melodrama at times but I can't deny they are significantly more polished than its Japanese equivalents, namely in its acting.

On a related note I wanna see a Korean live action adaptation of anohana for the luls and to see if they could beat the tear bucket factor.

Korean actors/actresses are damn good at crying (the tears don't look fake. Not like majority of those HK actors/actresses. Trying hard to squeeze some liquid out of their eyes but to no avail. Epic fail, lol). So surely Koreans can:heh: They should get Choi Ji Woo to be the lead actress.

Of course, if your measuring stick is Shyamalan's Avatar, the Hollywood's take on a boardgame like Battleship, and Bayformers, anything Hollywood would look terrible. On the other hand, USA have produced The Walking Dead, Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones, not to mention The Shield, The Wire and various series that suffered from being on Fox, like Sarah Connor Chronicles or The Tick.

Hollywood is not as bad as people makes it to be.

To follow up on sheba's comment, game of thrones is better than any anime I've seen in the last 4-5 year's. And the books are even better. Also GoT isn't even my favourite HBO series. That goes to either band of brothers or sopranos.

Hollywood productions are actually very impressive in terms of production values and polish and general professionalism. However, the talent that is drawn to anime adaptations is generally unlikely to be very good, and they're likely to go for schlock instead of bringing the most out of the original work.

This isn't the case for Taiwanese and Korean productions since manga adaptations are very popular and so they get top talent. This is true of Japan as well - the GTO and Gokusen adaptations were very popular. The problem is that the quality of Japanese live-action is pretty poor to begin with. In fact, I'd say that anime tends to be better than Japanese live-action.

If Hollywood can get people as talented and respectable as del Toro and Cameron involved, then their work can blow away anyone else in the world.

I'd say that direction and writing and sets/lighting/camera work are all pretty bad as well. I've encountered a lot of cringe-worthy scenes which should have generated a different effect. Even relatively acclaimed films like Battle Royale aren't particularly good production-wise.

Too bad this doesn't hold true for the last couple of books. :(

I understand where you're coming from, but... but.... then there's Rurouni Kenshin.
That thing was one of the best adaptation to film I've ever seen.

I could see Steins;Gate working Live action, but I'd only watch it if they had Mamoru Miyano still playing Okabe. Without his voice, the character is half of what it is.