Tag: Anime

Mandalay reaches ‘Full Metal Panic’

fullmetalpanic

It seems as thought Hollywood is gradually moving it’s eyes towards Anime and Manga as a source of new material, much in the same way it has with comic books and graphic novels. So long as it’s done properly, I find this to be a positive step towards a renewed “freshness” in Hollywood filmmaking.

Mandalay Pictures has picked up rights to ‘Full Metal Panic’ and plans to develop a big screen adaptation. The original series mixes comedy, action and teen romance.

The property derives from writer Shoji Gatoh’s series about a teenage anti-terrorist commando named Sousuke Sagara who is given the mission to protect a high-school girl with mystical powers. — HR

I’ve not read the Manga series or seen the anime, but ‘Full Metal Panic’ is certainly a story that would appeal to the ‘tween audiences. The story takes place in a world virtually void of adults.

Born as a serialized novel from Gatoh and the illustrator Shiki Douji, “Panic” was developed in the early 2000’s as a Japanese anime by the Asian firm Kyoto Animation and eventually also yielded a spinoff series. — HR

According to Hollywood Reporter, Zac Efron has been possibly connected to the project, which makes sense considering his target audience. I’m less interested in this potential adaptation as I would be more sci-fi/mature-themed sources, but it may surprise us anyway.

[source: Hollywood Reporter]

Review: ‘Sword of the Stranger’

swordofthestranger

Chad:

So on Thursday, Fathom Events held a special presentation of ‘Sword of the Stranger’ (Sutorejia: Mukà ´ hadan). In spite of some technical difficulties with the theater, the movie was great. The movie was being broadcast via satellite and was very dark, making some of the exciting action sequences hard to see clearly. The story was not as complex and convoluted in comparison to some of the anime greats like ‘Akira’ and ‘Ghost in the Shell’. It was straight forward and easy to understand. Which, I’m sure will help it’s appeal to the general audiences out there.

The story follows a young orphan who is running for his life from the Ming Dynasty. The Ming, as they are referred to in the film, have some nasty plans for the boy’s blood. The boy Kotaro and his faithful dog Tobimaru are racing across Japan to Mangaku Temple, a Buddhist monastery where brother Shoan said they would be safe. On his journey, the pair meet up with a wandering Ronin, samurai warrior without a master, who drops in on them while they are trying to have dinner. With Tobimaru’s help, the Warrior, who we find out later has given up his name and goes by “No Name”, joins their party. Moments later, the three are attacked by two of the Japanese soldiers assigned to help the Ming capture the boy. Kotaro eventually hires No Name to help get him to the monastery safely with one caveat; that he help save Tobimaru who was poisoned while saving No Name from a Ming dagger. Let me make one disclaimer for those of you who, like myself, love dogs and tend to avoid movies where dogs die. The dog lives, though it is a close call.

All in all this is an exciting movie. The story has some heart-warming sections where No Name and Kotaro become friends. These were few and far between but they really helped. They added an the intensity to the action by enthralling the audience with a true concern over how the fight sequences turn out. I really felt for the characters.

At one point No Name, striving through most of the movie to keep a vow he made to himself, lashes out in an effort to save Kotaro and the audience actually applauded, in the middle of the movie. I know. I know. I don’t blame them. If I didn’t find clapping in a movie distasteful myself, I might have as well. It was just the intensity of the scene that everyone was feeling.

Check out the official website at Bandai

Sword of the Stranger is definitely worth checking out when the DVD is released. I’ll see you in line!

WAMG First Look… ‘Blood: The Last Vampire’

The popular 2000 anime feature ‘Blood: The Last Vampire’ has become a live-action feature film directed by Chris Nahon (The Empire of Wolves, Kiss of the Dragon) from a screenplay written by Ronny Yu (Fearless, Freddy vs Jason). I thought the original animated film was pretty good and can see the potential in a live-action remake. Much of the anime out there involves so much that simply could not be done (successfully) in a live-action film, despite having great stories and characters, but ‘Blood’ doesn’t fall as extremely into this category. From the looks of the photos available from the film so far, the cinematography looks great. I’m also sure the action will be handled well, but the question remains whether the story will translate well in this format. No trailers have been released.

Plot: A vampire named Saya, who is part of covert government agency that hunts and destroys demons in a post-WWII Japan, is inserted in a military school to discover which one of her classmates is a demon is disguise.

Release Date: March 2009

[Photos courtesy of BeyondHollywood.com]

‘Ninja Scroll’ is Coming …

Alex Tse has been confirmed  to write “Ninja Scroll,” Warners’ adaptation of the classic Japanese anime feature. Also, Leonardo DiCaprio’s production company Appian Way is producing along with Madhouse Pictures and Jungo Maruta.

Alongside “Akira” and “Ghost in the Shell” Ninja is  one of the most popular animes.  “Ninja” is set in feudal Japan and follows a ninja who must fight eight demonic warriors in order to save Japan. The hard-R movie, released in 1993 in Japan, featured a villain with stone skin, a hunchback with a wasp nest as his hump and a woman whose snake tattoos come to life. All of that sounds amazing. I have never been one for anime but this looks and sounds like a good movie. I can’t wait to hear more about this upcoming flick.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

In case you missed it … ‘Paprika’

I enjoy feature-length anime and make an effort to catch them when I can, but we in the US have a slight deficiency in availability of much of what’s available out there, especially if you’re on the lower rung of knowledge when it comes to Japanese animation, like myself. Regardless, some of the more “heavily” marketed features do become more readily available. For example, I remember when ‘Princess Mononoke’ was very heavily marketed by Disney … that was actually a very good movie. Of course, the most familiar feature to the general public is ‘Akira’ which is a definite classic. One of the newer features that has gotten more attention than is normal is ‘Paprika’ (2006).

‘Paprika’ is a story of the inevitable corruption of brilliant new science and technology created for good, but is stolen and corrupted by those who do not truly understand its value. A device called a DC Mini that allows a person to enter into another person’s dreams has been stolen before its finished. Now those people responsible for this device must attempt to recover it before its possessor can use it in catastrophic ways. The device was originally intended to assist therapists in healing patients with psychiatric disorders. Now that its been stolen, it could be used to wield full control over the world of dreams. Chiba,   psycho-therapist, must locate and remove this threat with the help of her dream-ego named Paprika before its too late and the worlds of reality and dreams collide and fall into complete chaos.

I’ve actually known about this film for way too long to have just recently watched the DVD, but hey … I watch a lot of movies. I have to prioritize as best I can. Anyway, all I can say is “WOW!” This movie is a visual festival of cool dream imagery. The art and the animation is unbelievably well-done, especially considering the onslaught of new CGI animation techniques. It seems Japan is one of the last remaining champions of the traditional style. [I’m no expert. Modern anime may actually be done via CGI, or not. But if it is… I admire that they’ve maintained the traditional look and feel that makes anime what it is.] On tp of the incredible images, the soundtrack is also amazing and really works well in conveying the mood for the story and is perfectly melded with the animation. Above all, ‘Paprika’ offers an interesting science-fiction story that is smart and entertaining, but also gives a subtle commentary on our obsession with the advancement of technology. The last film I recall seeing that had a similar sort of sci-fi theme was ‘Strange Days’.