Matt Schley
March 12, 2015 
Not a week goes by, it feels, that we’re not reporting on some anime or manga that’s being turned into a live-action film. Though it’s not a particularly new phenomenon, the pace seems to be increasing as studios bank on nostalgia to drive ticket sales and CG technology gets good enough to to replicate the visuals of fantasy and sci-fi anime.
But don’t dare try to live-actionize these anime, say 500 Japanese men and women polled by Freshers Research this February. Their top five list of “leave it alone!” reads like this:
Slam Dunk – 14%
One Piece – 10%
Neon Genesis Evangelion – 7%
Mazinger Z – 6%
Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure – 5%
As for the reasons behind their choices:
Slam Dunk
“It’s a really popular series, so if the movie weren’t interesting it’d start internet flame wars.” – female, 27
“It’d fail because the characters are too hard to play.” – female, 33
“I don’t have any real reason, but for the love of God, don’t do it.” – female, 27
One Piece
“It’d just be a CG fest.” – female, 24
“Whether you shot it in Japan or abroad, it’d be hard to cast.” – female, 28
“Unless the original voice actors played their roles, no one would accept it.” – female, 27
Designs from the failed live-action Evangelion film.Neon Genesis Evangelion
“If they did it abroad, it’d probably turn out as bad as Dragon Ball: Evolution.” – male, 43
“They’d probably cast some ripped dude as Shinji and someone gaudy as Rei.” – male, 33
“The whole reason Evangelion works is because it’s anime.” – male, 30
Mazinger Z
“All of the hit 70s anime that’ve been turned into live-action films so far have been awful.” – male, 45
“I really don’t want to see a shoddy CG Mazinger.” – male, 39
Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure
“Leaving parts 1 and 2 aside, part 3’s Stand CG would probably end up looking terrible.” – female, 28
Some titles that didn’t quite make the top 5, but still got lots of “boy, the CG would look bad” responses: Naruto, YuYu Hakusho, and Fullmetal Alchemist.
What are your top five “leave it alone!” anime titles? Why?
Source: My Navi News via ANN
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– Down and Out in Hollywood: Failed Live-Action Anime Adaptations
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– Astro Boy Live-Action Film Announced
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