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Tiger & Bunny Producer Considers Live-Action, Musical
posted on by Egan Loo
In an interview posted on the ASCII.jp website on Monday, producer Masayuki Ozaki reported that he considered live-action and musical adaptations of the Tiger & Bunny anime series. As a producer, Ozaki contemplated expanding the franchise through these and other means to recoup the investment that the anime studio Sunrise and its partners had made.
Ozaki emphasized that the staff did not expect to rely solely on revenue from in-anime product placement and advertising — a signature part of Tiger & Bunny — to recoup costs. However, he hopes that this system would be one of the alternatives to help recoup costs, since the home video market has been shrinking.
In response to the interviewer's note that Tiger & Bunny is an anime supported by an unusually large female fanbase, Ozaki confirmed that the staff thought that the anime would bring in male fans at first. He noted that single males in their 30s make up an overwhelming share of the home video buyers recently, although he cited Gundam and Gintama as exceptions.
However, Ozaki wanted more people than just core anime fans to watch the series. Specifically, he anticipated an audience among people who used to watch anime in the past, but have begun working and may even have kids. He emphasized that this intended target audience includes all working people who have not watched anime recently, regardless of marriage status, size of family, age, or gender.
The staff did not consciously make the anime for female fans specifically, so Ozaki said it was a pleasant surprise that there were more female fans that the staff had anticipated. He added that the female fanbase included everyone from core anime fans to many housewives who did not watch anime before.
The Tiger & Bunny anime staff announced in November that production on two films (pictured right) has been green-lit, with the first film planned for next year.
In 2010, producer Yoshitaka Kawaguchi revealed in a Newtype magazine interview that he and director Gorō Taniguchi would be interested in a stage or musical version of another original Sunrise anime, Code Geass. Within the past two months, Sunrise announced both the Code Geass - Hangyaku no Lelouch - Sōran Eve stage play and the Code Geass - Hangyaku no Lelouch -Majin ni Sasageru Prelude stage musical.
Source: ASCII.jp via Moe Ota-News Sokuhō
Image © Sunrise/T&B Partners,MBS
