Category: Editorials

Lights, camera, live action!

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Will the dreams of hundreds of nerdy 15 year old boys finally come true? No, it’s not hundreds of hot, slutty, college-age girls to take their virginity. It’s their other dream. It seems a little more likely that there will be a live action Dragon Ball Z movie. 20th Century Fox has started production to make a live action DBZ movie in Montreal. It supposedly has a budget of at least 100 million dollars and is being filmed along with a sequel to Night and the Museum and a remake of Fantastic Voyage. What was once just the purview of internet hoaxes and fan boy speculation might actually become a reality. But is this actually going to be a movie you can watch in theaters or is this yet another doomed dream (or nightmare depending who you ask)?

This makes me laugh. A LOT! There is no way, none, zero, zip, that this movie could actually be GOOD. In my mind, it is 100% impossible. Inconceivable for my tiny brain! How could it be? Dudes running around in orange suits and silly armor with nutso hair, then add in the CG effects for all the moves and let’s not forget going super saiyan! Certain things that work fine in anime just aren’t going to cut it for live action. And I don’t see anything in Dragon Ball Z that would work in live action. It seems like some colossal joke.

You know the silly things is there are people out there who still want this. Despite the fact that it’s almost surely huge bundle of failure and pain. If you go around to enough anime forums the topic of who would you cast in the live action version of X anime invariably comes up. I’m sure if I were the type of person to read Dragon Ball Z forums I would have seen hundreds of threads like this by now.

Okay, now that I’m thinking about it. It could be kinda good. IF they did it like a Stephen Chow movie! Because Shaolin Soccer, among others, is great and funny and over the top. So if they did it like that, like they know it’s ridiculous, then it could be good. But they would still need Stephen Chow.

For the longest time, James Cameron has the rights to produce the live action version of Battle Angel Alita. He has kicked the project around for years but constantly put it off for one reason or another. Recently he announced that he would use the CG technology from his latest work, Avatar, to work on Battle Angel. It’s supposedly in pre-production and will be released in June of 2009, but that is so far off that it just seems like nothing more than a place holder date.

ADV used to talk about making a live action Evangelion movie for whenever they had the chance to do so. ADV seemed to have these huge plans to team up with Gainax. Evangelion has always been one of ADV’s and Gainax’s best selling series, so it seemed that if they could ever get the project made it would rake in money like gangbusters. They even got Weta Workshop involved in the project. ADV kept talking about scripts being written, directors and producers being interested and courted, and people making deals. There were articles being written in trade magazines and financial magazines. Then all the talk seemed to stop, and ADV mostly just says that they are waiting and so should everyone else.

I remember all the hype about that years ago. There were character designs and name changes and rumor after rumor! And you still can’t go to a con without someone asking ADV about it in their panel. Someone did make this totally awesome fake trailer for the movie, too. It Eva would look like this trailer, I’d be in.

I wonder how much the end of the talking had to do with Gainax doing their own independent remakes of the Evangelion movies. An optimist might say that ADV and Gainax are waiting to see how the remake movies will do and they work on the live action after that. A pessimist would assume Gainax just gave up on ADV and decided to just do what they could on their own. I assume the truth lies somewhere in between but maybe one has absolutely nothing to do with the other.

I guess that begs the question of, how long has Gainax planned on doing a remake of Evangelion? Because the live action rumors have been flying for at least 5 years I’d say.

I have heard rumors of a live action Voltron and a live action Gatchaman movie. Supposedly people are interested in mining some nostalgia of our childhood and making movies based on anime that were popular on American TV back in the day. The live action Voltron seems to be based on the American version of the cartoon and not of Go Lion as expected but the Gatachaman movie seems to be based on Gatachaman and not on G-Force or Battle of the Planets. If either of these movies actually gets made has yet to be seen.

I also heard that New Line Cinema optioned Monster to make it into a live action movie in the US but I have not heard anything about it since. Of all the movie possibilities mention I think this one has the best chance of working out well if a good script and cast was but together. The story is realistic enough that it could easily make the transition to live action. The story is smart enough and good enough that if you got together a good cast and a well adapted script it could do really well.

This seems like a good fit. Although based on a rather lenghty story, it seems to have the right elements to attract non-anime fans, too. Althoug , I could never really figure out if people actually liked this series or that is just happened jt to be hot on the heals of Death Note manga popularity. Either way I have it on good authority that is deserves all the attention it gets.

The problem is, big movie studios option movie ideas all the time, and sometimes with only a slight idea that they will ever make such a movie. So despite all this talk, it might all amount to nothing. Unless actual filming begins, most people tend not to believe anything because even if it’s not just a rumor, it does not mean such a project will ever get off the ground.

The one live action anime that is actually being made into a movie is Speed Racer. The Wachowski brothers are making a Speed Racer movie that has a cast and seems to actually be filming. There are some big time stars working on this including: Christina Ricci, Susan Sarandon, and John Goodman. With the Wachowski brothers attached, it would take a master disaster to stop this movie from making it to theaters. I never really cared about Speed Racer one way or another, but I hope this movie does well. Why? Because if it does well, it might open the door to other anime being made into American live action movies. (Plus something will have to get the bad taste out of people mouths after the live action DBZ.)

I’m not really that keen on the idea of live action anime being made here. I dunno, I guess I’m a snob but if it isn’t something nostalgic, I figure they will change it so much it will be unrecognizable. Of course, at this point it is completely baseless because nothing has been done to compare it to. Well, I guess there is Transformers. Meh. So, for once I’m being pessimistic. Besides the Japanese do a good many live action adaptions that are pretty good, so I’ll stick with that!

While they have not been that many attempts at making a live action anime movie in the west, they are very common in Japan. Next time we will be talk about live action anime in their homeland.

Narutaki Currently!
Watching Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei
Reading Death Note
Listening to L’arc-en-Ciel

Brainwasher Detective (Hisui) Currently:
Watching The Story of Saiunkoku
Reading Akira
Listening to A Cruel Angel’s Thesis by Yoko Takahashi

Get ’em while they’re hot!

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My general feeling on fan-subs is they are fine and should exist, if people are responsible. People aren’t responsible, but they still exist and I still use them. I like to see the latest in Japan and nothing else will ever be able to achieve that.

I have very mixed feelings on fan-subs. I will admit right off the bat that I watch fan-subs and will probably continue to do so despite my mixed feelings.

I think great thing about them is, if the fan-subbers are quick and the show is popular you are basically watching it as soon as the episode hits TV in Japan. THAT’S SO COOL. Essentially, no one can spoil it for you. Because no one knows what is going to happen in the next episode.

Well I wish a lot of fan-subbers were less worried about their e-penises and worked a little harder. A lot of times there are just a bunch a speed subbers trying to out do each other. Gust giving in to a half-assed fast translation with a horrible interpretation, grammar, and spelling.

This is the reason I will sometimes wait for a certain groups translation. Sure you got it out 2 hours earlier but I can’t stand the obvious spelling errors like frend (friend) a hundred times over.

Also, I tend to care less about spoilers but I know that some people hate anything spoiled for them. The ability to beat 4chan and assorted internet meanies from ruining things for you is a good thing. People seem to run around with no other greater joy than making sure you enjoy things less as you could. The quicker you can see something means the less chance they have to ruin your day.

The only other problem is, if an anime is based on a manga you can still get spoiled by people who have read the manga and assume everyone else has as well, even if you only watch the anime. But I guess that is just a danger of using the internet. The internet is full of hate, porn, and spoilers.

This is also a reason that I l don’t mind when the anime deviates from the manga, but that is a whole other conversation. If it doesn’t follow exactly it can take you out of the danger zone. And obviously there is zero chance of it happening when an anime is an original script, like most live action television isn’t based on a previous work.

This is actually why I think television in general is such an amazing medium. You sit down to watch a show and so do 10,000 other people. None of you know what is going to happen and you experience all the moments of the show with total strangers. This connects everyone. You are having the same revelations or laughing at the same time as you watch a story unfold. I don’t watch a lot of television but this is the feeling I get when I sit down to watch Heroes. And therefore, it is a feeling I get when watching the latest episode of something on fan-sub.

I have never really experienced this but that’s because I’m a miserable bitter old hermit that hates the rest of humanity with a few exceptions. I will admit that watching certain shows is helped by watching with a group but watching with a group in the same room. Comedies and action movies can be greatly enhanced by watching them with other people. It’s the reason movie theaters are still in business despite the growing sophistication of home theater. When you’re laughing with a room full of people the laughter can often times come more easily. When the audience is pumped while watching something it amps you up even more as well. I personally can’t feel that same energy with people who are not in the same room.

Actually all of this make me sad about two things. The dying of the anime club and the very limited number of anime movies playing in movie theaters. Both are great venues to watch anime in a large group. But that is neither here nor there.

This is the feeling that can be missed when watching a DVD of anime (or anything really). But fan-subs can sort of give it back to you! You know that 1,000 people are downloading the new episode of Claymore and basically watching it with you.

I will admit, there is a certain joy in being able to participate in the water-cooler talk of watching the latest things. I like being able to pop onto a forum or talk to a person at a con and be up to date on a show. I also really like to be able to keep up with conversions online or in real life and not be the odd man out having no idea what everyone is talking about. It’s not as much being spoiled to shows you have not watched as much as being able to participate in conversions. People tend to discuss what is fresh in their minds so they are more likely to discuss what they just watched on fan-subs over what they watched half a year ago.

I also enjoy being able to recommend shows off the cuff. Nothing makes you feel like the anime expert as much as being able to rattle off a short list of shows when someone asks for a recommendation. Since people tend to favor newer shows over older shows, the more new shows you have in your arsenal the better equipped you are to recommend a show.

I admit knowing a little more does make you feel more comfortable, too. But that could just be because the internet likes to make you feel like a fool if you don’t know everything about every little detail about every anime you have ever seen ever, ever.

Narutaki Currently!
Watching Heat Guy J
Reading Death Note
Listening to Beat Crusaders

Brainwasher Detective (Hisui) Currently:
Watching Tsukihime, Lunar Legend
Reading Excel Saga
Listening to Sakura by Nirgilis

Now this is what it's like when worlds collide

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By now we have all heard the news, I’m sure. Assuming you read any sort of anime news source. Its the buzz of the net. ADV is taking over Geneon’s sales, marketing, and distribution but not its acquisitions and production. So what does this mean for fans? Does it mean anything for us?

I don’t think it means anything for fans on the surface. In the short term, ADV will continue to license ADV type shows and Geneon will generally continue to license Geneon type shows. ADV and Geneon DVDs will probably still feel like ADV and Geneon DVDs. I don’t think Geneon DVDs will start feeling like ADV DVDs with the Geneon label slapped on them. Geneon might be a little more hesitant to license risky titles but the whole market seems to be doing that as it is.

The long term ramifications and the deeper ramifications for the industry are completely different. The problem is since I’m not even close to being an insider in the anime industry so I can only speculate at what they might even be.

We know for Geneon it is means downsizing. Tightening of the purse strings. A lot of employees will be losing their jobs. ADV will probably need a little more staff but nothing compared to how many will be leaving their current positions. Geneon will have a more powerful advertiser. ADV is gaining a huge catalogue of titles. But I’m not sure I understand the real benefit for ADV.

It has the potential to open doors for ADV to sell their product in chains they might not have been able to been able to sell at before. Lets start with an analogy. Where would you rather shop? A huge supermarket where you get everything from one store or go to 5 different stores to get your shopping done. The idea is a big chain like Best Buy or Wal-mart would rather buy 60 titles from one distributor to make an anime section on their store shelves than five titles from 12 different distributors. They will also just ignore people who only solicit one or two titles because it’s just not worth their time to deal with yet another company just to get once niche title. Plus they can usually get a discount if they order more titles from one distributor. Be combining their catalogs they can offer more of a catalog of titles to retailers. Plus if I remember correctly ADV gets a percent of the profits on any DVDs Geneon sells through them.

If you have ever looked at ADV’s total catalog you will notice that ADV also sells a bunch of DVDs that are not anime DVDs. They do this because small syndicated shows like Farscape and Andromeda don’t have their own distribution channels set up to sell their products in retail stores. They can go to big companies like Paramount and Columbia and use their distribution channels but the big boys take a big chuck of your profits to distribute through them.

*WARNING BASELESS SPECULATION* I also wonder if it’s to keep up with Funimation. From what Funimation never fails to mention at every convention they attend they have the largest market share of any company in the business. They might be partnering up to make sure they don’t get passed over by retailers who might decide to deal only with Funimation or at least give Funimation preferential treatment.

I don’t think that is completely off the mark. With this new collection, ADV will have a catalog that will definitely rival the big three. It has a ring of truth to it, isn’t that the kind of things big business are supposed to be thinking about? It probably wasn’t their only motivation but I’m sure it came up in the meetings.

I like Geneon, a lot. I think they do a quality job on their titles. Luckily, that will be something that will go unchanged. But even though ADV is staying out of that aspect, I think their influence will be felt…after all they are in charge of making the titles viable and creating market interest in them. From personal experience, I can tell you marketing controls a good bit of what goes on. So to say they won’t have a hand in licensing and the way it is localized is an attempt to spin it. I suspect we may see price changes as well. I don’t think there is a real need for a price change though except on some of the boxsets. ADV loves the thinpack so I’m sure those will start being used.

I’m not a active member of the Anime on DVD community so I don’t notice minor video error and packaging details (plus I have a small apartment and a roommate so I put all my DVDs is binders and throw away most of the packaging). So unless they change the last disk of Fate Stay/Night from it’s current image to a picture of Saber making out with Rin I don’t think I will really notice a change even if there is one.

I think it would be a good idea, if either of us can remember to do it, to ask someone who works at Geneon how much pressure they feel from ADV’s marketing department at next years Otakon.

If there is much of Geneon left to speak to. I hate saying that, but I have a feeling Geneon won’t even be a presence at events like that anymore. Otakon is all marketing so I suspect there will only be an ADV panel when they also talk about Geneon titles.

ADV has pretty aggressive marketing, so I guess we will be seeing more ad’s and such for Geneon titles between Newtype magazine and the Anime Network. Speaking of the Anime Network, which admittedly I know little about, do they already offer Geneon shows?

Newtype does have other trailers from companies that are not ADV but they are usually much less than the number of ADV shows on the trailers and previews disk. They also have shows from Illumitoon Entertainment and Right Stuf Entertainment shows on the Anime Network. I did not seen any Geneon show on their line up but it does not mean they are not there. I would bet solid money we will be seeing a lot of the more of Geneon’s popular catalog on the Anime Network and on Newtype preview disks soon enough.

As expected, the official press release about this is completely worthless. A lot of “this is great for everyone” and “we are really happy” blah blah. We have nothing to do but wait to see if we actually see any change. I don’t expect it to happen in a flash, I think we will start seeing the effects maybe as short as a year from now but really in the next three years.

Well press releases are all very carefully worded misrepresentation factories. There is a skill at reading in between the lines and a decent amount of insight into the behind the scenes politics to actually glean information from a press release. I think it’s three dots in the Corporate Lore Skill to decipher that press release (two if you took your specialty in Anime Corporations).

Possibly I’m being overly optimistic in my hope that Geneon and ADV are just teaming up. Zac Bertschy seems to think that Geneon is pretty much dead in all but name. He seems to imply that the changes will be quick and brutal. I think other than the first wave of firings they will be slow and subtle. I think Geneon will slowly just become a different flavor of ADV but not right away. I think marketing will slowly but surely bring Geneon in line with the ADV corporate culture and style. Maybe I’m wrong.

My overall view is somewhere in between. I don’t think the changes will happen in a matter of months, however I do believe there will be be big changes. As I mentioned, marketing is everything. They are the big guys and they control all the little parts of the company. If marketing doesn’t like something, more than likely it won’t happen or it will change the way they see fit. Because unfortunantly we know that selling big numbers is what it is all about. And it has to be otherwise these companies can’t stay in business. But ifthe market was buying more these factors would be slightly less significant. At this point, everyone is just trying to stay afloat.

I wonder how much Sojitz is going to have an effect on the whole deal as well. When Soijitz bailed out ADV back in the day, it supposedly changed the way ADV runs its business. I have heard jokes that they cannot take out the trash at ADV without written permission from Sojitz but I have not seen that big a difference in how ADV has been operating. It could be that I’m not privy to the back room dealings so I don’t see it. Or maybe I’m just not oberervant enough and I’m missing the big chnages in ADV releases.

No matter what happens, this is a very bad sign for the anime industry. This says that Geneon is not closing up it’s presence in the US and just going home but it does show a general sign that says Geneon thinks the market place is sickly and is scaling back as much as possible to survive. I’m pretty sure that means that their smaller companies are their going to have to change their business models or go out of business entirely. As long as fans don’t start buying more this will only continue.

Anyone who thought that adjustment in the anime industry was over will be sorely disappointed.

It certainly does not bode well. And we are powerless to stop it!

Narutaki Currently!
Watching El-Hazard The Magnificent World
Reading Sugar Sugar Rune
Listening to Uura Saeka


Brainwasher Detective (Hisui) Currently:
Watching School Rumble

Reading Yakitate!! Japan

Listening to Shonen Heart – Home Made Kazoku