The Old School Otaku Lounge

_D_ wrote:I could ask a new friend of mine who has worked with del Toro in Toronto. If I can get down to Toronto when he is at one of the fan expos, I can ask him myself...

Wow, if you could, that would be awesome.

And greg....Tom Cruise in another movie with tons of Japanese people? Ugh. I didn't like the Last Samurai, so I prolly wouldn't watch that.

Really? I figured I wouldn't like The Last Samurai, but in the end I ended up liking it.

As far as Tom Cruise goes, I agree with what the RedLetterMedia.com guys say: "I like movies that have Tom Cruise in it, but I don't like movies because he's in it."

I have the first DVD or so of Yukikaze, but I have yet to watch it. I believe Tokyo Pop released the novel translated in English before they disappeared.

greg wrote:"I like movies that have Tom Cruise in it, but I don't like movies because he's in it.".

That is a very good quote, I feel the same way.
I dunno, I wanted to like The Last Samurai, but it felt like a variation of Dances with Wolves to me so I just didn't really get into it. Everyone in the movie was good, I just felt like the story was pretty predictable & stuff.

Here's the first promo shot of the Kiki live-action via Crunchyroll.

I like it quite a bit. Makes me a bit excited for it!

Witches with brooms and black cats are native to Japan then or are they going to try to fake Europe? Wasn't Kiki set in Europe? Why not make it in Europe with an international cast or is this an internal Japanese production? Still pic looks nice though...

Yeah, if I recall, Miyazaki said that Kiki's town of Koriko was loosely based on Visby in Gotland, Sweden. So, a fictional European-like town. I assume they'll either break out the blonde wigs for everyone if they chose to keep it similar to the movie, or they'll just make the assumption that since it's fantasy, no one will care if the set looks European but everyone's Japanese.

Looks like Universal bought the rights to a live-action Vexille movie: http://www.fandompost.com/2013/06/05/un ... on-rights/

Hmmm...couldn't figure out why that one from the article. It's a wonder Sony/Columbia isn't snapping up rights but apparently not. Maybe nothing they can make on a par with returns like Marvel is doing...

As the infamous Ed Wood would say, "Haven't you heard of the 'suspension of disbelief?'" I guess I'm okay with everything looking European-y with Japanese actors. Heck, American films about Japan hire half the cast with Chinese actors and actresses anyway (the leading actress in Memoirs of a Geisha is so obviously Chinese and definitely not that it ruined it for me).

They could film some of the film in Nagasaki. There are a lot of European buildings in the Dutch Slopes there.

Some staunch critics of Japanese society like Alex Kerr have fits about Japan losing its traditional aesthetics. There are a ton of new houses being built in my immediate area, and not a single one of them resemble a traditional Japanese style with the sloping eaves, tiled roofs, and shoji screens. I do, however, see plenty of bay windows and such. These homes look more akin to Western-style homes.

I can suspend it only so much but when the original work's creator sets it in a (fictional) European country and the film makers decide to go against that then I have to wonder if that was done with the approval of said creator or they just said "we bought the rights so we can do what we please". Those are usually the films I don't go to see.