Thread: Live action based on anime, from paper to people

Yep, if they're done well, then they're a good addition to the series. :]

Even though it's not anime/live action, I liked the Hana Yori Dango Live Action. Densha Otoko and Himitsu no Hanazono were also pretty good, but I didn't care much for the Cutey Honey and Sailor Moon Live Actions. I think they used a porn star for the evil villain in Cutey Honey..

I guess if it's more of a real life/school life kind of setting, it's okay, but the mech and magical girl ones are kinda bad.. Those should stay on paper, hehe.

A pretty original thread you got here. Anyways Ahiko kind of nailed it on the head. I have heard that Densha Otoko was a great hit, and my friend have mentioned about death note (?)

And yeah stay away from cutie honey, that movie was so horrible the only thing I watched it for was Koda Kumi's song.

Originally Posted by Pyoro-Pyoro

A pretty original thread you got here. Anyways Ahiko kind of nailed it on the head. I have heard that Densha Otoko was a great hit, and my friend have mentioned about death note (?)

And yeah stay away from cutie honey, that movie was so horrible the only thing I watched it for was Koda Kumi's song.

I should check out Death Note.. but it's still sitting on my hard drive. I'm too lazy to open it for some reason.

Since you mentioned Koda Kumi, I got the chills cuz I read this article a few weeks back. Koda Kumi, oh my.


Another manga/anime to Live Action that I forgot to add was Grave of the Fireflies. I'm pretty sure a lot of people are familiar with it. It aired as a Live Action Movie last summer and was really good. Even though much of it didn't change from the anime movie, it was still gave good tribute to the original.


The problem with anime/manga becoming Live Actions is that it takes risks that anything does if it's taking an original work and putting it to a new medium. A lot of anime come from manga and it's usually either hit or miss. It's just the same with Live Actions. The actors have to deal with trying their best to portray the characters that a majority of the people watching (who most likely have watched/read the original and are comparing to see how much closely it resembles the original), script is a major task since they have to keep in mind die-hard fans knowing what characters would say or worse--if they know phrases and scenes by heart. It just depends on the audience because they can be the biggest critics.

There are some Live Actions that don't do anime and manga justice.

I know I wouldn't want a Live Action to ruin anime and manga that I really loved. It would probably get really mad at everyone who worked on it. ^^;

Fist of the north star was a terrible live action rendition, the fact I saw that first before the actual series almost put me off watching it. But Guyver live action (as terrible as it was) I actually liked. But all in all there is usually something lost in translation from ink to reality, you lose the feel and familiarity you have with the animated ones and then have to recreate it with their live action counter part all in the space of 2hrs...this can only be done if the script/acting/directing etc etc is REALLY good and unfortuneately (sp) it seldomly is because most of the actors who do the live action don't put any effort in it.

Originally Posted by Ajescent

Fist of the north star was a terrible live action rendition, the fact I saw that first before the actual series almost put me off watching it. But Guyver live action (as terrible as it was) I actually liked. But all in all there is usually something lost in translation from ink to reality, you lose the feel and familiarity you have with the animated ones and then have to recreate it with their live action counter part all in the space of 2hrs...this can only be done if the script/acting/directing etc etc is REALLY good and unfortuneately (sp) it seldomly is because most of the actors who do the live action don't put any effort in it.

I have to agree in small chunks about the "Fist of the North Star" movie. Too americanized in some aspects but gorey still. So, it does have its moments.
Don't worry, I'm not biased. Think it would be a little better if done by japanese cast dubbed, sorta like Godzilla films.
One live-action series that corresponds well with its anime counterpart, in my opinion, is Jigoku Shoujo.
No real major differences are noticed between anime and live-action shows and the actors look remarkably like the actual anime characters.
If you seen an episode of each of them, with a blank screen, it's all like watching the same show.
Plus, they keep the all familiar scenery from the anime into the live-action.

Grumble Grumble Grumble

Actually, its very rare for a live action film to be based on a Anime series. Whats usually the case is that the live action feature is based on the original MANGA, the same original source as the anime series...

" Actually, its very rare for a live action film to be based on a Anime series. Whats usually the case is that the live action feature is based on the original MANGA, the same original source as the anime series..."

yeah, this is very true. i just used the term anime as a broad generalization. However, when it comes to the things used in the anime and things changed in the live action i believe that Casshern did a great job. granted it changed the way the enemies were portrayed and what not, yet kept them so close to the original it was good. plus who else other than me has seen the wack dragonball live action.. that film was what i would liken to watching an abortion first hand.