Live Actions Adaptations to Avoid?

The actual stills weren't too bad though

What is it with folks making weird Live Action adaptations of everyone's favorite manga/anime series? Alright, so not all adaptations are bad but … a lot of them do make fans want to poke themselves in the eyes and flee the room whilst screaming like a banshee. I have been avoiding the rumors of the Death Note remake (which thankfully might not happen) but in the process, missed out news about these possible remarks. Say it isn't so!

All who hate live action adaptations, say 'Aye!'

Full Metal Alchemist

I have not got into this one yet. It has been highly recommended by friends and I know one too many FMA fans. So it's safe to say this one's a winner, at least for a number of folks who gets their happy fix from it. Well, seems like folks are interested in making a Hollywood remake out of this one. And someone mentioned - as a joke I hope – that Zac Efron might be in it. What? As if the remake news was not bad enough …. I wonder how they will depict all the action bits. I'm betting that this will be dumbed down for the PG rating. Oh boy!

Yea, not going to translate well, is it?

Akira

And if you thought that previous one would turn out alright, what about this one? This one's supposed to be out in 2011. So far, it's been rather hush hush so I'm guessing folks don't want the fans ranting about it and ruining the marketing moments? That's what happened to Battle Royale. It makes sense; the ones that cater to a niche market are more likely to have fussier viewers and nothing says cult classic like Akira. When I watched this eons ago, I came away with the vague memory of a creepy dystopia where women ended up getting hurt … a lot. Of course, that's not what the story is all about; it is actually a dystopian scifi story to beat all such stories, with folks have fantastic super powers being hunted by creepy government agents and a desperate bid to save the world. Admittedly, there is hope for a Live Action movie if bigwigs can stop implementing the PG friendly mode on all movies.

Kapow!

Ninja Scroll

Oh no they didn't! Seems like this much loved series did not escape the eye of the remake folks either. Once again, it can work out rather well and perhaps it can be a great adaptation. After all, Crying Freeman was extremely well done. And you really don't need to sensationalize a story like NS: it's got mystical elements, numerous sword fights and just a bit much of the ecchi factor. In other words, it's movie gold! You don't need to tweak this story. By the way, can I just add that, for some odd reason, Leonardo DiCaprio is producing a lot of these remakes? That doesn't necessarily reassure me; in fact, it makes me fret even more. As far as updates go, it appears that he might nab SMAP (a pop group) for parts in the movie. It might work. But they do look like they should be in a movie centered around reverse harem as opposed to the action-packed gore fest that was Ninja Scroll.