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INTEREST: MyNavi Poll: When Fans Are Let Down by Foreign Live-Action Adaptations


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TitanXL



Joined: 08 Jun 2010
Posts: 4036
PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 8:36 am Reply with quote
Yeah, sounds about right.
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mgosdin



Joined: 17 Jul 2011
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Location: Kissimmee, Florida, USA
PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 9:19 am Reply with quote
No surprises there.

I don't think the non-Japanese actors can be helped, nor the line changes when translated out of Japanese. But certainly better jobs can be done in preserving the feel of the original work and in casting appropriate actors for original appearances.

As far as the US is concerned, "Hollywood" can do a good job when it tries, the problem is getting it to do so.

Mark Gosdin
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RestLessone



Joined: 02 Aug 2009
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Location: New York
PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 10:20 am Reply with quote
Hm...So a large chunk don't like those Korean adaptations, I guess?

While the US have done a few, it's nothing compared to the bastion of Korean adaptations. Granted, they're often better at preserving the original feel--I've had friends who say that some Korean series are better than the original. But its almost always changed to a Korean setting.
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configspace



Joined: 16 Aug 2008
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 10:45 am Reply with quote
RestlessOne wrote:
Hm...So a large chunk don't like those Korean adaptations, I guess?

While the US have done a few, it's nothing compared to the bastion of Korean adaptations. Granted, they're often better at preserving the original feel--I've had friends who say that some Korean series are better than the original. But its almost always changed to a Korean setting.

but that makes sense if you change the settings, then you change the characters. It doesn't make sense for example, what they were trying to do with Akira, aside from changing the story, it now takes place in Manhattan, involving some white guys... named Kaneda, etc
Kinda like Justin Chatwin as Goku in DB evo.
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Primus



Joined: 01 Mar 2006
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Location: Toronto
PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 11:13 am Reply with quote
There hasn't been a whole lot of Western adaptations of anime or manga, and the ones that have been made aren't exactly all the popular. Kind of a weird survey to do now.

It's very interesting to see how looks are so high up on their priority list rather than actual characterization.

configspace wrote:
Kinda like Justin Chatwin as Goku in DB evo.


There's nothing inherently wrong with Chatwin being Goku. He's only named "Goku" by an Asian man (Grandpa Gohan) who found him in the woods. His real name is Kakarot, and that's a pun based on carrots.

Dragon Ball doesn't really have defined settings other than things like "Mount Paozu" and "West City" so there's no much to change there.
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Beatdigga



Joined: 26 Oct 2003
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 11:21 am Reply with quote
It would help if Chatwin could well...act.
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Super Ninja



Joined: 04 Feb 2012
Posts: 20
PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 1:08 pm Reply with quote
mgosdin wrote:
No surprises there.

I don't think the non-Japanese actors can be helped


Yes, because there's no Asian actors living in the United States. Also there are no black people or hispanics. This is the vanilla country, and Mitt Romney will win the election by a landslide.
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Haterater



Joined: 30 Apr 2006
Posts: 1727
PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 1:23 pm Reply with quote
Keep in mind they said foreign, not a particular country. Some countries aren't going to be able to have Japanese actors. The best I see is at least try to be in the spirit of the work as best they can. Not everything can be direct when it comes to catch phrases, but as long as its good for the other language, I can't find fault with that. I think some are a little harsh in some categories.
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doctordoom85



Joined: 12 Jun 2008
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 1:48 pm Reply with quote
The funny thing is, when it came to the Dragonball movie the one Asian actor (the dude who played Roshi) actually looked the least like the character he was playing. At least I could see them trying with some of the American actors to make them look like Goku, Bulma, etc., but it's like with Roshi they just didn't care.
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Primus



Joined: 01 Mar 2006
Posts: 2758
Location: Toronto
PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 2:01 pm Reply with quote
doctordoom85 wrote:
The funny thing is, when it came to the Dragonball movie the one Asian actor (the dude who played Roshi) actually looked the least like the character he was playing. At least I could see them trying with some of the American actors to make them look like Goku, Bulma, etc., but it's like with Roshi they just didn't care.


The majority of DBE's main cast are played by Asians or at least Asian-American actors (Chi-Chi, Grandpa Gohan, Roshi, Yamcha, and Mai)... But more importantly than that, you don't know who Chow Yun-fat is? Exclamation
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RestLessone



Joined: 02 Aug 2009
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 2:07 pm Reply with quote
configspace wrote:
RestlessOne wrote:
Hm...So a large chunk don't like those Korean adaptations, I guess?

While the US have done a few, it's nothing compared to the bastion of Korean adaptations. Granted, they're often better at preserving the original feel--I've had friends who say that some Korean series are better than the original. But its almost always changed to a Korean setting.

but that makes sense if you change the settings, then you change the characters. It doesn't make sense for example, what they were trying to do with Akira, aside from changing the story, it now takes place in Manhattan, involving some white guys... named Kaneda, etc
Kinda like Justin Chatwin as Goku in DB evo.

Not the point I was making. Of course there are Korean people in a Korean setting. I was commenting on how nearly half the people polled disliked that that had happened. It's not really that different from what you explained, though, other than the story change and that the US has a pool of Asian actors they can grab from.
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mewpudding101
Industry Insider


Joined: 07 Apr 2009
Posts: 2204
Location: Tokyo, Japan
PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 2:59 pm Reply with quote
I think the Japanese in the poll nailed it right on the head.
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Clyde_Cash



Joined: 03 Dec 2011
Posts: 376
PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 4:39 pm Reply with quote
Super Ninja wrote:
mgosdin wrote:
No surprises there.

I don't think the non-Japanese actors can be helped


Yes, because there's no Asian actors living in the United States. Also there are no black people or hispanics. This is the vanilla country, and Mitt Romney will win the election by a landslide.


Hollywood executives who still cling to this bullshit should be shot.

This isn't the Fifties anymore. Whitewashing must end. Goku, on the other hand, has the excuse of being an alien from another planet.
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Gon*Gon



Joined: 29 Sep 2011
Posts: 679
PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 4:52 pm Reply with quote
Primus wrote:

configspace wrote:
Kinda like Justin Chatwin as Goku in DB evo.


There's nothing inherently wrong with Chatwin being Goku. He's only named "Goku" by an Asian man (Grandpa Gohan) who found him in the woods. His real name is Kakarot, and that's a pun based on carrots.

Dragon Ball doesn't really have defined settings other than things like "Mount Paozu" and "West City" so there's no much to change there.

Except he's clearly meant to be asian-looking. Atleast close enough so that most people would think he's asian.


Why you may ask? Because if Goku was white, he would have been drawn to look like General Blue.

Dragonball may have a different world from ours, but the world has individual races already, and they all have a very clear and defined look.
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invalidname
Contributor



Joined: 11 Aug 2004
Posts: 2434
Location: Grand Rapids, MI
PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 6:13 pm Reply with quote
It's amusing and useful to think of how this would work in the other direction. Imagine, say, a Japanese Star Wars in which Luke ("Ruku"?) summons the force with a five-minute speech praising his noble ancestors, or Leia ("Reiya"?) is a clumsy moé girl with an ostensibly adorable catch-phrase.
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