REPOST – The Speakeasy #006: The Black Russian and the White Russian, The Art of Adaption

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Drink #006: The Black Russian and the White Russian,
The Art of Adaption

A majority of the anime produced is based on a preexisting work. A good deal of shows are adapted from manga but there is also anime based on light novels, video games, literature, and even some more unusual sources. But not all anime is adapted equally. Assuming that the source being adapted is solid, what makes a good anime adaption and where can adaptation go wrong? We will be talking about the different philosophies used in adapting works and the strengths and weaknesses that comes with any strategy. We will also try and discover why the adapting an anime into a manga seems to fail so often.

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And now your helpful bartenders at The Speakeasy present your drink:

BLACK RUSSIAN
5.0 cl Vodka
2.0 cl Coffee liqueur
Pour the ingredients into the old fashioned glass filled with ice cubes. Stir gently.

WHITE RUSSIAN
5.0 cl Vodka
2.0 cl Coffee liqueur
3.0 cl Fresh cream
Pour coffee liqueur and vodka directly into old fashioned glass filled with ice. Float fresh cream on the top and stir in slowly.

Secret Santa 2012 Project Reveal

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In the world of the anime blogosphere Christmas happens a little differently than the normal Americana depiction of the 25th. Here the bloggers run downstairs as Tokyo Tower is in flames due to an alien invasion while sickly moe girls cling to life as they battle dramatic BS diseases and try to enjoy one last Christmas before they die.

Also in the anime blogosphere the writers don’t run downstairs to get their gifts. They already unwrapped those back in November. Some have thoroughly enjoyed their presents and learned to love anime again. Other have tried to return their foul gifts in hopes of getting back anything else in return. Even L/R: Licensed by Royalty will do. But everyone is richer for the experience (although sometimes richer due to tears of blood.)

But now is the time to learn which thoughtful Bodhisattva or wicked demon gave you your recommendations:

Gunslinger Girl: IT IS SO SAD

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 2011 lulled me into a false sense of security. Metal Fighter Miku was far from the best anime I ever watched but it was not horrible. In fact we loved episode ten. And we actually had to CHOOSE between that and Rune Soldier. It was so nice to participate in secret Santa and not make it into Sophie’s Choice when we decide what to watch. This year sadly was a return to the normal grind we have with secret Santa.

Our choices were Kaiba, Mysterious Girlfriend X, and Gunslinger Girl. There was a palpable sense of dread between Narutaki and I when we were trying to pick which of the three shows to watch. Kaiba was out because it would have meant the Kickheart diehards would have won and that is like letting the terrorists win (also WE watched an episode of the series in the past and were colossally turned off). Narutaki could not watch Mysterious Girlfriend X partially for personal reasons and partially BECAUSE PEOPLE LICKING EACH OTHERS SPIT IS DISGUSTING. So all we were left with was Gunslinger Girl. We had already read the first three volumes of the manga so in a way we were going over territory we had already crossed. But this let us see if the anime did anything different that might let us enjoy it more. Also we had already been bitten by this snake so we hoped we would be slightly more immune to its poison.

I had read a bit of the manga for Gunslinger Girl a while ago so it wasn’t too big of a deal to retread the ground with the anime. But I didn’t enjoy the manga so I wasn’t very enthusiastic.

Everything I said about the manga ends up going for the anime as well: some politics and plots are interesting but isn’t the focus enough of the time; the girls lives are so so so sad that I stop caring almost immediately; and it has a tendency to be quite talkie.

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