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Interview: Unified Pictures and Vampire Hunter D


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MarshalBanana



Joined: 31 Aug 2014
Posts: 5286
PostPosted: Fri Jul 03, 2015 11:29 am Reply with quote
he still has properly explained why it is CG, I've seen a lot of CG films, and they can work very well, not with something like this, and the thing about Tangled made it even less convincing.

This could be the first time in years, that a Japanese product makes it big in the US, and he is giving us some tacky looking adaptation. So far CG has only really looked good in big budget films, not TV shows. I find it hard to believe he even likes the show if he isn't even willing to put any effort into the production.
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Jose Cruz



Joined: 20 Nov 2012
Posts: 1757
Location: Brazil
PostPosted: Fri Jul 03, 2015 12:03 pm Reply with quote
I think it will be a very hard task. American culture is hostile to serious animation in general. And there is the high risk it is going to even alienate anime fans. Though there is certainly the potential for success because animation/graphic fiction is an universal language anyway and I suspect it didn't take off in the US mainly due to government regulation of the comic book industry in the 1950's.

Also, I found interesting that the average duration of an anime fan is 2 years. That's like saying that the average duration of a book fan is 2 years or something. I guess it means those teenagers who watch Naruto on TV when they are 14-16 year olds, then they get bored of Naruto and cease to be "fans".

In Brazil the top selling comic books changed their style from this:
http://static.wixstatic.com/media/b85605_0d19c267e99f4afcb104eee77205e180.jpg
To this more manga inspired designs:
https://caua1000.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/turma-da-monica-jovem-wallpaper.jpg
Though still maintaining the original ones.

As a result their sales increased several times. Though it still targets pre-teens/young teenagers (11-14). I think in Brazil mainstream culture comics and animation are even more niche than in the US.

Really hope this thing gets going. Might help the US to develop an animation culture afterall.

MarshalBanana wrote:
he still has properly explained why it is CG, I've seen a lot of CG films, and they can work very well, not with something like this, and the thing about Tangled made it even less convincing.


Well, with a big budget like Game of Thrones you can certainly make a good CG on TV.


Last edited by Jose Cruz on Fri Jul 03, 2015 2:55 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Oneeyedjacks



Joined: 21 Dec 2009
Posts: 307
PostPosted: Fri Jul 03, 2015 12:47 pm Reply with quote
I have to admit, a lot of what these guys said in this interview confused the hell out of me.

First, they want to take Vampire Hunter D, a dark fantasy horror set in a post-apocalyptic future and try to turn it into Game of Thrones? It seems like they're kind of missing the point of what Vampire Hunter D even is. D is supposed to be a lone gunman Man with No Name type that goes from place to place and helps people with whatever supernatural problems they're having. It's built on an episodic narrative. Trying to take that and turn it into 10-13 episode hour long story arcs seems to kinda go against the basic concept of VHD. As the interview says, D is a monolithic character. You're not supposed to know or understand who he is. Those types of characters don't lend themselves well to long narrative arcs, but are commonly seen in episodic stories. I get that they don't want to slavishly adapt the source material, but it just seems like they're taking this and turning it on it's head and still expecting it to work somehow.

Second, it seems like these guys are mostly thinking out loud and tossing out lots of random ideas. They're making a big splash over this, and yet they admit they don't have a finished pilot, a distribution method worked out, or even a super clear vision of how they want it all to turn out. Coproductions between Japan and foreign companies kinda have a reputation for being behind the scenes nightmares. Even they admit this whole thing could just be a train wreck. This certainly seems like a recipe for one. I could also very easily see this as something that just ends up dead in the water at some point down the road.

Lastly, they're trying to take this and make it broadly appeal for a wider audience between the ages of 15-45? When you set out to make something animated, you're kinda automatically limiting your potential audience. Unless it's kids entertainment or man-child comedy, you're not likely going to reach a wide audience with animation that you would with live-action. Yet they describe this as being the sort of thing you would see on premium cable. If they were trying to make a live-action VHD series for television, then a lot of what they say would make sense. Both in terms of storytelling style and audience appeal. But it seems most people above the age of 25 generally don't care about most things they see animated, regardless if it's specifically aimed at them. Parents see animated kids movies most of the time simply because they have to take their own kids to see them, and they watch things like Family Guy just so they can have a cheap laugh. But most adults generally don't seem to care about any other type of animation.

Maybe if they got it distributed on Netflix it could have a chance of finding an audience, but I mostly see that audience being the same people who regularly watch anime, or stuff like Avatar and Korra. I just don't see them gaining any sort of broad audience with this, regardless of how good it is. There's just too many limits on what audiences want or will accept when it comes to animation.

Anyways, sorry for the long negative post.
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11286
PostPosted: Fri Jul 03, 2015 2:11 pm Reply with quote
Kurt wrote:
Letting people into the sausage factory I think is a good idea.

Also letting women into the sausage fest is a good idea. They really need to get some women on board with this sooner than later, since they clearly are all in the "What do women want?" sea of cluelessness. They're gonna need those viewers. Smile

Judging by the comments so far though, even more than selling investors and network execs, I think their biggest hurdle is going to be getting past anime fans who are married to the source materials and will brook no infidelity, or who are ready to call it a failure before scripts or storyboards are even begun. This sounds like it could be really great, so I hope they ignore the "common wisdom" anime naysayers always bring to the table to shoot down anything ever proposed.

The whole project sounds fascinating to me (and insanely difficult), and I really hope they can bring it to fruition.
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Jose Cruz



Joined: 20 Nov 2012
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 03, 2015 3:02 pm Reply with quote
Oneeyedjacks wrote:
Lastly, they're trying to take this and make it broadly appeal for a wider audience between the ages of 15-45? When you set out to make something animated, you're kinda automatically limiting your potential audience. Unless it's kids entertainment or man-child comedy, you're not likely going to reach a wide audience with animation that you would with live-action. Yet they describe this as being the sort of thing you would see on premium cable. If they were trying to make a live-action VHD series for television, then a lot of what they say would make sense. Both in terms of storytelling style and audience appeal. But it seems most people above the age of 25 generally don't care about most things they see animated, regardless if it's specifically aimed at them. Parents see animated kids movies most of the time simply because they have to take their own kids to see them, and they watch things like Family Guy just so they can have a cheap laugh. But most adults generally don't seem to care about any other type of animation.


But that is essentially because no other type of animation exists. If a more sophisticated animated series which is good is made and shown on cable TV I am sure they will probably develop a substantial audience. Disk sales and streaming should also play a role in making it profitable because such a pioneer series would need to actually develop it's own audience. Like Star Trek did, a series which was cancelled and later developed a large cult following.
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mangamuscle



Joined: 23 Apr 2006
Posts: 2658
Location: Mexico
PostPosted: Fri Jul 03, 2015 3:07 pm Reply with quote
I smell here another The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen fiasco Anime cry
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AiddonValentine



Joined: 07 Aug 2006
Posts: 2200
PostPosted: Fri Jul 03, 2015 3:41 pm Reply with quote
uh, D is not even CLOSE to Game of Thrones in terms of structure. D is The Man With No Name, James Bond, or Conan the Barbarian in that his tales are episodic, typically with zero call back to previous books and are very straightforward. They're not these big, sprawling narratives even though the series has been running for over thirty years.

And then of course there's the bigger issue of D NEEDING to be a mystery. And that there is no point in trying to elaborate on him. Sure, we know things here and there like he was actually a conjoined twin, he is still the only successful crossbreed from the Sacred Ancestor's experiments, his mother was said to be a woman called Mina the Fair, and that he's at LEAST 5,000 years old. Other than that, we know nothing. D is more of a plot device and an icon than a character. And that's actually why he's so compelling and enduring.

So yeah, aside from Jaffe showing up, not a great start to instilling confidence in others.
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Amaranth Sparrow



Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 97
PostPosted: Fri Jul 03, 2015 3:52 pm Reply with quote
It's definitely interesting, though I kinda wish they'd waited until they had a distribution partner and some rough footage or at least concept art.

First, I definitely don't think they're saying they want to turn it into Game of Thrones, they're saying they want to make it a high quality hour long serialized drama. Which isn't a bad idea. When you look at the best VHD books, they're all multi-volume stories. Mysterious Journey to the North Sea, Pale Fallen Angel, and Tyrant's Stars. The latter two stories are each four books long, and as shows like GoT and Outlander have shown, books translate well to that format.

As for the animation, clearly they don't want it to look like a typical anime, so comparisons to the cel-shaded CGI frequently in use are probably not applicable. Obviously that's what'll make or break it, I guess. I feel like what they ultimately land on is going to look pretty unique. My dream would be something approaching Amano's Deva Zan CG trailer, perhaps a bit less abstract and stylized, a little more painterly.

I hope they can pull it off. There's potential to do something groundbreaking here, but I don't want to get my hopes up if this thing might not even get off the ground.
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Oneeyedjacks



Joined: 21 Dec 2009
Posts: 307
PostPosted: Fri Jul 03, 2015 5:05 pm Reply with quote
Amaranth Sparrow wrote:
First, I definitely don't think they're saying they want to turn it into Game of Thrones, they're saying they want to make it a high quality hour long serialized drama. Which isn't a bad idea. When you look at the best VHD books, they're all multi-volume stories. Mysterious Journey to the North Sea, Pale Fallen Angel, and Tyrant's Stars. The latter two stories are each four books long, and as shows like GoT and Outlander have shown, books translate well to that format.


They were using Game of Thrones as an example of high quality hour long serialized dramas, similar to what they want the series to be like. Nobody here was implying that they'd "turn Vampire Hunter D into Game of Thrones", nor was anybody saying that television was a bad format for it.

Also they stated they wouldn't be adapting the books, it would be their own original ideas. The vast majority of the Vampire Hunter D books are single novel stories. The examples you gave are just longer stories that are still episodic in nature to the overall series.
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Amaranth Sparrow



Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 97
PostPosted: Fri Jul 03, 2015 11:13 pm Reply with quote
If you look at either film adaptation, they really only tackled about 40% of the material in the original novels. The first novel in particular was way more fleshed out and had a much larger cast. I'd say that you could easily turn the first book into a solid 4~6 episode long TV drama if you adapted it fully, depending on episode length. Imagine each chapter as an episode.

And no, they don't intend to adapt from the novels (though they didn't outright dismiss the idea, either). Kikuchi is on board, so I'm sure coming up with a story isn't going to be a problem. Ultimately, I don't think the tone or vibe of the series is going to differ too much from the novels (in fact, they seem to want to hew closer to the source material compared to the previous adaptations).

I mean, all D stories basically fall into one of two categories: D either hangs around a settlement helping out, or D escorts a group across the Frontier. The best stories combine both story types to create longer stories spanning multiple books.

If I had to guess, if they're planning to do a 10-episode arc, I imagine something similar to Mysterious Journey to the North Sea is what we'll end up with.

As for how they'll do multiple seasons, if they get that far? Who knows. It could just wind up being an anthology series where each season tells a different story, or it could be more like Dark Road and Tyrant's Stars where the stories are loosely connected. I wouldn't expect them to do something completely serialized where you wind up with a single multi-season story arc like Game of Thrones has.

Of course, at this point it doesn't seem like even they know exactly what they're going to do, and it's probably going to depend heavily on who winds up distributing it. If it's HBO (their big "get") we'd have hour long episodes with no commercials. If it winds up on, say, Adult Swim or FX or something, they'd be 40 minute episodes with act breaks. If it's on Netflix, they'd probably make it more bingeable.

Really, it's out of our hands. I'm intrigued, which is enough for me for now. I'm hoping they handle it with care, and I'm actually kind of glad they're doing something different with it. I don't think that 2D animation is the only place a VHD adaptation can live.
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thewhitemetroid



Joined: 09 May 2013
Posts: 8
PostPosted: Sat Jul 04, 2015 11:01 am Reply with quote
Quote:
Kurt: Let me ask you a question. Do you think that American fans are interested in a truly co-produced thing? Or do you think that a large majority of the fans are interested in the art form because it is generated in Japan?


I love animation as a form of story telling and art, and I love anime because of it's uniqueness and available mature content. I also like the variety of style anime offers as well as it's aesthetic but not because it is produced in Japan, but because only Japan produces it. If you look at American works, say Disney, their character designs are so boring and predictable. Their stories, although palatable for adult audiences, are always slanted for the young to very young audience and I simply cannot stand their absolute dependence on computer animation now, all the characters look like Stretch Armstrong derivatives...rubber men.

The American TV animation industry is no different, all kid friendly, and character design for the most part look like they were drawn using a straight edge ruler. I know that some of you may be thinking that anime suffers from some of the same pitfalls such as character design can be predictable but the difference here is that, by its abundance it has to be. There's simply so much of it that it's hard not to produce similar designs, but there are plenty of examples of breaking molds. Recent examples come from Studio Trigger or Wit Studio, and we can all see the evolution in artistic style from the 80's, 90's, and through the 2000's. There are plenty examples of studios etching out their definitive style in that endless sea of animation.

American animation, in my humble opinion, has failed to do that so no wonder it is still a niche market here, but I think Zac hit it on the head. They have an opportunity here to blaze a new path and I think they should. I personally would eat up some refreshishing hybrid style anime as long as the content has some meat and potatoes.

I look forward to seeing this progress.
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Beatdigga



Joined: 26 Oct 2003
Posts: 4342
Location: New York
PostPosted: Sat Jul 04, 2015 11:56 am Reply with quote
It's always fun to see overambitious executives make outlandish claims and then have to dial them back a hundredfold later on. HBO? Seriously? SERIOUSLY?! Laughing

Let's not forget that the only non-comedic animation on US TV's right now airs at the absolute deadest of dead slots, midnight on Saturday's. Unless you're SNL, a UFC, or a boxing PPV, no one's watching TV at that time. Let's not forget just how atrocious CG can look with models like this.

So yeah, dial it back guys.
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One-Eye



Joined: 08 Mar 2011
Posts: 2260
PostPosted: Sat Jul 04, 2015 12:12 pm Reply with quote
Well, I like the enthusiasm but it seems that they are really early into producing this and there's much to be decided yet. There are some concerns though:

#1 Is this really going to be VHD or are they going to change it so significantly that they might as well drop the name, because Zac is right its an old property that newer fans probably haven't even heard of.

#2 Do we really need another Vampire show/movie? Don't get me wrong I like VHD and I'm planning to pick up the new BD, but haven't we been a little over saturated with Zombies and Vampires? Is there still a large appetite for this stuff?

#3 They seem to want to attract people beyond the typical anime fan. Great but this might be tough. I think more dramatic stories beyond just hack and slash will help keep people who are already watching it in their seats, but getting people in the door specifically casuals and first timers is going to require something more than that. One thing will be placement and online streaming that allows for recommendations based on interests would help and the other would be the visual look. If it looks visually different enough or interesting enough it will get people to give it at least an episode to draw them in.

I think Zac totally nailed it with all his comments. What attracted me to anime as a kid (and this is going back to Battle of the Planets and Star Blazers) was that it was different in look and story. It wasn't Scooby-Doo and it wasn't Yogi Bear. I think its still the same for many young people nowadays in that its same enough to be approachable and different enough to be interesting.

Its an old property they can't rely on nostalgia alone, but like Zac said its also an opportunity to make it something new and put their stamp on it. I wish them the best of luck and success.
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 04, 2015 12:59 pm Reply with quote
One-Eye wrote:
#2 Do we really need another Vampire show/movie? ... haven't we been a little over saturated with Zombies and Vampires? Is there still a large appetite for this stuff?

You'd think, but there's been a steady stream of them since Bram Stoker penned Dracula. Vampires really are immortal, at least in the arts. Smile
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One-Eye



Joined: 08 Mar 2011
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 04, 2015 1:25 pm Reply with quote
Gina Szanboti wrote:
One-Eye wrote:
#2 Do we really need another Vampire show/movie? ... haven't we been a little over saturated with Zombies and Vampires? Is there still a large appetite for this stuff?

You'd think, but there's been a steady stream of them since Bram Stoker penned Dracula. Vampires really are immortal, at least in the arts. Smile

Yea and there's been some good, a lot of bad and then there's twilight. Here's hopping that D isn't surrounded by sparkles in the daylight (goes and barfs in a corner).
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