Why do you ask this? The only recent precedent is Ghost in the Shell.
It looks like is gonna be an adaptation set in america a la Netflix's Death Note. I don't think they are gonna put an american girl in Japan and call her "Mitsuha".
Why do you ask this? The only recent precedent is Ghost in the Shell.
It looks like is gonna be an adaptation set in america a la Netflix's Death Note. I don't think they are gonna put an american girl in Japan and call her "Mitsuha".
Only ones I can think of are Ghost in the Shell and the Last Airbender (if that counts).
DB Evolution maybe, though I'm not sure if Bulma was ever confirmed to be Japanese, and Goku is technically an alien, but I'll count it as white washing.
What else?
EDIT: Does Speed Racer count? Did that still take place in Japan in the LA adaption? Where does Speed Racer even take place to begin with?
Never, the article states that he is producing and developing the project. Someone else will direct. A small character-based drama isn't really Abrams' wheelhouse anyway.
Only ones I can think of are Ghost in the Shell and the Last Airbender (if that counts).
DB Evolution maybe, though I'm not sure if Bulma was ever confirmed to be Japanese, and Goku is technically an alien, but I'll count it as white washing.
What else?
EDIT: Does Speed Racer count? Did that still take place in Japan in the LA adaption? Where does Speed Racer even take place to begin with?
The driving force behind the plot is a Shinto concept, brought up repeatedly throughout the film, that has no correlating idea in American religion. I guess you could just cut that out entirely, but then you lose a major thematic concept in the movie.
If they have to Americanize it, I think it would be easier to have Taki be an American boy, and keep Mitsuha as a Japanese girl. Taki (or whatever his American name is) is interested in Japanese culture and has a working knowledge of the language, while Mitsuha is also interested in America and taught herself some English. So when the body switching happens, they can somewhat communicate in the other person's body while making some grammar errors for comic relief purposes. Keeping Mitsuha Japanese allows you to keep the Shinto concepts that play a major role in the story.
The driving force behind the plot is a Shinto concept, brought up repeatedly throughout the film, that has no correlating idea in American religion. I guess you could just cut that out entirely, but then you lose a major thematic concept in the movie.
If they have to Americanize it, I think it would be easier to have Taki be an American boy, and keep Mitsuha as a Japanese girl. Taki (or whatever his American name is) is interested in Japanese culture and has a working knowledge of the language, while Mitsuha is also interested in America and taught herself some English. So when the body switching happens, they can somewhat communicate in the other person's body while making some grammar errors for comic relief purposes. Keeping Mitsuha Japanese allows you to keep the Shinto concepts that play a major role in the story.
I feel like there was a time when Abrams, as a director, was talked about in the same way a Nolan or a Villeneuve is now. But it quietly became apparent that particular emperor had no clothes.
Compare his filmography to any of theirs. A Mission Impossible sequel, two Trek films, two (soon to be) Star Wars film and a bloated homage to Amblin in Super 8.
I'm not saying that he isn't talented or that his TV output isn't fantastic (from Lost all the way to Westworld) but hasn't come away near the promise that many thought he showed as a director.
To anyone suggesting that the visuals make the animation unique, here are the real world locations used to inspire the settings of the anime: https://fastjapan.com/en/p112544
This movie is not some bubble-gum/psychedelic/fantasy only possible in an animated form. It's grounded and realistic. Honestly, what scenes can't be recreated in live action? I've only seen the move once, but the only shots that would even require CG are the ones featuring the comet -- and that's some standard Hollywood/ILM/effects house stuff we're talking about.
2. if you do international like that, Mitsuha should stay Japanese and Taki be American.
The big city character's setting isn't very relevant and would work mostly the same anywhere in the world.
Mitsuha's however is very important and a random country girl's in America wouldn't read anywhere near the original.
Not only is it country but you also have the cultural traditions and religion elements that greatly increases the contrast between them.
Unless they go ridiculous and have her be Amish or something....
Yes. Well, eventually the boy needs to run to texas to save the girl from a meteor and he scales the wall like a champ while dodging racist milita border patrols.
You're not wrong, it is a trope, but one that is quite real from my personal experience (I have family in Japan). See the big event isn't all important in the movie.
They could have replaced it with a dragon, or some other calamity. It is supposed to serve as the ubiquitous and very real threat of a disaster that's pretty much ingrained into the Japanese psyche.
I know it's real, and I know that's why it resonates with people. My point is rather that the characters are not explored at all, so they're just archetypes. It's fine for the type of film that it is, but it's all surface level stuff.
My point stands in regard to the big event. It's just there. And it's overcome by calling on the power of youthful exuberance. I just find this particular part rather egregious considering that it takes its inspiration from Japan's recent history, and does so in a casual throwaway manner. It'd be like having the kids from Grave of the Fireflies magically find their family alive and well and live happily ever after.
Shinkai said himself that he does not think he deserves to be compared Miyazaki, and I believe he has a long way to go as a storyteller to warrant the comparison.
I see where you're coming from here, agree and apologise for calling it silly. Regarding the third act I thought although rushed and a bit disjointed did not really detract from the theme, because at its core the movie is about shit happens, find meaning in it, the world goes on.
Thanks. I get you liked the movie more than I did. The reason that I'm more critical of act 3, is that it did detract from the theme, because apparently shit doesn't happen. Everything comes together in a cop-out ending that left me with a sour aftertaste. I got the impression that the director did not know how to bring a close to the premise he put forth.
I'm still baffled by the success of this movie. Like, it's good (I'd give it 7-8/10) and Shinkai is good too, but it blew past every single anime movie ever.
If I had to guess, the initial audience was blindsided by the twist, and was not used to seeing something like it. The resulting word of mouth made Your Name into a cultural phenomenon that you supposedly had to see. I imagine that the movie attracted many viewers that otherwise would not see a movie of this sort, which is also why many of them were impressed to such a degree.