There has been an oversupply of live-action anime adaptations over the years, ranging from Dragon Ball and Death Note to Bleach and the impending One Piece live-action film. While some aren't completely terrible, they don't even come close to the anime that inspired them. No matter how hard producers strive to make an effect and capitalise on the vast fan bases of anime brands, they consistently fail to please audiences, but why?
Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, a groundbreaking 1964 study by Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan, states that "the form of a medium embeds itself in the message, creating a symbiotic relationship by which the medium influences how the message is perceived." What does this have to do with live-action anime adaptations and how they appear to fail no matter how much excitement is built around them? When they alter the media from its original presentation, the substance of the media and the reception of the message for people who are familiar with it are altered. A live-action anime film, for example, explores media that anime fans are already familiar with, but it might be perceived differently by someone who has never seen the anime.
Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of non-anime fans champing at the bit to watch live-action anime adaptations, so the projects fail.
What Is the Message of Anime As a Medium?
Anime is a visual storytelling medium that use a variety of techniques to convey its message. Often, the message is conveyed through the anime genre itself. When it comes to elements like colour use, character maturity and development, and relativity in anime, genres influence expectations. These elements have an impact on the message and its perception. multiple people have questioned whether anime is a medium or a genre, but when it comes down to it, it's a cultural medium of expression with multiple genres. Anime frequently contains unexpected messages about morals, inner power, and self-confidence that are hidden beneath the presentation but become a message regardless.
Impossible things regularly happen in anime, which is one of the reason fans find themselves invested and entertained by the medium. The unbelievable becomes believable as characters embrace their unrealistic, body-stretching powers and battle enemies with equally impossible power. Presentation through animation rarely causes viewers to bat an eye. The same can't be said for live-action representations of the same scenes.
Live-action features real people. Though they may act like the characters they're meant to represent, in the end it's only acting. Anime's message as a medium achieves something actual humans playing a role never could: believability — which many might actually find absurd.
Is the Message Changed When Manga Is Adapted Into Anime?
The intriguing thing about turning a manga into an anime is that the message changes. Not only does animation improve the manga's content, but it also produces its own message. Animators and producers alter the manga's story, but sometimes they completely change the message by adding colour, movement, voice, and music. These elements bring the black-and-white pages to life. Some anime expands on past depictions of people or events, allowing them to evolve. Giving characters tangible voices adds dimensions to their personalities, just as seeing them move and in full colour helps them feel more real.
The message also changes when the story gets altered. Sometimes, the order of events in the manga doesn't play out as well on screen, so it needs to be altered to get the point across. Other times, the addition of "filler" episodes and anime movies further explores the characters, world and setting. For many, these added layers enrich the manga's message, making it more entertaining to consume.
Of course, it's important to ask if adaptation makes an anime better than the manga that inspired it. The answer is no, because each has their own message to share, allowing them to stand alone as separate but related mediums. So, why don't live-action films achieve the same result? When it comes down to it, live-action doesn't actually establish its own message, but borrows from messages already formed by the anime and manga that preceded it.
Real actors portraying the outrageous things that often occur in anime isn't as realistic as it is when it's animated. Even with higher budgets and advanced technology, it's all but impossible to make a believable version of a human pirate who can stretch his body out like rubber the same way the animated version of Luffy D Monkey can. Many will argue that superhero movies do this all the time, but there's a difference in the overall adaptation. Anime often goes over the top when representing characters, their abilities, and the outlandish events that occur in the world. The MCU and DCU incorporate a level of realism and a message that resonates with audiences. The message in superhero films makes all the difference, even though they're adapted from comic books. They present their own message.
Perhaps one day, live-action anime adaptations will find a way to stand on their own. For now, they lean too heavily on the media that inspires them, doing nothing to stand out or make an impact.
