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NEWS: Hollywood Reporter: Live-Action Akira Film's Production Shut Down

Yeah, I agreed and also I don't see Goku being played by a white person is any different from a Fillipino playing Batman (as I mention), or a Japanese playing Spiderman, or a Indian playing as Superman as Enurtsol mention. I see people complain about Goku being played by a white person so where's the complaint for a Indian Superman, Fillipino Batman, Japanese Spiderman, and Turkish Captain America. It's either people are not aware of this or it's hypocrisy as in It's bad for a white person to play as a Asian character yet it's OK for Asian and non-caucasian to play as caucasian American superheroes.

mdo7 wrote:

Yeah, I agreed and also I don't see Goku being played by a white person is any different from a Fillipino playing Batman (as I mention), or a Japanese playing Spiderman, or a Indian playing as Superman as Enurtsol mention. I see people complain about Goku being played by a white person so where's the complaint for a Indian Superman, Fillipino Batman, Japanese Spiderman, and Turkish Captain America. It's either people are not aware of this or it's hypocrisy as in It's bad for a white person to play as a Asian character yet it's OK for Asian and non-caucasian to play as caucasian American superheroes.

Don't think the issue need to be further pressed on. No matter what or where, Hollywood is the International Stage of all films being made whether it be live-action or not.

Japan re-animated Iron Man, Wolverine and X-Men last year 2010 due the popularity of Marvel and DC brought comics books heroes to life onto the big screen, where it impacted the niche market.

Japan re-animated Iron Man, Wolverine and X-Men last year 2010 due the popularity of Marvel and DC brought comics books heroes to life onto the big screen, where it impacted the niche market.

I show him evidence of Japan and other part of the world doing something similar what Hollywood did. I mention the Toei Spiderman where a Japanese actor cast as Spiderman, which he claim is different from casting a white person to play as characters in Akira and Goku in Dragonball Evolution (I don't know how casting a Japanese actor to play Spiderman is any different from a white person casting as character in Akira). I also want to mention in one of my post that Toho's film Matango was a adaptation of a western sci-fi story, the original western sci-fi story had white people when in the film, the characters are Japanese. So according to LongView's logic, that would be whitewashing, right? Is it any different from casting non-Asian actor in Akira. Also I recall the article about Japan and India adapting a baseball manga into a anime where baseball would be replaced by Cricket and the setting would be move from Japan to India, would this be his definition of whitewash and racism? Again, LongView ignore it and pretend I didn't mention it. Enurtsol brought up Indian Superman. While I brought up Turkish Captain America, and Fillipino Batman, are they any different from casting white people as Japanese characters? Because if people complain about white people playing as Asian characters, then shouldn't what I mention bold and underline get the same criticism also?? Again, I just need an opinion because I wanted to see if there any different. Because in my view, casting a white person as Asian character wouldn't be any different from a Japanese playing as Spiderman, an Indian playing as Superman, a Fillipino playing as Batman, and a Turkish person playing as Captain America or any non-white person playing as a caucasian American superheroes.

Wow, what's with all the underlining & bold ?

On a surface level, IMHO, there's not much difference in either direction.

If everything else is the same, then relocalizing a title in one direction or another is the same thing.

But everything is not always the same. There are a lot of factors that go into the decision to relocalize.

For starters, let's figure out why the actors in Akira have been white-washed ? Is it because the movie takes place in New York and they wanted actors that looked like New York natives (Thing is, there are plenty of non-whites in New York).

Is it because they wanted the speech to sound local and they couldn't find any Asian actors who spoke English well, without accent, enough for the part? (sarcasm)

Or perhaps they just couldn't find enough decent Asian actors to fill the cast. (Would it have been less racist to cast Asian Americans of non-Japanese decent, or would that have been more racist? (because, you know, all Asians look the same)) (sarcasm)

Or maybe the casting director is a racist bigot. To be honest, we won't know why the movie was whitewashed.

As for the various examples you brought up... they really weren't all that relevant to the conversation. They're interesting to look at, but they prove nothing, and have even less bearing on what happens in Hollywood.

There are plenty of non-racist reasons it could have happened, both artistic reasons, and business reasons. Unlike Largeview, while I recognize that there certainly is racism in Hollywood, it doesn't mean the Whitewashed Akira was the result of racisn.

As for moving Akira to America, I disagree with it from an artistic POV, but the business logic is sound. The audience will be more interested in what happens to Neo-Manhattan than Neo-Tokyo. You have to cater to your audience, even if they're a bunch of myopic rednecks.

bradc wrote:

Japan re-animated Iron Man, Wolverine and X-Men last year 2010 due the popularity of Marvel and DC brought comics books heroes to life onto the big screen, where it impacted the niche market.

MADHOUSE, not Japan, animated those shows because Marvel paid them to do so. It was a two birds with one stone decision for Marvel. Marvel has always had an interest in furthering the popularity if it's heroes worldwide and the recent movies has created a lot of buzz for new animated shows. So instead of going with a local animation house like WB, Marvel went with MADHOUSE and was able to get some Japanese airtime with shows they planned to bring over to the U.S.

Yes but animation and live-action are different. The X-men, Wolverine, Iron Man they didn't change the race and nationality of the character. They didn't change Tony Stark from white to Japanese (They didn't change Tony Stark's name to something Japanese). What LongView was ranting about was live-action whitewash/racism from Hollywood. As in casting a white actor to play as Japanese character in live-action. Yes you are correct about Hollywood is the international stages of film. But people like him are throwing racism and whitewash about it but yet don't complain when Japan did a live-action Spiderman when the character was played by a Japanese person. Don't forget the Indian Superman Enurtsol brought up along with my Turkish Captain America and Fillipino Batman. How's that any different from casting white people as Asian characters. Also I mention Matango, a Japanese film based on a western novel. the novel had caucasian characters but yet the Japanese movie had Japanese character so according to his logic, this would be his definition of whitewash and racism. So why complain about Hollywood when other country did something similar.

mdo7 wrote:

Yes but animation and live-action are different. The X-men, Wolverine, Iron Man they didn't change the race and nationality of the character. They didn't change Tony Stark from white to Japanese (They didn't change Tony Stark's name to something Japanese). What LongView was ranting about was live-action whitewash/racism from Hollywood. As in casting a white actor to play as Japanese character in live-action. Yes you are correct about Hollywood is the international stages of film. But people like him are throwing racism and whitewash about it but yet don't complain when Japan did a live-action Spiderman when the character was played by a Japanese person. Don't forget the Indian Superman Enurtsol brought up along with my Turkish Captain America and Fillipino Batman. How's that any different from casting white people as Asian characters. Also I mention Matango, a Japanese film based on a western novel. the novel had caucasian characters but yet the Japanese movie had Japanese character so according to his logic, this would be his definition of whitewash and racism. So why complain about Hollywood when other country did something similar.

Does this hurt the Animations companies or Hollywood Intentionally in any shape or form?

But instead it seem to benefit the niche and trying to reach more fans because the fandom is the base that support and foundation. Everyone, every person is a foreigner when it comes to watching films and animation because it diminishes the racism between cultures of the person's background who plays the hero.

Some people complain because they don't like "change" or adapt to a new environment that they are unfamiliar with when crossing-borders where there are no boundaries, even when it has been done before: remake, rewrite, renew. It basically been done to death.

No it doesn't damage animation or Hollywood. I agreed it diminishes racism ad cultural gap, but the drawback is this end up creating Wapanese (or non-Asian people that think they are Asian), Pro-Asian supremacist, and paranoid people who throw conspiracy theory about Hollywood is always racist against Asian till the end (like LargeView for example) who use lie, covering up information (downplay the evidence and probably ignore it) that might endangered their agenda/activity, and using unreliable sources and pulling double standard just to promote their agenda. I really hate these type of people that use racist and whitewash on stupid thing like Resident Evil 5, and now Akira after the potential cast. It's worse when they say what's OK, and what's not OK.

mdo7 wrote:

No it doesn't damage animation or Hollywood. I agreed it diminishes racism ad cultural gap, but the drawback is this end up creating Wapanese (or non-Asian people that think they are Asian), Pro-Asian supremacist, and paranoid people who throw conspiracy theory about Hollywood is always racist against Asian till the end (like LargeView for example) who use lie, covering up information (downplay the evidence and probably ignore it) that might endangered their agenda/activity, and using unreliable sources and pulling double standard just to promote their agenda. I really hate these type of people that use racist and whitewash on stupid thing like Resident Evil 5, and now Akira after the potential cast. It's worse when they say what's OK, and what's not OK.

Aren't you doing the same stereotyping them as "Wapanese"? That is why they are called Caucasians.

Can't see how this is going anywhere when one is blaming another for their own actions.

Well anyway, it looks like LargeView is not coming back anytime. Probably Enurtsol's evidence and my new evidences seem to have spook him with no way to counter those evidences. No way to despute that.