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

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.

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.

But blonde short hair and blue eyes certainly don't define every white person. Chatwin played Goku in DBE, does he have blonde hair and blue eyes? No, and neither do I

General Blue is from Earth. Goku isn't from Earth, but rather he's from Planet Vegeta. That's the first fault in your comparison.

But blonde short hair and blue eyes certainly don't define every white person.

Primus wrote:

General Blue is from Earth. Goku isn't from Earth, but rather he's from Planet Vegeta. That's the first fault in your comparison.

Quote:

But blonde short hair and blue eyes certainly don't define every white person.

Except every single whites ARE blonde haired and blue eyed. Just like how every blacks have charcoal like skin and giant red lips in Dragonball.

You're skipping one very crucial piece of information. Races ARE easily defined in anime!

Japanese(and to some extent, asians in general) people look normal in anime. Whites, blacks, and indians on the other hand must be codified for the benefit of the audience. If Goku's appearance was meant to resemble Justin Chatwin, then we'd have plenty of cues to point it out.

But no, Goku as far as anyone is concerned, could easily have passed off as Gohan's grandson. Did you think Goku was an alien before you watched Z and was told about it? No one did.

Why don't we see the same kind of outrage expressed over character models in anime generally? I don't see people picketing outside studios demanding that anime characters be drawn to look more japanese.

yuna49 wrote:

Why don't we see the same kind of outrage expressed over character models in anime generally? I don't see people picketing outside studios demanding that anime characters be drawn to look more japanese.

Because those character models are how Japanese artists are currently interpreting the appearance of Japanese people in their eyes. You won't be seeing many Japanese artists using yellow skin and slanted eyes in a depiction of their race.

So.. I guess Sailor Moon and Sailor Venus are Americans? Sorry, but blonde hair/blue eyes does not alway mean American or Westerner.

ArsenicSteel wrote:

yuna49 wrote: Why don't we see the same kind of outrage expressed over character models in anime generally? I don't see people picketing outside studios demanding that anime characters be drawn to look more japanese. Because those character models are how Japanese artists are currently interpreting the appearance of Japanese people in their eyes. You won't be seeing many Japanese artists using yellow skin and slanted eyes in a depiction of their race.

Uh, there is a way to draw Asians without using racist caricatures. I've actually seen a few anime with more realistic-looking Japanese/Asians. But apparently you haven't, but I assure you they're out there. So there is an option other than "white person who is supposed to be Japanese" and "racist stereotype".

Japanese people aren't going to complain about the current style of character models in anime just because those models are not heavily realistic or 'Asians through the eyes of Westerners'.

ArsenicSteel wrote:

Japanese people aren't going to complain about the current style of character models in anime just because those models are not heavily realistic or 'Asians through the eyes of Westerners'.

My comment was intended to be more humorous than anything else. It does seem a bit inconsistent though to complain about the use of non-Japanese actors in live-action adaptations of material where the drawn characters often don't look Japanese to begin with.

Primus wrote:

General Blue is from Earth. Goku isn't from Earth, but rather he's from Planet Vegeta. That's the first fault in your comparison.

Quote:

But blonde short hair and blue eyes certainly don't define every white person.

Except every single whites ARE blonde haired and blue eyed. Just like how every blacks have charcoal like skin and giant red lips in Dragonball.

You're skipping one very crucial piece of information. Races ARE easily defined in anime!

Japanese(and to some extent, asians in general) people look normal in anime. Whites, blacks, and indians on the other hand must be codified for the benefit of the audience. If Goku's appearance was meant to resemble Justin Chatwin, then we'd have plenty of cues to point it out.

But no, Goku as far as anyone is concerned, could easily have passed off as Gohan's grandson. Did you think Goku was an alien before you watched Z and was told about it? No one did.