CATDOLL: 10 reasons why Japanese anime live-action movies are disappointing

Compared to the huge success of European and American comics adapted into live-action movies, live-action movie versions of Japanese comics often receive mixed reviews. Every time a popular comic is announced to be adapted into a live-action movie, fans of the original work are both looking forward to it and worried. Looking back at past examples, many works that have been filmed as live-action versions have been strongly criticized by netizens. For fans who have poured a lot of emotion into the original comics, they are often very disappointed by the gap between the live-action version and the original. Recently, a Japanese media conducted a special survey on 200 men aged 20 to 30 with the title "Reasons for disappointment in live-action comics", and the results are as follows:

Attack on Titan

Top 10 reasons for disappointment with the live-action version of the manga

No. 1: The setting and plot were changed 197 votes

No. 2: The plot is too simplified 181 votes

No. 3: The actor does not match the character image 168 votes

No. 4: The actor's voice does not match the character's image 147 votes

No. 5: CG technology is too bad - 50 cents special effects 84 votes

No. 6: A supporting role chosen just for topicality 74 votes

No. 7: Unable to reproduce the unique hairstyle and hair color in the comics 69 votes

No. 8: The action scenes are not shocking 53 votes

No. 9: Added 48 votes for characters that were not in the original work

No. 10: Important characters in the original work did not appear 46 votes

From this, we can see that the modification and simplification of the plot in the live-action version is the source of the audience's feeling that "it's not right", and it is also an important reason for their disappointment in the live-action version. Although we often hear criticisms such as "the supporting roles were chosen only because of topicality" on the Internet, in this survey, "the gap with the original (in image)" accounted for a larger proportion, which shows that people actually pay more attention to the casting of the protagonist.

Let's take a look at the specific reasons these respondents gave for their disappointment with live-action versions of the film.

"Reborn Kasim"

●No. 1: The setting and plot have been changed

“Everything in ‘Casin the Reborn’ is almost different.” (39 years old)

"Light Yagami from Death Note actually lost to L!" (32 years old)

"The worldview of the (Hollywood version of) Dragon Ball is completely different from the original." (32 years old)

"The movie 'Ulong Police Station' has packed a lot of human relationships into it." (28 years old)

“There are so many differences between GANTZ and the original that I got tired halfway through. Maybe only someone who doesn’t understand comics would make something like that. I wonder what would happen if someone who does understand comics did it.” (32 years old)

"death Note"

●No. 2: The plot is oversimplified

NANA

"The story of the encounter between the original characters and the protagonist of "My Few Friends" was simplified too much. I was disappointed!" (25 years old)

“I am not satisfied with the incomplete story of Nana.” (31 years old)

“I don’t remember the details of “Hot Teacher”, but I feel it is inferior to the comics” (26 years old).

●No. 3: The actor and the character do not match the image

“It’s good that Assassination Classroom uses a lot of CG, but I still want the characters to be closer to the comics and animation.” (35 years old)

“Aliang in “Ulong Police Station” is too big” (25 years old)

"Oolong Police Station"

●No. 6: A supporting role chosen just for topicality

"Kimura Takuya is still Kimura Takuya in Space Battleship Yamato." (30 years old)

“ROOKIES has different heights and personalities.” (28 years old)

●No. 7: Unable to reproduce the unique hairstyle and hair color in the comics

"In 'Police Story', it's impossible for the police to wear pink and yellow uniforms in real life, so the color of the uniforms doesn't have to match the manga." (29 years old)

Dragon Ball

Many people have cited the example of "Dragon Ball Evolution" as the "Hollywood version of Dragon Ball" in terms of "the gap with the original work". I don't know how to complain about the sudden change from the Chinese fantasy world to an American high school. The original author, Mr. Akira Toriyama, also commented: "This is a new Dragon Ball in another dimension", which has aroused heated discussions among netizens. It should not destroy the world view of the original work, but also show the unique fun of the live-action version. This puts high demands on the future live-action version of anime.