“Conquering live actions and adaptations“! This is the new motto that has been dominating the vast ocean of small screen for a while now. While the quest for those little gems of animation is dangerous and sinuous, big bosses of streaming companies made it their problem to solve. Today, their catalogue is the place to search for adaptations of the most popular names in the animation sphere. Disney classics, cartoons, animes… The quest for the animation industry has not started yesterday and is not stopping any soon.
In this first part, let us explore the trickiest of all : adaptions of animes.
Animes : a risky quest…
On the manga/anime side, it is the Japanese themselves who has sailed their boat first. From the beginning of the 70s to the 2000s, many popular mangas made their appearance in the Japanese adaptation landscape (Nana, lovely complex, GTO, L’attaque des titans…) before they cross Asian borders and start being adapted under Americans eyes’s. However, neither Dragonball Evolution(2009), nor Death Note(2017) will succeed to convince the public —at least not in the good way.
Are animes adaptations, therefore, possible ? The toughest part is the origin itself. Indeed, the adaptation of the universe, the characters and fighting scenes (if any) are doable without much problem in animes. But those elements are, in the contrary, the biggest challenge to live action.
… Which is finally paying off
It looks like all the years of fumbling around are slowly, but safely, giving their results. Although some productions like Cowboy Beepop (which aired in 2021 on Netflix) or Knight of the Zodiac (2023) were welcomed with mixed reviews (but certainly we’ve seen worse), others like Alita : Battle Angel managed to have warmer and more hopeful critics. A sequel has, in fact, been announced.
But the one who’ll put the competition on track again, is not other that One Piece. And the treasure has nothing to do with it (at least not directly) ! Indeed, the Netflix and Eiichirō Oda’s tv-show has revived hope on the other side of the ocean. Therefore, the success of One Piece will surely serve as an example in how to conduct upcoming live actions adaptations. Not only the show has been renewed for several other seasons, but it has once again put on the table of decision promising announcements of animes, that have been under discussion for some time now.
Upcoming adaptations
Fans of Naruto(Lionsgate), My hero Academia(Netflix and Legendary Entertainment), One punch Man(Sony Pictures) or Sword Art Online(Netflix) may —or not— cheer at seeing by 2025, their favorite heroes in flesh-and-blood.
Other projects like the two Death note (a movie sequel to the 2017’s movie and a new tv-show produced by the Duffer brothers), Attack on Titan, Lupin The Third (Prime Video) will once again be adapted into live actions which are, this time, supposed to be more faithful to the originals.
From the French perspective’s, the television channel TF1 has announced the adaptation of Cat’s eye into a tv-show. The project will be an 8 episode series which will take place in the 21st century’s Paris.
But let’s talk about imminent adaptations…
City hunter, alias Tokyo biggest seducer, Japan’s best private detective... there are many adjectives to describe Ryô Saeba. After a first movie with Jacki Chan in 1993 and a French adaptation in 2018 played by Philippe Lacheau, it’s now the turn for Ryohei Suzuki to interpret all the detective’s facets. The good news ? The trailer already gives the impression the movie, which’ll air the 25th of April on Netflix, will be faithful to the original.
What’s the follow-up ?
If something is clear, it’s the interest of big productions and streaming companies in emblematic characters and already well-known action animes. Even if in 2023 Kimi Ni Todoke, a shōjo anime, made an -discreet- arrival on Netflix, the balance still weighs more on the shōnen side. Risky bait or advantageous?
Until the second part of this article about cartoons and Disney adaptations, I’ll let you ponder the question with these two pictures of a meditating Aang.
