Oricon: live-action manga adaptations

With countless popular manga series being adapted to live-action in recent years, including the “Dragonball” film that was released in Japan this past March, research firm Oricon surveyed 900 men and women between the ages of 10 and 40 with the question, “Which manga would you like to see turned into live-action?”

‘ Dragonball ‘

interviuri ‘Dragonball’ in Japan today

“Dragonball” fans can expect an older, fiercer version of hero Goku in the Hollywood adaptation of the famed Japanese cartoon series about two magic-wielding rivals who compete for seven orange spheres that will grant the holder a perfect wish.

The filmmakers behind “Dragonball Evolution” added 10 years to its hero to give the movie a grittier look, actor James Marsters said at a press conference Wednesday.

In the comic book series, “Goku is seven years old and fighting midgets all the time,” said Marsters, who plays Goku’s rival, Lord Piccolo. “We muscled it up.”

Justin Chatwin, the 26-year-old Canadian actor who plays the teenage Goku in the movie, said the cast learned several different martial arts styles for the movie. He initially was worried about taking the role because of his slender physique.

“I was looking in the mirror, going like, ‘I’m a beanpole, how can I pull off this role?’” said Chatwin, best known for playing Tom Cruise’s son Robbie in “War of the Worlds” and a teenager stuck in limbo after an attack in David Goyer’s “The Invisible.”

But while Goku was given a more adult interpretation, director James Wong said he toned down another key character—Roshi, a flirtatious, Hawaii-shirt wearing martial arts master—to appeal to a broader audience.

Roshi, played by veteran Hong Kong actor Chow Yun-fat, is “a little tamer than he is in the manga,” Wong said.

Wong said condensing the dozens of “Dragonball” manga books that have already been published was a tough task.

“All that we hoped to do was to preserve the essence of Dragonball—the fun, the thrills the adventure,” he said.

“Dragonball Evolution” will be released in Asia in March and in the U.S. on April 8.

via japan today

Akina Minami to appear in new ‘Kamen Rider’ film

Bikini model Akina Minami, 19, will appear in the new Kamen Rider film, “Kamen Rider Decade,” which will be released on May 1. The new film is set in the Muromachi period in the 15th century, with Kamen Rider battling monsters. Minami will play a female samurai.

Minami said, “I’m happy to appear in the Kamen Rider series. I hope many people will think I’m cool in the film.”

World premiere of ‘Yatterman’ held in New York

The world premiere of a live-action film version of ‘‘Yatterman,’’ a popular, comical Japanese animated television series from the 1970s, was held Friday in New York, with its director Takashi Miike and pop idol and lead actor Sho Sakurai attending. Before the world premiere at pop culture convention New York Comic Con, Miike, known for violent films and horror movies such as ‘‘Audition,’’ ‘‘Dead or Alive’’ and ‘‘Ichi the Killer,’’ told a news conference, ‘‘Yatterman, a national hero in Japan, can be enjoyed in the United States.’’

 

Sakurai, a member of popular idol group Arashi, said he was excited as the world premiere was held in New York. Japanese anime and ‘‘manga’’ comic books span countries and generations and many people can enjoy the work, he said. At New York Comic Con, a booth was also set up for the movie about the fight of Gan-chan, son of a famous toy designer and ‘‘Yatterman No. 1,’’ and his girlfriend Ai-chan, ‘‘Yatterman No. 2,’’ against a trio of villains who are trying to locate a mysterious stone known as the ‘‘Dokuro (Skull) Stone,’’ which is currently split apart. The duo’s large dog-shaped robot, ‘‘Yatter-Wan,’’ battles with robots operated by the villains.