Live-action adaptations have had their fair share of positive and negative reviews among the masses in the past. Moving forward, fans are anticipating yet anxious about new adaptations such as “Oshi no Ko” (“My Star”) and “Avatar the Last Airbender.” This begs the question of whether or not they will be worth watching when the time comes.
“Mulan,” is a classic and thrilling story of a young Chinese woman who disguises herself as a man and raises her status to an honorable warrior. Upon the release of the film, the reception was quite negative. Many people claimed that the film fundamentally misunderstood what made the original so special. Coupled with the fact that many of the beloved animated aspects of the movie were removed, people were less than pleased with the end product.
Jingan Young, a journalist for The TheGuardian exclaimed their biggest grievance with “Mulan” in their review “Perhaps most jarring is the decision made by the film’s four credited screenwriters to strip our heroine of any flaws.”
Young elaborates on their criticism claiming “In the film, Qi gives Mulan superhuman physical powers. Unlike the animation’s average teenager, who works hard to succeed as a soldier, the new Mulan is ready-made.”
Other students at Eleanor Roosevelt High School, however, express a different perspective from Young.
Karen Fu a junior gave her opinion “I think it was okay, but it was very different from the story in the animation of Mulan. I enjoyed the original animation of Mulan compared to the live-action Mulan, the story was more enjoyable in the animation as well as the scenes and battle.”
Another junior Haley Zelaya shared her thoughts “I liked the live-action because of the action and romance.”
“One Piece” is mostly considered one of the more successful adaptations out there in the sea. Even though many believe it’s not as good as the original it is passable. Some users on the internet believed this piece of work broke the awful curse of animated shows turning into terrible adaptations.
A Youtuber, GrandLineReview shared several likable elements that cooperated in the series.
They said, “Buggy’s tent was a very sinister idea explored in the episode where he was holding the citizens of Orange Town hostage and forcing them to be part of his show, forcing them to laugh and applaud and whist yes super dark, it still retains the raw essence of ‘One Piece’.”
Despite the mixed reception that most live-action adaptations receive there is no shortage of them. The iconic animated show “Avatar the Last Airbender” and the popular manga series “Oshi no Ko” (“My Star”) are among the next contenders to receive an adaptation.
“Avatar the Last Airbender” previously got a live-action adaptation in the form of a movie in 2010. However, due to the initial movie’s inaccuracies in casting and the overall lack of research on the source material, the movie became notoriously hated. Another live-action adaptation of the series was announced around September 2018 to mixed reactions. Most attempted to remain optimistic but things got complicated when Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino, the original creators of the animated series left the live-action production due to creative differences. As it stands the series is set to premiere on February 22, with bated breath.
On January 28, the popular manga and anime series “Oshi no Ko” or “My Star” was announced to have a live-action adaptation. “Oshi no Ko” was one of the most popular anime adaptations released last year, so it’s no surprise that it would receive a live-action remake. However, many fans have expressed discontent with the idea of the series being adapted into a live-action medium. Most people point to the fact that the series was popular due to its animation, which is something that gets lost in a live-action medium.
Personally. We want to remain optimistic about the prospect of having more live-action animated adaptations be made. However, with the constant mixed reception these remakes invoke we tend to be wary when a new adaptation gets announced. This, added to the fact that in our opinion, there truly are some stories that can only work in an animated format makes the topic of live-action adaptation a difficult one to approach.
