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Why does anyone in Hollywood think this is a good idea? It was a craptastic incomprehensible piece of Japamation that only a small number of fanboys love but everyone else hates. Some idiot at Fox gets it into his head that because the Japanese version did really well in Japan an American made version will be a blockbuster in America despite demographics that prove only die-hard manga fans, all 100,000 of them, are going to want to see it. Hasn't Hollywood learnt their lesson by now video games made into movies suck, American cartoons made into movies are crap (transformers is the exception) and anime made into movies are a blight upon humanity.
I ask every sane person to write or call Fox and demand that they cancel this future piece of s#%$ for the benefit of the world.
I guess I don't qualify as sane then since I'm really looking forward to this movie :)
Well, this information will probably fall on deaf ears, but since the issue was raised, I will respond, as a "anime fanboy".
The american anime market is worth over 4.3 billion dollars, as of 2007, and it has only grown since then. This is also merely the anime market, not the related manga market. Conversely, in 2006, the North American console computer game sales were 1.1 billion. Consider how many people were upgrading to Burning Crusade on their WoW accounts, this puts an interesting perspective on the size of the anime/manga community.
The licenses for rights to distribute in america are extremely expensive, in fact it is not unheard of to reach costs of as much as 20,000 dollars an episode. That kind of money is only moved if there is equally large profit margin, and thus consumer base, which is impressive considering that many anime fans only download fansubs or merely pirate episodes without supporting the industry.
Regarding Dragonball, plot deviations of the movie relative to the origional manga aside, the manga has sold over 150 million volumes between Japan and North America. The Dragonball movie, while made using english speaking actors, is being released dubbed in Japan prior to its American release, so the movie itself is not merely for the american fanbase.
It is also true that the Dragonball anime is very different from the manga, with notable criticism on the much slower pace of the anime. This is often due to the different speeds at which episodes and volumes are released, which often causes episodes to "catch up" to the volumes and require "filler" episodes to buy time for more manga volumes to be produced.
So basically, what I'm trying to say is, that while you are more than welcome to your opinion of the movie (I myself hold no high hopes for it besides fodder for my own private MST3K party), I do hope that you do better research before you make assertations about a subculture community. There is nothing personal here, I would do the same on an Anime Forum if someone there posted something to the extent of "Why is another volume of D&D coming out? Why isn't hasbro putting more effort into the next Pokemon release, instead of wasting money on some dumb game only a few thousand nerds play in their moms basements?"
BB out.
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Well, this information will probably fall on deaf ears, but since the issue was raised, I will respond, as a "anime fanboy".
The american anime market is worth over 4.3 billion dollars, as of 2007, and it has only grown since then. This is also merely the anime market, not the related manga market. Conversely, in 2006, the North American console computer game sales were 1.1 billion. Consider how many people were upgrading to Burning Crusade on their WoW accounts, this puts an interesting perspective on the size of the anime/manga community.
The licenses for rights to distribute in america are extremely expensive, in fact it is not unheard of to reach costs of as much as 20,000 dollars an episode. That kind of money is only moved if there is equally large profit margin, and thus consumer base, which is impressive considering that many anime fans only download fansubs or merely pirate episodes without supporting the industry.
Regarding Dragonball, plot deviations of the movie relative to the origional manga aside, the manga has sold over 150 million volumes between Japan and North America. The Dragonball movie, while made using english speaking actors, is being released dubbed in Japan prior to its American release, so the movie itself is not merely for the american fanbase.
It is also true that the Dragonball anime is very different from the manga, with notable criticism on the much slower pace of the anime. This is often due to the different speeds at which episodes and volumes are released, which often causes episodes to "catch up" to the volumes and require "filler" episodes to buy time for more manga volumes to be produced.
So basically, what I'm trying to say is, that while you are more than welcome to your opinion of the movie (I myself hold no high hopes for it besides fodder for my own private MST3K party), I do hope that you do better research before you make assertations about a subculture community. There is nothing personal here, I would do the same on an Anime Forum if someone...
My apologies for any offense, the main purpose of my rant was to voice my and all of my friends questions of wtf and why in an apparently un-humorous way.
No problem, I didn't find your tone offensive, merely a little misinformed. And since I plan to be an educator, well, I seem to auto-fail saves against informing people. Its a habit that has gotten me into trouble in the past and will surely do so again in the future.
Personally, I have little expectations for the DB movie, but then again, Anime movies are now at the point that fantasy movies were about 10 years ago. Which means, right on the cusp of a breakthrough, going from Dragonheart as the high ideal to something more like Lord of the Rings.
Anime movies have come a long way since stuff like the live action Guyver with Mark Hamil. Honestly, I plan on rewatching that before I see Dragonball. If Dragonball is honestly worse than that, I will cry tears. Of blood. From my gouged out sockets.
I'm personally just glad the Hollywood Movers and Shakers have finally decided "Hey, that anime stuff that we thought was not capable of generating profit as live action? Well, those anime geeks are all over the place, and are spending a huge amount of money each year, heck, even if we only get a fraction of them to see the movie, we'd make profit!" It means the anime subculture has been recognized as a monetary force relative to the entertainment industry. Think about how many music styles there are that don't see the light of day on MTV. Or the number of sports that aren't in the olympics.
I'm proud to see the subculture getting acknowledged, even if only as a bunch of geeks with disposable income. Better than being geeks without it. Now we just have to make our opinions known enough to get the standards where we want them. Hollywood knows we have money now, and Hollywood wants our money. It won't take long for Hollywood to realize what does and does not get more of it. And then we might be able to see some real live action anime movies, that could later sit on our DVD rack next to Lord of the Rings, instead of buried behind it.
You know what? A live action Escaflowne movie would be sweet.
As long as they don't mess up the existing soundtrack or forget the story by adding characters it really doesn't need well okay that make no sense then...
Now if only they could do something on the lines of the Record of Lodoss War as live action now that would be incredible, not that Escaflowne wouldn't be as great just that I'd rather they not butcher it in the process...
I still can't see the words "live action" and "Dragonball-Z" together without being overcome by a fit of giggles. But then, I'm not a big fan of the show. I can only watch guys "power-up" for so long before I ask "Why doesn't anyone just shoot them before they finish?"
I still can't see the words "live action" and "Dragonball-Z" together without being overcome by a fit of giggles. But then, I'm not a big fan of the show. I can only watch guys "power-up" for so long before I ask "Why doesn't anyone just shoot them before they finish?"
Usually because they're already too powerful to be hurt by regular means as absurd as that sounds.
And yes thats still no excuse but then it is an anime...|
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Anime movies have come a long way since stuff like the live action Guyver with Mark Hamil.
Don't go trashing Guyver. That movie is entertaining. Silly at times, but entertaining. Personally, I sort of prefer the sequel though it's too angsty at times.
On topic, I read good things about the live action Death Note, though I have yet to see it.
I still can't see the words "live action" and "Dragonball-Z" together without being overcome by a fit of giggles. But then, I'm not a big fan of the show. I can only watch guys "power-up" for so long before I ask "Why doesn't anyone just shoot them before they finish?"
I loved DBZ in all of its rediculousness because it had some truly awsome moments. As for why they weren't just shot, it was tried. Many, many times. Including tanks, and missles, and whole armies. The conventional weapons didn't work.
As for the live action movie, all I have to say is: BOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! WHYYYYYYYY?????? It looks so bad, but I'll rent it on DVD just to make fun of it.