CATDOLL: Analysis: The failure of Japanese comics in live-action vs. the success of American comics in live-action

It seems that American anime adaptations have always been quite popular, just like the live-action movie version of "Cinderella" that just came out, which has been very popular since its release, and the box office also proves everything. Now the highly anticipated "Avengers 2" is expected to be a big hit after its release. These popular American comics can get high ratings after being adapted into live-action works, and are even rated as better than the originals. Some people even like the live-action version more than the originals.

However, when it comes to live-action adaptation of anime, Japan seems to be somewhat incapable of doing so. From animation to stage play to live-action, Japanese anime has always been relatively successful in this series of processes. But when it comes to live-action, it is often disappointing. Except for a few works such as "Rurouni Kenshin" that have received relatively good reputations, it seems difficult to find relatively good works in live-action adaptation of Japanese anime.

Why do Japanese comics fail so often when they are adapted into live-action movies? A German critic who studies Japanese and world culture recently explained this question.

The Gundam is so huge it's incredible

When it comes to live-action, Japanese animation is too difficult to do. Whether it is animation drawing or the huge world view, the quality is too high. Animation can complete itself in the world of animation and does not need to be projected in real society.

For example, "a full-scale real-life Gundam". Mobile Suit Gundam is not just a simple robot animation. The protagonist's growth and emotional entanglement, the subtle description of the inner heart that has to fight, and the thoughts brought about by death in war, the world view and connotation are very rich.

The key point is that in many people's imaginations, there is no real life-size Gundam at all, so when they see a 1:1 scale Gundam, they will combine it with the image in the animation. The world view of the animation itself constructs the touching and surprise that the proportional Gundam brings to everyone.

The fictional settings of Japanese comics have a consistent image in our imaginations.

Take Disney's "Snow White" and "Cinderella" for example, they were originally "fairy tales" without definite and clear images. The Snow White and Cinderella portrayed by Disney are just a choice among the protagonist images for the viewers. Even if Snow White has long hair today and Cinderella has short hair, everyone will accept it.

Including in the character setting, there is no clear information, so when "Maleficent" is released, the original villain in the work will have a different interpretation and a new story to gain better reputation. "Character setting" and "idol in the mind" will not collapse due to live-action, because the original setting is not very detailed.

In contrast, the character settings of Japanese anime are very detailed. It is not only a matter of the image of the character itself, but also various details that were originally irrelevant to the story have been set. This approach not only makes the character image fuller, but also gives everyone a fixed common understanding of the character, so that everyone has a "common" understanding of the character.

If Disney's movies are a reintegration and re-creation of animation based on reality, and a developmental perspective that allows the audience to accept new stories, then Japanese anime does not need to be reintegrated with reality. Because it has integrity in the two-dimensional world, and the characters act as if they really exist in reality. If real people in society are cast, it is absolutely impossible to fully restore such integrity, so the world view will easily collapse. And the "collapse of the world view" is the main reason for the failure of most Japanese anime live-action adaptations .

Of course, the actor's acting skills are one factor, and it cannot be said that there are no actors with good acting skills to play these roles, but it is precisely because "the author and the audience share the same worldview" that, regardless of the appearance factor, "there is no area where the inner identity with the character is not true to the performance." (Probably the so-called second and third dimensional wall and love.)

Soul Reappearance is Difficult

This German once took over a design project in France. The client asked to turn the store into the world view of a certain Japanese anime. Although many plans were proposed, none of them were adopted. The key reason was not the problem of exterior or interior. They found that the staff in the store could not understand the characters and world view of their favorite anime works.

The most important thing about Japanese anime is not the appearance of the characters or the shape of the robots, but its worldview. In the eyes of the Japanese, whether the worldview of the original can be faithfully reproduced is the "soul". It is not imitation but reproduction, and in this sense, "Scale Gundam" is exactly its expression.

Japanese readers and audiences also care the most about psychological feelings. Even if the appearance is similar, "settings", "worldview" and "soul" which seem to have nothing to do with the story itself, but are the most closely related to the person himself, are shared among readers. If this part cannot be reproduced, it will fail. These are the reasons why Japanese anime has its own characteristics and is so popular in the world.