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Originally Posted by Fire
Why do they feel the need to create live action versions of anime? I'm not a big anime watcher but I haven't heard of a good live action version of an anime yet.
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The Rurouni Kenshin live action films were pretty well-received, as was Nodame Cantabile. I never watched them.
Great Teacher Onizuka is a classic, whether manga or live action. In this triad, the anime is actually the black sheep.
I had a blast with the Chihayafuru live action film. Although the anime is to me the best version of it.
Kimi wa Pet was really good, too.
Hana Yori Dango 2006 was amazing... so good I never wanted to watch or read any other version of it (and between the manga, anime, and dozens of K-drama versions... that's a lot)
Apparently, Hikaru no Go's chinese live action adaptation was 10/10
As far as your overall point though - I think adaptations tend to flop for largely the same reasons, whether it's an adaptation of a manga like One Piece or a novel series like The Witcher:
- writers taking creative liberties because they simple don't know the source material outside of reading a few summaries
- writers trying to appeal to the culture of their target audience and over-emphasizing some parts while under-emphasizing others
- producers completely re-structuring the source material in order to fit into a watchable format (this even applies to something like the Lord of the Rings movies - three movies does not cover three books!), and often skipping key character development and plot exposition to make sure a few "iconic' scenes can all be squeezed in
- final cut editors removing dialogue-heavy scenes in favour of more action
- poor special effects due to budget limitations
- make-up and costumes that don't quite bridge the muted look of reality with the loud look of another medium
- just the wrong directors for the tone of the material
- deviations from the an incomplete source material when caught up
I don't think any of the above complaints are unique to adaptations
of manga. But they're also things that good adaptations can account for. One of the reasons the Marvel Cinematic Universe is so successful despite, really, being comic book super hero movies/shows, is because a lot of the creative decisions are kept well in check.
Eiichiro Oda's heavy involvement in this one, as well as the format (a big-budget streamed TV series, with season one probably covering the East Blue Saga (the first ~100 chapters in a 1000+ chapter manga) gives me a lot of optimism. Sure, maybe some of these super powers even look cheesy in the trailer (I mean, the main character is Reed Richards minus a couple hundred IQ points) but it's not really what makes One Piece special. One Piece is special because of its top-tier worldbuilding, its impeccable theming of its story arcs, its emotional character development, and generally consistently fun adventure vibes.
If it succeeds in bringing in more fans, I'm all for it. Especially considering the biggest reason people give for not watching the One Piece anime is "not liking the art style"
Now, video game adaptations are another story, because a lot of what makes a good game doesn't translate into what makes a good passive medium like TV or cinema, but I don't think that's relevant here.
One Piece (Netflix)
