Recently the Netflix One Piece live action trailer dropped, and I found myself in a heated debated with multiple people. Maybe it’s because I have been let down too many times by prior adaptions or maybe it is the current negative climate surrounding entertainment, but I found myself less then enthusiastic about this latest attempt despite my peers’ optimism. Now granted One Piece is one if not the biggest anime/manga property to come out of Japan. There are more and more people jumping on board the Thousand Sunny fanbase ship every day; however, I am still not convinced that this is going to be enough to guarantee a success. It did have me questioning if it is possible for an anime to be successfully adapted into a live action project.
My biggest concern with adapting One Piece into live action is because this property is set in a zany and cartoon styled world. There are a lot of over-the-top designs, expression, and abilities I do not see translating well even with the best CGI available. It could work but to do so a lot of the qualities that made both the manga and anime popular will need to be toned down. I like to reference a film back from my childhood as an example of an attempt to bring a cartoon to live action. Directed by Robert Altman in 1980, “Popeye” starring Robin Williams as the famous sailor man and Shelly Duvall at Olive Oyl, was the film live action adaption of the famous cartoon. Robin Williams and the rest of the cast were perfect representations of their animated counterparts. Williams alone embodied the character both physically and spiritually. The biggest problem with the film was it favored a darker and gritter look and avoided a more colorful cartoon world like its predecessor. The other issue was all the famous hijinks and over top animated action was toned down due to the fact special effects were not available to make them a possibility for the film. Unfortunately, this was just some of the factors that resulted in low box office sales. One Piece does seem to have adapted a colorful atmosphere, but I noticed in the trailer a lot of the scenes featuring main character Luffy’s unique abilities take place at night which contradicts the source material. I worry this is to hide the poor attempt at bringing his signature stretchy moves to life without putting too much light on them (pun intended). Now that doesn’t mean there isn’t an opportunity for success with any anime properties. The main problem is Hollywood hasn’t learned from their mistakes.
Oh, the tragedy of “Dragon ball Evolution”! Based on the hit manga and anime series by Akira Toriyama, the story focuses on Goku a strange boy from outer space with exceptional abilities, Kung-Fu skills, and a monkey tail. For those who may not know Goku was inspired by the Chinese folklore surrounding the Monkey King, a mischievous humanoid monkey god. When the film’s director James Wong casted Justin Chatwin as Goku I knew, this was going to flop. Justin looked nothing like the main character. I was expecting them to respect Toriyama’s vision by casting an Asian or Asian-American actor who could pull off the physicality of Goku. Unfortunately, that isn’t where the changes ended. Many characters were omitted or completely changed. The plot was a mess and barely resembled “Dragon Ball”. I was grateful that it failed at the box office because that would have meant other studios may not be so keen to adapt these beloved Japanese properties. Boy was I wrong! Flash forward and so far, we have had multiple failures such as Netflix’s “Cowboy Bebop”, “Death Note”, and the Scarlet Johansson lead “Ghost in a Shell” just to name a few. So why does Hollywood keep failing at adapting these properties?
The answer is simple…..They don’t understand the source material. If we learned anything from “Dragon Ball Evolution’s” failure is that Hollywood always wants to make it “their own thing” which leads to massive changes and disappointed fans. You can see it with the current phase of the MCU and the failed DCEU. Hollywood doesn’t understand or care about the source material. Meanwhile, in Japan despite some very low budget laughable adaptions there have been some successes. Let’s look at “Rurouni Kenshin”. This movie work because it is set in an historical setting known as Edo period in Japan. The plot of the story focuses on a ronin samurai who has left the life of an assassin behind him and his budding romantic relationship with a young woman named Tomoe. The fight choreography is done to reflect the main character’s skill without coming off silly and is performed by an actor without the use of CGI or at least limited CGI. There is no concern on how to adapt the unadaptable because the setting reflects a real-world scenario and Japanese culture. The live action adaption has been so successful it has spawned several sequels. The other reason for its success is that the team behind it respects the source material. Nothing is ever going to be a perfect adaption, but “Rurouni Kenshin” stays true to the spirit of the original story. So how can Hollywood right the ship when it comes to adapting anime?
In South Korea, dramas are popular and a lot of them are based on WEBTOONS. Korea is very selective on which online comics they can adapt. Most of the time it is romantic comedies like “True Beauty” or “Business Proposal”. Other times they will adapt fantasy or horror related comics like “All of Us Are Dead” which required limited CGI and lean more towards practical effects. The reason I bring this up is because they know what can and cannot work. Hollywood needs to recognize what can work when it comes to selecting an anime to adapt. Going back to “Rurouni Kenshin” this is a story that focuses on a class of warriors in historical Japan that did exists. Kenshin might be fictional but the samurai class he represents, and his fighting style are real. Hollywood needs to look at anime and distinguish want is obtainable and what is not obtainable in live action. Is this story going to require mostly CGI and will that CGI bring the characters to life or be off putting?
If I was going to choose an anime, I think is an adaptable one I would pick “Vinland Saga”. The tale of a young Viking boy seeking revenge on his father’s murderer that eventually evolves into a self-discovery journey. Viking stories have been made into films and series before. This tale offers a unique spin on the standard Scandinavian warrior plot. Like “Rurouni Kenshin” it is set in a historical setting and even observes real life events. Limited CGI could be used but the beauty of this story is its natural settings. There wouldn’t be a need for an obscene amount of green screen. Another good example is Gundam. Yes, I know your surprised by this but hear me out. Gundam tells the tale of mecha robots used for war. Each series is its own isolated story with new characters but with the familiar robots that fans have come to love. Hollywood would be able to do an original story on Gundam without messing with continuity because Gundam anime series are stand-alone. Yes, CGI would be required but what makes Gundam great is the individual stories of each character involving their past struggles, the reasons they are pulled into the war, and their ongoing development. With the right balance of storytelling and advance CGI this could work. Also, the casting opportunities are endless. Gundam has always been about a diverse group of characters including cultures and ethnicities.
In conclusion, Hollywood needs to make better choices when deciding to adapt anime. Studios tend to focus on what’s popular and not what can work as live action. One Piece has a lot of challenges ahead of it and I hope those involved have planned it out accordingly. I do not see it getting multiple seasons unless by chance it pulls off a miracle. I will be first to admit if I am wrong. For now we will have to wait and see if Hollywood turn things around or will they deliver another dud to the anime adaption trash can.