Mainstream Society Doesn’t Deserve Live-Action Anime. at Riuva : Research Institute for Unicultural Visual Arts

Mainstream Society Doesn’t Deserve Live-Action Anime.

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Popularity: 10% [?] Published by tj_han May 16th, 2008 in Culture

I was going to say, "Americans" in place of "Mainstream Society" but decided against it even though the poor box office performance of Speed Racer was measured in the US. But I do know that it isn’t just Americans, as even here in Singapore, I hear lots of negative reviews about this epic film.

The thing is, "Speed Racer" is barely even an anime. The version brought out of Japan, to the US, was heavily modified, to remove all trace of Japaneseness. One wouldn’t even notice SR was an anime. It’s not even the original title!

That aside, as it opened on the same week here as Iron Man and both are big budget CGI films, I went to see them both in a row. SR is by far the superior film though Ironman was awesome as well. Yet, this sentiment is not shared by the vast majority of movie-goers, film critics and journalists.

I don’t really wish to review both movies here, as the main purpose of this post is to point out that anime is niche for a reason - it doesn’t appeal to the majority. Even something as famous as Speed Racer (far more so than Naruto even) does not appeal as broadly as Ironman and this causes it to not have the same "must-see" effect caused by familiarity that the latter possesses. The vast majority of normal people I polled regarding Speed Racer said they thought it was stupid, judging from the trailer. They cited reasons like "It looks kiddy", "The bright colours are weird", "It’s not realistic" etc.

So Ironman having terrawatts of power generated from a reactor the size of a coffee mug, made in the caves of Afghanistan, is realistic.

Speed Racer the movie is one of the most stylish and exciting movies I have seen ever. Its style factor, which I rate highly, was however the bone most mainstream critics picked on. The action was immense as well, with the choreography way, way above the lame final battle that Ironman had with Iron Monger. Hell, even the Iron Monger looks like a steampunk mecha from anime. Don’t get me wrong, I love Ironman the movie probably far more than the average normal person, but still, the amount of love it gets compared to the stick SR received irks me because it really shows how the everyday man has lost or never had the inner child necessary to make anime-viewing such a delight.

Anime is full of fantasy, non-real-life settings, sci-fi, super powers and its anything-goes nature allows for a great many visual styles, and the relative cheapness of making it compared to live action, allows all that to come to life. To make something like Production IG’s Ghost in the Shell: SAC (all 52 eps and 1 movie) into live-action of the same timelength would probably require the GDP of the USA. Yet anime can bring it to us for a fraction of the cost.

Why do we want live-action anime adaptations then? Do we want more mainstreamers to find out about anime and realise it is so awesome, thus increasing anime fandom’s size and stature? Or is it for ourselves, since seeing something like SR, GitS or even Blood, come to live in a cinema, provides so much more satisfaction and excitement than seeing a cartoon on a small monitor?

But through Speed Racer, I have realised that mainstream people are dull and cannot fathom anything with style or depth. My blood curdles at the thought of my precious GitS getting panned by audiences, who probably will say stuff like, "Where are the bewbies?", "I don’t understand, so this Laughing Man is Osama?" or "Duuuuuh, my head hurts." Though thankfully, GitS being scifi and cyberpunk will probably make the journalistic types impressed.

I worry that with the perceived failure of Speed Racer, future anime live action adaptations would suffer from cut budgets. It would be a crying shame if we were to be deprived of a wonderfully CGI-rendered GitS just because Hollywood studio execs found the risk too high.

To digress a little, compare the number of good sci-fi series Japanese anime studios churn out a year, compared to the amount of good scifi movies and TV series the entire western world makes annually. Shockingly overpowering victory for the side of Japan. And recent Hollywood scifi has all been comic book superheroes too. Too bad "good scifi" is just way too niche for the vast majority of society.

Even the otaku community is just as bad, with the likes of Darker than Black overlooked in way of intellectual gems like Lucky Star and Nanoha in terms of ratings and popularity. LianYL would rather rewatch Harold and Kumar 2 at the cinema than see Speed Racer (not saying it’s good scifi but surely watching a new show is better??)

Oh for you lovers of Speed Racer, go watch IGPX by Production IG, which is sort of similar. I love it too. Or for family love-filled tales of hard work rewarded with success, see Capeta the gokart anime.

Hmm, I think I have to conclude that humans are shit and I need to become a billionaire to fund making of my movies. Here’s a big "FUCK YOU MOFO!" to all who thinks Speed Racer sucks!

Popularity: 10% [?]

23 Responses to “Mainstream Society Doesn’t Deserve Live-Action Anime.”

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1 kuromitsu 3 comments May 16th, 2008 at 4:09 am

“But through Speed Racer, I have realised that mainstream people are dull and cannot fathom anything with style or depth.”

Or maybe… it may just happen that “crazy shiny CG action” is not everybody’s idea of fun. Certainly not mine. And depth? What depth? I mean, it’s Speed Racer, for chrissakes. I can see depth in, say, GitS, but Speed Racer? Come on.
2 Calawain 23 comments May 16th, 2008 at 6:35 am

Harold and Kumar is fucking awesome.
3 ERev 4 comments May 16th, 2008 at 6:58 am

I actually shelled out 17 dollars or so to watch both Iron Man and Speed Racer on the same day. It was fine as I don’t watch movies at the theaters often. I must say, i liked Speed Racer more than Iron Man. Both were really good movies. Speed Racer had an artistic style that I really liked. Sure, the plot was pretty predictable (like every episode, hmmm), sure it was really colorful, sure it was really kiddy (hey! its a family film) sure it was really cheesy at times (so was the show) but it blew away my expectations (which I admit was low because the tv spots and trailers made it seem so). I really liked the movie. And hey, as a man, i must admit that Matthew Fox is pretty handsome. He has a great chin. =]
4 LianYL 781 comments May 16th, 2008 at 7:37 am

Harold and Kumar wins both movies so shut up.
5 dKiWi 73 comments May 16th, 2008 at 7:51 am

I liked Ironman a lot but I’ve evaded SpeedRacer for the reasons highlighted: that its too bright, cheerful and its a racing show. I’m not sure whether I’m gonna catch it coz of financial problems, but if my friends/course mates want to I probably will go.

I agree that mainstream society doesn’t deserve anime adaptions of niche anime like GiTS or Clannad, but non-niche anime would do very well adapted. Jigoku Shoujo westernised movie anyone? That would be awesome.
6 Dm 4 comments May 16th, 2008 at 8:01 am

“Do we want more mainstreamers to find out about anime and realise it is so awesome, thus increasing anime fandom’s size and stature?”

The BEST way to promote anime is to MAKE animated series/movies and appeal to different audiences, but apparently people don’t understand that fact, or don’t have the motivation to do so.

Live action WILL NOT help, unless it gives people an uncontrollable urge to draw……
7 The Sojourner 112 comments May 16th, 2008 at 8:46 am

Here he comes… Here comes Speed Racer… He’s a demon on wheels!
8 wr 8 comments May 16th, 2008 at 1:20 pm

You’re making generalizations.

I don’t think you can use SR, one lone example, to condemn “mainstream society”, nor use it to predict bad response to other “non niche anime”.

And like you said, SR was modified so much one won’t even notice it was an anime, or originally Japanese.

I’d say the problem lies with horrible Hollywood adaptations, not “mainstream society”.
9 kokanaden 336 comments May 16th, 2008 at 4:42 pm

EPIC PHAIL.

NO WONDER YOU ARE IN FOOD SCIENCE AND NOT ARTS.

What a rabid fanboy editorial.
10 G-Man 53 comments May 16th, 2008 at 5:07 pm

I take off my hat to TJ-han because he just declared my sentiments exactly. Anime should never be adapted into a live-action movie unless real anime fans, creators, etc.. are involved in every minute detail of the creation process. Considering the hubris of the american film market, fat chance those studios will let anyone tell them what makes a good movie. American movies have been sucking for quite sometime now, sure you get the occasional good or decent movie, but for the most part american cinema follows the format that famous celebrity actors and actress million dollar production budgets for graphics= a blockbuster. Yuck!! Americans are steeped into a cyclical phase of civilization development called decadence, all they care about is the superficial, quick fix, instant gratification, pop nonsense that is pervasive in american culture. The movie industry which panders to the American audience is actually declaring an underlying symptoms of a serious cultural problem. The average american could never sit through GItS, those pretentious numskulls can’t even fathom how shallow and asinine they’re taste and viewing habits are. I hope anime stays a niche market forever. Westerns don’t deserve it!! Let them keep their “Sex in the City”, “What happen’s in Vegas”, “Spiderman”, Harry Potter, nonsense!!

I am G-man!
11 Blowfish 8 comments May 16th, 2008 at 7:07 pm

Well…I can only talk for Germany but Speed Racer got only good reviews over here.
In the German Cinema Charts its on the 9th Place(Love Vegas on 1st and Iron Man on 2nd).

And well if i remember right this Movie isnt an actual Hollywood Movie.Most of it was shot in Cologne here in Germany.That explains why there are a shitload of German Actors in small roles.
12 feng 38 comments May 16th, 2008 at 7:21 pm

No mention of Dragonball? It’s not out yet, of course, but just look at the staff/cast.
Those who want to watch really deserve it.
13 Dorian Cornelius Jasper 6 comments May 16th, 2008 at 10:46 pm

Damnit, Harold and Kumar are the win. It’s hard finding a movie featuring anyone from the Big Green Continent That Gives You 7 Extra Guys a Turn that doesn’t wallow in shallow stereotyping, much less one that actually confronts it.

Hell, the movie Crash definitely dealt Asians the worst cards in the deck, and that was supposed to be some sort of “serious media discussion about racism.” It even won an Academy Award practically on the race card alone, beating out The Gay Cowboy Movie.

Even if it’s “just” a stoner movie franchise, Harold and Kumar are still a breath of fresh Neil Patrick Harris. And cannibis.
14 Tiny Red Man 149 comments May 17th, 2008 at 12:53 am

hollywood is not attempting to let “mainstreamers to find out about anime and realise it is so awesome, thus increasing anime fandom’s size and stature..” It is turning animes to movies becos they are bloody hell lazy to think of new storylines (wow..remake of Indiana jones =.=..). Thus, they look to Asia, where lots of storys are. Nice storys btw…and do an extreme F***-the story, and woot! We got a movie that’s originally an anime, that’s turn into a shitty hollywood film.

I’m seriously not looking forward to dragonball, GitS, or whatever anime-turn-movies the hollywoods are shitting out. cos it’s gonna be bad. But i wouldnt mind DC Marvel comics turned movie.
15 Hiyuu 46 comments May 17th, 2008 at 5:24 am

:O *goes n watches speed-racer, or at least makes plans to, since u says is more awesome than iron-men (because there WERE two, or three, in that one movie weren’t there.)*

I hope USofA doesn’t make a mockery out of GitS, no dinosaurs and light-sabers pls, just good old cyberpunkbustingaction and the “deeeeep” story of the laughing man (please no shallow adaptations and abrupt-weran-outof-budget endings). Amen.
16 Sadie 1 comment May 17th, 2008 at 10:58 am

When I get tired of watching mainstream American movies, I usually try something independent, which many times hardly get the recognition it deserves. So, not all American movies are bad. You just have to make an effort to search for the really good ones.

And I just wanted to say this. I really enjoyed Speed Racer, and I’m not even a fan of the anime.
17 Tsubaki 518 comments May 17th, 2008 at 8:21 pm

Be a billionaire and fund my films.

Oh and Eric Khoo totally loved Speed Racer.
18 kokanaden 336 comments May 18th, 2008 at 12:36 am

@Tsubaki So Eric Khoo is tjhan in disguise?
19 Inuhanyou 2 comments May 18th, 2008 at 1:24 am

I liked the movie a lot, i went to see it yesterday and i didn’t see any problems. It delivered a faithful adaption to the 1967 americanized version. That just made it better to me.
20 Tsubaki 518 comments May 18th, 2008 at 3:19 pm

@kokanaden I think so.
21 TP 37 comments May 19th, 2008 at 5:30 pm

Then again, Harold and Kumar appeals to the lowest common denominator of human society (think: fratboys), so yeah! *Cues the Kumar-as-Taliban scene*

Understand that this is Hollywood: main priority is American-made franchise. They must show the “I-am-Uncle-Sam-here-to-save-the-world” mentality-image (call it colonialist snobbery if I must daresay). Then again, SR was heavily modified from its original Japanese roots.

I might be shot for this:

Jim Emerson, editor at the Chicago Sun Times, gave the film 1 1/2 stars out of four and wrote that Speed Racer “is a manufactured widget, a packaged commodity that capitalizes on an anthropomorphized cartoon of Capitalist Evil in order to sell itself and its ancillary products.” (From the Wikipedia entry on Speed Racer)

Isn’t that what most animé nowadays exhibit?
22 Maruko 6 comments Jun 2nd, 2008 at 1:10 am

We, the anime fans should be directors of live action movies. Not some american I-am-Uncle-Sam imba wierdou :S. If only Gainax would make live action movie…
23 LIT 2 comments Jun 3rd, 2008 at 4:31 pm

Contrary to critics, I actually really really did enjoyed Speed Racer much more than i did with Iron Man. I think the story’s really well brought out by the fanciful graphics and the bright neon colours. It’d be sad to see the death of live action movies just because of its lack in realism. :/

No wonder they said that one needs a mind of a 5-year old to enjoy the movie.

Do not use any < and > for your own sake. It will end the comment there and then. Also, there is an automatic IQ filter which weeds out comments made by those who accidentally got transported from the stone age.

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