((Note: I was torn about whether this belonged here or in the Media forum, but since I want to focus on anime series here I thought it might be best here.))

In my internet travels I came across an article regarding the increasing trend of turning anime series into a feature length movie. The most recent example of course is Speed Racer, which perhaps didn't receive as glowing reviews as people expected.

Read the article here

As the article states, despite the Speed Racer reviews, there seem to be a lot of plans for upcoming movies based on anime. These include Akira, Robotech and (maybe) Ghost in the Shell.

So what I'm wondering is what the people here who know and love anime think about this trend? We've all seen it happen with American comics, so it only makes sense that Japanese cartoons were next.

Do you like this trend?
What anime series would *you* love to see made into live action for American audiences?

Basically I wanna start a nice discussion!!!

Aren't they also making a live action American Dragonball Z movie? (I think, not sure.)
I would love to see Pokemon live action. xD (seriously.)

Personally, I'm not impressed by this whole "Hey! Let's turn anime into live action!" trend. I know that they already do it in Japan with live action versions of Sailor Moon, Cutie Honey, Princess Princess, and a lot more, but I've never really been impressed by real life actors trying to be anime characters. They just can't do it.

The Speed Racer movie isn't doing so well and no matter what Zac the Inflammatory Answer Man Bertschy has to say, I don't think other anime fans are buying into it. I expect the Dragonball movie to be crap. Dragonball was a comedy and this movie they're putting out looks like it's taking itself seriously, which is even worse! Because it's obviously going to be comical...in a bad way.

Anime, manga, and even American comics are so dynamic, they're hard to capture with a real live person. Look at all the flopped comic book movies. I felt that they were easily forgettable because they didn't manage to capture the characters. It's hard to step into such a big role with so much history and to act up to all that. I liked Patrick Stewart as Professor Xavier, but he's an exception. He already has such a huge presence, that it was easy for him to slip into the role.

Getting back to anime, I'm just not feeling it. Maybe I'm a big old party pooper. But often when a movie studio picks up something they probably know nothing about, like Dragonball, I feel like they're just trying to tap into it for the money it puts fourth. They're trying to draw us anime fans back into the movie theaters, since we're more prone to throw out money at an anime company for a super deluxe box set and watch that on Saturday night than go out to the theater and fork over $10 for a mere two hours of entertainment, if that. I feel less like this whole live action anime movie trend is about making a good movie and more like I'm being turned into a cash cow.

Of course, I could be surprised. Ghost in the Shell and Battle Angel Alita pique my interests a little. Being action oriented, I think those might come to the screen well. If they get some good CG artists in, Robotech could be completely kick ass and it would open the door to the series for a lot of people. But I'm not holding my breath.

As far as anything I would like to see adapted, that's a hard question. Most series are so long running, it would be hard to compress them into a dinky movie you know. But there is one thing I wouldn't mind seeing on the big screen. Kubo Tite's Zombie Powder. It had an incredibly short run! It ended prematurely. I think it might be fun to adapt it to the big screen and give it a proper ending. The whole almost laid back, Western atmosphere of the title would be a lot easier to drag onto the big screen as opposed to something as hyper and flashy as Dragonball.

I have nothing against this animation-to-live action trend that's quickly gaining speed in the movie business. In fact, I rather like live action adaptations of animated series, regardless of their quality. But that's just me. :]

I tend not to like live stuff that's based on animation. Mainly because the special effects and dynamic actions don't translate well in live-action versions. That, and the faces of actors never match up to my idea of a character. I'm really dreading the upcoming live Avatar, just because I don't want my visions of what the characters would look like in real life to be ruined. And I am so used to their voices that it will just feel wrong if they're different.

That said, I do love the crappy little version of live Sailor Moon that got made in Japan a few years ago. It was really adorable despite how badly made it was. I think the fact that they took the story and changed things just a little made a lot of the difference. I didn't feel like it was the same Sailor Moon that I was used to. The characters and storyline were different enough that I could still enjoy it. And some of the actresses were really pretty good.

I'm intrigued by the idea of a Battle Angel Alita movie. I can really see that coming out nicely, if it's properly handled.

I've also heard that Monster is being made into a movie. This is one anime that I am actually kind of eager to see translated into live action. It's so intensely realistic that I think it would be a shame if no one made a live version of it.

I guess any story that changes format-- from manga to anime, from anime to live action, from book to film-- has the chance of being ruined completely. We'll just have to wait and see?

It all depends on the story line. I rather like some of the live action movies...then again...you cant take them to seriously.

Takuto: It talks about that in the article.. I was just giving other examples in my post.

Cookie: I'm kinda with you on this subject. On the one hand it's cool, but on the other.. it's very hard to get it right. I will probably go see the DBZ movie because it IS taking itself way too seriously. I will be there for the lulz factor and not much else. I think, as you said, it's a matter of picking the *right* series. The same holds for comic book based movies. Example - Fantastic Four... SUCKED. Ironman.. AWESOME.

I'm not really into the Live Action trend- it just doesn't appeal to me. I'm not surprised though since in my opinion more and more movies are being made from previously existing ideas (comics, books, sequels). I do admit that i might see some Live Action, if only to laugh really really hard lol

Oh and i must admit i've seen some of the Prince of Tennis Live Action Movie and i liked it- although yeah some effects were kinda cheesy lol

fiarra: Yeah, my friends say I should go to see the Dragonball movie ust for the crack factor if nothing else. Maybe I can get my brother to go with me so we can laugh at it. We used to watch DBZ together. But I'd rather wait till it was out on video than waste all that money to see a bad movie in the theater. Movies are so expensive these days.

Also, I never saw the Fantastic Four movies, but I just saw Iron Man and I really liked it. I think they did a great job on that one! I also liked Spiderman. I think those two did better because they focused more on the human element than the hero element. There was growth there. The characters were relatable.

Tsubasa: Most Japanese live action adaptations of their own source material is pretty silly, but I feel like they're less likely to take it all seriously.

Cookie: That's a good point. When they focus more on *who* the person behind the hero is and their own life, it seems to work a lot better. And I personally would rather spend the $10 to see DBZ on the big screen, easier for the lulz to commence.

i agree this is so stupid i think they should leave it in anime and manga form for instance whos seen the new deathnote movie it sucked compared to the manga

I was checking movie listings the other night and I saw the Deathnote movie listed as being shown soon in the theater. I was like. o_O;;

Sometimes I like it.. but I don't like the supernatural/fantasy/magical live-action ones.. because they just can't pull it off like the anime~

Hana-Kimi is a manga, but they created a live-action drama of it, and it was really good. <33 I guess it just depends on what the story is about, and how well the actors/actresses portray the characters.

Blood: The Last Vampire is coming to theaters soon. I always thought that movie could work out as a live action film if done right.

Gunslinger Girl would be quite good live-action movie (but little girls as assassins may cause some controversy). :/

fiarra: yeah I get what you're saying but what I mean more is like..... if the anime was already cheesy and good for laughs then the adaption really has no other choice- like Sailor Moon lol
but say something like CCS was made into a live action I think (not only because it's my favorite) it wouldn't be enough to make me laugh, i'd probably just cringe throughout the whole thing.

Things like magical girl with lots of shoujo elements just end up being really strange and cringe-inducing. Because the drama and silly kid parts are either laughable, or trying to take itself too seriously.

I love my anime and i am curious as to how hollywood is going to interupt the anime series and convert it into an live action movie.

By the way there is a Japanese version of Dragon Ball as an actor based movie. It is called Dragon Pearls. And it is not to bad.

I enjoyed the Sailor Moon Live Action series and have just started watching Hana Kimi's Japanese Live Action as well as Jigoku Shoujo ^^ Not sure if I like JS but Hana Kimi is going well. There's just enough of a difference between the manga and live action that I don't feel like I'm repeating the same thing for no real reason. That's what I liked about the Sailor Moon one, it was the same characters but a lot more serious the further into the series you got and the characters were fleshed out a bit more beyond just focusing on Usagi.

I'm not a fan of the original Speed Racer and to be honest, I'm not expecting much about this movie. It was mostly done with affects with little actor interaction and I really don't like watching a bunch of green screen acting and car races.

If the shows are more drama than scifi fantasy, I think it would be fine to make into a live action show but even with the Sailor Moon series, the fights were very Power Rangers and the effects were a bit silly. If it is going to have the silly effects, at least try not to take it seriously. At least with the talking Luna plushie, people kept the shocked-WTF expression that is appropriate when first meeting her ^^;

If we're going to talk about the Hana Kimi live action dramas, I'll have to go on a looong rant. In my opinion, a LOT of the animes that later become the basis for live actions are usually some of my favorites. It kills me inside. Really, it does. This is because I HATE the live actions (with the exceptions of a few that I'll list later on). Key point: Hana Kimi. I LOVE the series to death. Well, not as much as some others, but it's on the top of my list of shojo manga. But when the live action came out, I was actually reaaaaally excited to watch it. For one, it had so many of my favorite actors (such as Oguri Shun and Horikita Maki). I was naive at that time and thought that it was going to be fantastic.

...I was wrong. It turns out, I couldn't even bare to watch it until the end. I stopped halfway through the series. It stopped me from even continuing to read the manga. I think it had something to do with the fact that so much of the plot had changed halfway through the series, which is understandable. I mean, the manga isn't over, so they had to come up with their own ending. But it kind of irks me that it was changed so drastically. They could've taken the same approach as the Taiwanese version (which I liked slightly better, although the acting by ELLA was pretty bad) did: have a cliff hanger and make a second season.

So, basically, most live actions make me sad. They really do disappoint. For me, even if the actors are ones that I LOVE, they cannot replace the characters I had created in my mind. Unconsciously, I created the manga character into a real life one, and the actors usually can't portray those characters in my head.

However, there are times when the series are somewhat good. For example, Prince of Tennis. Now, a lot of you who have seen it may ask me 'why'. That's simple. The anime itself had pretty much gone in the direction of over-exaggerating everything. It made fun of itself. Everyone knows that. So, when the live action came out, I expected some reaaaaaally exaggerated stuff because that's usually how the tenipuri fandom goes. xD

...Sorry. I just took a break from writing this and I lost my train of thought.

I've watched the live action for hana yori dango, gokusen(1,2,3), sailor moon, and deathnote.

First off, I don't think there's anything wrong with making a live action version of an anime because they're all inherently Japanese. Then again, it's mostly hit-and-miss. Some do work well esp. when it features Japanese characters in a Japanese setting, or if set in an alternate/made-up universe.

What's just plain annoying is when they make a WESTERN version of an anime or manga series. Complete with changing names from Hiro to Henry and stuff like that. At least they don't do that a lot anymore -_-. As for Speed Racer, that just boggles the brain.

I think the new DBZ movie which is comming out next year will be a flop and a half. Not a huge fan of the series myself. Anyway, the worse live action that I saw was Fist of the north star which was bad really bad don't even rent it unless you want to. I can't wait to see how they do for the Astro Boy movie that Genndy(creater of Dexters lab and Samurai Jack) is helping out.
But in all if they are going to do a movie they should do Ouran High School Host Club, that would be intresting if they can do that one