Live-Action anime. A phrase that I’m sure causes any animanga enthusiast to cringe (I sure do). When anime started taking the world by storm, studios wanted to quickly capitalize on that success, resulting in the monstrosity nobody asked for. Bluntly speaking, anime usually never works in a live action format: the horrible character wigs, over-the-top dialogue, and revolting CGI is something straight from a nightmare! The problem with live-action adaptations is the fact that it’s extremely difficult to emulate the source. Much of the charm that attracts watchers to anime—the exaggerated screaming, the flamboyant character designs, the ridiculously broken power scale—is pretty much impossible to recreate. After all, Animanga isn’t meant to be shown realistically. It’s meant for art and animation alone.

Honestly, that’s enough exposition for today. Let’s move on to the stuff you came here for: the tea. This is a rundown on the Live-Action anime you should watch and the ones…that make you lose a brain cell:

Dragon Ball Evolution:

IT’S OVER 9000 (times bad)!!!!! Here’s a confession: I watched Dragonball Evolution before I watched the Dragonball anime. As a kid, I absolutely adored this movie, eagerly watching it whenever it ran on HBO (unaware of just how badly this adaptation messed up). An unpopular opinion but this live action…isn’t as bad as the others. The dialogue is fun (in a campy way), it very loosely follows the plot of dragonball, and the acting’s decent. Here’s the thing though, this is an unpopular opinion for a reason. People absolutely hate this movie, as in 15% on rotten tomatoes bad. Taking off my rose-tinted glasses, it’s not difficult to see why. The character assassinations, such as Goku’s, make him go from a kid who’d do anything to protect his friends…to a bullied friendless loser (damn, Goku). The poor CGI (Giant Ape’s honest reaction). Rewritten plotlines. The list goes on. You know an adaptation is especially horrible, when even the mangaka himself despises it so much that he decides to come back to the industry, not wanting it to be Dragon ball’s legacy (That’s so cold, Toriyama-sensei).

Attack on Titan:

I’m hard-pressed to find anyone who actually knows this exists. Even my most no-life anime friends didn’t know an Attack on Titan movie existed—let alone two. Getting back on track, anyone with two functional eyes can see why this didn’t pan out well. The CGI titans were terrifying. And I don’t mean this hyperbolically, I mean this in an I-could-not-sleep kind of terrifying (personally, I’d recommend it for a horror binge). Secondly, they removed Levi. Let that sink in. They removed Levi… I wonder why this didn’t turn out well. In conclusion, the Attack on Titan film was pretty forgettable (but, unlike the last film, it actually got a sequel somehow).

Death Note (Netflix):

It’s difficult to put into words just how much I hate this adaptation. Death Note, one of my all-time favorite anime, was ruined to a ridiculous extent. Some of the smartest anime characters, Light Turner and L, made convoluted plans which made absolutely no sense. Changing the plot till it’s not even recognizably Death Note anymore. What may be the worst of all, they removed the potato chip scene (the absolute audacity). The only thing I liked about this movie was Ryuk and his snark (him annoying  imposter Light was literal peak). But in the end, there’s nothing to call this adaptation anything but a dumpster fire straight from hell.

Cowboy Bebop (Netflix):

The Cowboy Bebop adaptation is a unique one. This adaptation actually had hype surrounding it (a feat no adaptation possessed). Alas, the hype died down within the first week, once people started realizing how mediocre this adaptation was. One of the major problems the show had was the massive change to the personalities of beloved characters. Fans of the 1998 classic like myself who were excited to see Spike’s flippant devil-may-care attitude, were instead presented with a one-dimensional hitman (look at how they ruined my boy). Even the great acting couldn’t save the show from its inconsistent storyline, unnecessary plot points, and lack of the charm that made its anime popular. It’s disheartening how Netflix could satisfy neither the anime’s fandom nor its own viewers, creating at best, a subpar show.

After all that talk about live-action adaptations, I’m sure you see the problem now. Recreating the anime live while simultaneously not losing the appeal that makes anime, well, anime, is an arduous task. So when an announcement was made for a live action One Piece, I wondered how bad they’d be screwing this up. How bad would Zoro and Nami’s wigs be? How much would the CGI suck (I’m looking at you rubber boy)? In hindsight… my doubt was unwarranted.

One Piece:

One Piece had everything going against it. At this point, live-action adaptations were widely hated, not to mention, it was being made by Netflix, whose past projects (glares at Cowboy Bebop and Death Note) hadn’t been successful to say the least. No one had any high expectations for it, not even its most loyal fans (ahem me). The scrutiny and doubt it faced was immense. However, slowly but surely, information started leaking – information that filled the fandom with hope. The mangaka, Oda, involving himself in the production? A budget rivaling Game of Thrones? The amazing set pictures. The casting was on point—exactly how I’d imagine the straw-hats to look like with Zoro’s actor being my personal favorite. Truthfully though, I was scared. Scared that I was too optimistic. Scared that my favorite anime was being adapted. Scared that they’d ruin the magic of One Piece.

22^nd July. The official trailer was released… and everybody (except twitter, it’s always twitter) loved it. The visuals were stunning, the costume designs were flawless, and characters felt like the manga’s. This was a turning point for the One Piece fandom, with everyone now anticipating the show with bated breath. 30^th August. The moment of truth. The show did not disappoint. Topping the charts in 90 countries, including Pakistan, blowing Wednesday and Stranger Things’ record out of the park (as expected from the Goat of Animanga). The thing I liked about this show the most was how you could notice the passion poured into every scene—every moment—not just by the cast, but by the directors, the set design teams and many more. You could tell they were genuine fans of the animanga. My only critiques of the show would be how the plot was slightly altered (they removed my man chu-chu), but it makes sense from a show standpoint (you, unfortunately, can’t always include everything). As a hardcore One Piece fan, I stamp this show with approval. Now, for the live-action only fans, go watch the 1000 episodes (if you don’t, you have commitment issues).

One Piece has proved that live-action adaptations can work. It just requires genuine love and passion for the source material. What this could mean for the future live-action anime industry, I don’t know. Maybe it’ll make studios reconsider their methods. Or maybe they couldn’t care less. Who knows?

Live-anime is a guilty pleasure. It’s something that the entire anime community collectively loves to hate on. While a live-action may never truly live up to the anime, it can be enjoyable to experience anime in a different way even if it, at times, makes you want to rip your hair out.

By Ali Haziq
Writer (Team 2023-2024)

Note: the views expressed in the article solely belong to the writer and do not reflect TLC.