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Live action Akira in works


Serge heartless

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I'm a little nervous...I mean, it's cool they plan to maybe use elements from the comic-and the concept of parts of New York being owned by another country is...probably where the future's going (without sounding too pessimistic or jaded...)

I like that they may use parts of the comic: it was a pretty big series, and there's lots to pull from. If they do it right, it could be interesting.

I just hope they make a good film. And it would be nice to give the lead parts, you know, to some Asian-American actors.  I think Hollywood needs to stop insulting our intelligence: people will watch this, even if the leads aren't white. The fans don't WANT to see white people playing the lead (I don't, anyway.) I would prefer a film that actually reflects the diversity of the US...we're not stupid, and I think Hollywood's insulting people by catering to an outdated philosophy. Anime nerds (me) are the ones who will be seeing this film and supporting it: I can't speak for everyone, but I don't care about having a massive Hollywood star--I want to see actors who will carry the story, and are as diverse as a city like New York.

I don't think comedy is going to lend itself very well to this story, though...I think Waititi was talking something about that in the video. I liked Thor Ragnarok, and I think he's a great director, but I think that kind of comedy will be jarring for this story.

I guess we'll have to wait and see...

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Well when they interviewed Japanese people about Scarlett Johansson playing major in ghost in the shell, they didn't care.  Im not sure about a live action Akira, mostly cause the ending would have to be all special effects. It would be hard to make a giant growing mass of flesh, getting out of control making it look good. 

 

Edited by Serge heartless
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Wait what? DiCaprio is making a live-action version of Akira with a potentially mostly white cast? Quite unexpected things there. It be interesting to see a live action version with the current technology.
The mostly non-Japanese cast bothers me however. I'm not saying it is offensive to anyone (I haven't given that much thought). I also agree with @Blue Dragon about not caring about any Hollywood actors, but disagree about the diversity thing. Don't get be wrong, I think it's great if societies are diverse and this is also shown in media. It's just when I think about Akira, I think about Japan and always associated/seen the characters as Japanese. So in my mind I always thought that most of the people there were Japanese and that's how I pictured them. If I remember correctly some of the scientists abroad were non-Japanese, but other than that I kinda expected them to be Japanese. I wouldn't necessarily have anything against a diverse cast, but if the main characters are non-Japanese it kinda goes against how I had pictured it.
At the end of the day this is not a major point, so long as the movie itself is decent.

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@Serge hearltess

That's an interesting video! I've watched some of Yuta's Japanese courses, and I think he explains things very well (though I haven't had time to actually practice.) I appreciate you sharing it. :)

I do want to clarify that I am referring to if the film is moved to the New York (as the setting) and is targeting a U.S. audience. I don't see the point in changing characters with names like Kaneda, Kei, and Akira to...Causaian actors. 

But that said, at the end of the day, I am looking for a film that is good. If they end up changing the character's background, but make a good movie, I'll be less annoyed than if we get another Dragon Ball Evolution.  I wasted money to see it in theaters, and I'm still pissed (I need to get over it XD)

 

Ugh! And yes...the flesh monster...you know they would just CGI it up...it could look horrible if they're not careful (which...let's face it, Hollywood quite often ISN'T careful about these things...) But..maybe that's  partly they had the dude who did Blade on the project for a while (anyone remember the large vampire who couldn't go anywhere?) I think he left or got booted off? I watched the video the other day...I think he was canned...Lots of people have come and gone, apparently o_O

9 hours ago, Illusion of Terra said:

Wait what? DiCaprio is making a live-action version of Akira with a potentially mostly white cast? Quite unexpected things there. It be interesting to see a live action version with the current technology.
The mostly non-Japanese cast bothers me however. I'm not saying it is offensive to anyone (I haven't given that much thought). I also agree with @Blue Dragon about not caring about any Hollywood actors, but disagree about the diversity thing. Don't get be wrong, I think it's great if societies are diverse and this is also shown in media. It's just when I think about Akira, I think about Japan and always associated/seen the characters as Japanese. So in my mind I always thought that most of the people there were Japanese and that's how I pictured them. If I remember correctly some of the scientists abroad were non-Japanese, but other than that I kinda expected them to be Japanese. I wouldn't necessarily have anything against a diverse cast, but if the main characters are non-Japanese it kinda goes against how I had pictured it.
At the end of the day this is not a major point, so long as the movie itself is decent.

I got a little confused on who was in charge of what from the video! Is DiCaprio supposed to be the director or the producer? Then they kept talking about Waititi? I don't understand if he was supposed to be a writer, director? So many people involved!

My comment about diversity (which I didn't make clear, my apologies!) was related to my first comment about them potentially moving the setting the New York. If they keep the setting in Japan, which would be my personal preference, then the characters should reflect a post-apocalyptic Japan. I totally agree with you there!

Edited by Blue Dragon
I removed quoting the previous poster's comment since it made the post so long!
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10 hours ago, Illusion of Terra said:

Wait what? DiCaprio is making a live-action version of Akira with a potentially mostly white cast? Quite unexpected things there. It be interesting to see a live action version with the current technology.
The mostly non-Japanese cast bothers me however. I'm not saying it is offensive to anyone (I haven't given that much thought). I also agree with @Blue Dragon about not caring about any Hollywood actors, but disagree about the diversity thing. Don't get be wrong, I think it's great if societies are diverse and this is also shown in media. It's just when I think about Akira, I think about Japan and always associated/seen the characters as Japanese. So in my mind I always thought that most of the people there were Japanese and that's how I pictured them. If I remember correctly some of the scientists abroad were non-Japanese, but other than that I kinda expected them to be Japanese. I wouldn't necessarily have anything against a diverse cast, but if the main characters are non-Japanese it kinda goes against how I had pictured it.
At the end of the day this is not a major point, so long as the movie itself is decent.

Im sure other countries would make live action American cartoons, or American movies. Do you think they are going to go out of their way to look for white people? Battle Angel is by far one of the best live action anime movies, and I don't think they used any Japanese actors.

Edited by Serge heartless
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6 hours ago, Blue Dragon said:

 I'll be less annoyed than if we get another Dragon Ball Evolution.  I wasted money to see it in theaters, and I'm still pissed (I need to get over it XD)

Don't even go there 😂 if Akira turns out to be like that, then we need to boycott something 😂 
As for DiCaprio's role, I didn't really get it as well. Maybe he'll end up playing one of the main roles because they can't find anyone 😂 

Now I also got your point! If they decide to make something like a 'new' Akira which more or less just takes the plot of Akira but adepts it to New York (something like an Akira in the US) then it is an entirely different thing. And I also agree that because places like New York are quite diverse, they could still keep the original names. What I had thought was that they will shoot it in the US, but pretend that it is in Japan.

 

@Serge heartless I understand that this is a common reasoning, but I would say that it doesn't matter what other countries do. Even if no other country would do something, doesn't mean the US should not do it as well. That being said, you do have a point that it would be more work to go out of their way and look for a Japanese cast. So I can understand if they use a white cast. I am also not saying that just because a white cast is being used, the movie will suck. My, arguably quite minor, point was that it's just not how I had pictured it. The setting of Neo-Tokyo, the names etc. all made me picture it as the main characters being Japanese, so I kinda expected them to be Japanese. If they end up going for a Japanese cast because, among other things, it would be too much to go out of their way and look for a white cast, I still wouldn't mind as long as it is a decent movie.

Edited by Illusion of Terra
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11 hours ago, Illusion of Terra said:

Don't even go there 😂 if Akira turns out to be like that, then we need to boycott something 😂 
As for DiCaprio's role, I didn't really get it as well. Maybe he'll end up playing one of the main roles because they can't find anyone 😂 

Now I also got your point! If they decide to make something like a 'new' Akira which more or less just takes the plot of Akira but adepts it to New York (something like an Akira in the US) then it is an entirely different thing. And I also agree that because places like New York are quite diverse, they could still keep the original names. What I had thought was that they will shoot it in the US, but pretend that it is in Japan.

 

@Serge heartless I understand that this is a common reasoning, but I would say that it doesn't matter what other countries do. Even if no other country would do something, doesn't mean the US should not do it as well. That being said, you do have a point that it would be more work to go out of their way and look for a Japanese cast. So I can understand if they use a white cast. I am also not saying that just because a white cast is being used, the movie will suck. My, arguably quite minor, point was that it's just not how I had pictured it. The setting of Neo-Tokyo, the names etc. all made me picture it as the main characters being Japanese, so I kinda expected them to be Japanese. If they end up going for a Japanese cast because, among other things, it would be too much to go out of their way and look for a white cast, I still wouldn't mind as long as it is a decent movie.

Theres bigger things to worry about then the cast. Like the story, and getting the special effects right. There are a lot of movies that have big name actors in them and still failed.  Movie 43 has nothing but big name actors and failed really bad. Mostly cause its just a really bad movie.  Theres a lot of things going into movies, you cant just pull random Japanese actors out of no where.  And not everyone is going to fly to Japan and look for them.  

Edited by Serge heartless
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  • 2 months later...

The CGI thing is something I didn't think of...but if it did have the level of skill Advent Children, then I'd enjoy the way it looks (I have a love hate with the film: I liked some aspects of it, but there was other stuff I didn't like. Overall, it was enjoyable.) I'd expect to story to be done pretty well :3

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'd definitely be interested to see this story get a remake.. I didn't enjoy the movie myself. I felt it was very outdated and boring at times with regard to the political background. I also Didn't feel that there was much to it.. The most impressively portrayed aspect of this show was the trippy moments inside Tetsuos head when he was interacting with the children.

Maybe having a live action, better character development through directing scenes better and perhaps a new take on this plot would be better for me, as I'm far from any die hard sci-fi fan.

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I feel the issue comes down to what aspect of Akira do you want to be the main focus. If you go by the anime they tried to cram a government conspiracy, a tale of growing up, and a metaphysical thesis of the nature of conciousness and the power of the evolving human brain. It was a bit of a mess but because it was an animated film, the art team could get a lot of symbolism going because they had total control of the environment and aesthetics (ex. the children scaring Tetsou when he is recovering and using milk and toys as their psychic constructs). If you go by the manga, there is simply too much story to be faithfully translated into a short film. A three film series would be more approachable if they want to tackle all the manga goes through. Having a rise to power, fighting for hope, and resolution theme for each film could be an interesting take on it. I feel however that most life actions films suffer from the very human limitations of acting and directing. It is much easier to do several voice retakes and tweak the animation a little, than have to do retake after retake to get a certain expression or emotion right. Plus the handling of special effects can break or make a live action film. I personally feel certain works are so iconic they are best left alone. I understand some themes might become dated but it also serves as a lense as to how people then perceived the possible futures of humanity and what worried them and what excited them. So long as its not another death note at least haha

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