Forum - View topicNEWS: Live-Action Akira Film's Plot Listed by Casting Call
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Shenl742
Posts: 1524 |
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So...the reactions so far summed up?
"OMG! It's an adaptation that's slightly differant from the source material! Those white-imperialistic-yankee-hollywood-dogs are raping my childhood!!!!" 
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Kougeru
 Posts: 5538 |
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gatotsu911
Posts: 457 Location: US of East Coast |
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Well, that's... vaguely recognizable as Akira... minus most of what made it more than just a mindless action flick.
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MarzGurl
 Posts: 142 Location: San Antonio, Texas |
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To me, it has nothing to do with whether the characters are white or Asian. My biggest concern is the age and relationship of the characters. The age of the characters in the manga/anime was crucial to the storytelling of Akira. Owning a bar doesn't have the same weight as being a kid in a mostly harmless but still somewhat dangerous biker gang, all of whom abuse futuristic drugs.
I also certainly hope that when they say they're going to "release" Akira that they don't literally mean releasing him. The point was that he wasn't actually physically there in the end. |
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jsyxx
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Why are you defending a racist Hollywood bastardization? I just don't get it. Even after that Dragon Ball movie flopped, people in here were still defending it. It was insane. If you want to pretend you're a rebel going against grain, find something better to do it on. I also like how it's a "slight" difference, when it's obvious it's going to be about as changed as that flash parody. |
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jsieczkar
Posts: 139 |
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In the manga, which is the source material for this film, he is alive and intact at least physically. He has no personality and is basically an empty shell for his power until the very end of the series. |
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Mohawk52
 Posts: 8202 Location: England, UK |
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Were they brothers? I thought they just grew up together in the same orphanage.
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BorderlineOtaku1991
Posts: 5 Location: Sorry, can't tell you |
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Well, Kaneda, the characters he plays, was 16 in the manga. |
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BorderlineOtaku1991
Posts: 5 Location: Sorry, can't tell you |
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For those of you who don't already know (I imagine most of you do by now), this is supposed to a two-part film, with the first film based on volumes 1-3, and the second on 4-6.
But we all know that part 2 is never gonna be released (assuming they're filming it back-to-back). In order for a sequel to be made, the original has to be successful. And Warner Bros. threw out any chance this film has of being successful the minute they decided to set it in Manhattan. |
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor
 Posts: 7912 Location: Anime News Network Technodrome |
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Aside from all the ultra-predictable "THIS WILL SUCK" wailing and gnashing of teeth before even a scrap of concept art is seen - which at this point is best just ignored - this sort of thing to me speaks volumes about what people understand when it comes to films like this. To suggest that the film is a huge failure right out of the gate because it isn't set in Tokyo is wrong-headed. Nobody cares about that aside from Akira's fans, of which there aren't that many. It's an old movie, an old franchise. Daryl Surat routinely busts out the anecdote that when he asks rooms full of con goers whether or not they've ever seen it (much less heard of it) only a few hands go up. Yeah, it's a classic inside our little anime fan bubble and it's one of the few non-Ghibli anime films to ever get any sort of mainstream recognition or success, but you're still talking about a very, very small audience for whom fealty to the original is a deciding factor in whether or not they purchase a ticket. The vast majority of people who will see this version of Akira have never heard of the original, or will have in passing mention only. Setting this in Manhattan, when you're thinking only in terms of the bottom line, is a very obvious move to make. The international audience for a postapocalyptic action movie will identify much stronger with scenes of a ruined New York than they will a ruined Tokyo, if only because the wave of disaster movies coming through their multiplexes have relied so much on similar imagery for the last 30 years. Whether or not this film retains *anything* beyond the character names (and probably the bike - can't imagine them removing the bike) remains to be seen, but saying it's going to fail financially because they changed the location has no basis in truth or rational thought. |
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Shenl742
Posts: 1524 |
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Why are YOU throwing around the racist argument when we don't know anything about it yet besides the initial premise. It's good that you do bring up the Dragon Ball thing though, because if they DO actually try to have caucasian characters pretend to be asians, then that would definately give me pause...but I honestly doubt that anyone's stupid enough to do that again. But we don't know that for certain yet, and for all we know the japanese names could just be place-holders until they make an actual, you know, SCRIPT of some sort. |
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GracieLizzy
 Posts: 551 Location: Sunderland, England, UK |
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Frankly I could care less whether it does well financially, and personally whilst I dislike the resetting and white washing I was expecting it, it's Hollywood. What really confuses me is the age change.
Yes teenagers are easier to pull off in anime than live action but still they could have cast young looking people in their very early twenties and pulled it off. The whole point of the story, in the anime movie at least not sure about the manga, is as an allegory for puberty and teenage frustration. I can't see how that will work with older characters. I can only assume they've aged them up to make the film more marketable as action films don't usually star teens. |
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Rubius01
Posts: 4 |
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My problem with the movie is that it takes place in New York; I was fully expecting it not to take place in Tokyo, but New York? Again? Why couldn't be in Chicago, or Miami, or SF, or Philly, or ANY other city. I'm just tired of movies that take place in New York. Nothing against New York per se, but please, lets have some variety in our settings.
You know, I hated the original anime but think that the manga is the best thing since sliced bread. If Hollywood really wants to do this right they would make it a miniseries on HBO or Showtime and include the last 2/3rds of the manga that the original anime left out. Also it should be animated, again, nothing against live action adaptations but I feel that the special effects will take center stage if it is live action, and with a animated version it will be more focused on the characters than the explosions, or sci-fi technology. And Lastly about the age changes: I am so TIRED of reading or watching teenagers save the world. As someone who has taught in high school, the vast majority of teenagers couldn't wipe their ass with detailed instructions, how can you expect them to save the world? But in this case where the sense of hopelessness and the sense of being lost in life is central to the story the age changes really don't make much sense. Though, I would accept an age change to early 20's, it close enough, to where it would be acceptable to a wide spread western audience. And final prediction, this will have a massive budget and be one of the biggest flops of the year. |
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chibiyusa
 Posts: 10 |
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Wait. They are keeping the Japanese names but having white actors, except for the "bad guy" ?
If they are going to Americanize it, might as well go all the way. I mean, it's not like Asians can't be American and the good guys too. Whether it's a good/bad movie, I can't bring myself to watch something so white-washed. |
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opn
 Posts: 904 |
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*re reads* okay my bad i didn't see that the colonel kidnapped tetsuo my bad. |
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