12/24/2023 0 Comments Songs by ghostnote in animeThe Netflix version was distinctly ‘American’ in the way characters related to each other –for example: in school, at home, at the workplace, etc.-, in how they turned to physical violence instead of contemplation, and even in the stylistic choices that focused more on creating gory scenes straight out of Final Destination, rather than concentrating in the cat-and-mouse game. Thus, a strikingly alienating sensation accompanied me throughout the entire movie. Once these are completely removed, they become other people entirely. There are intricacies of Japanese culture that affect how family life, romance, and professional expectations affect the behavior of the characters. Seeing Light cowering and moved to tears, or L screaming and running down the streets with a gun, all I could think of was: “this would never happen with the Japanese versions of Light and L”. Watching an overly-emotional L and a skittish Light go at it in the Netflix film, while having the almost impassive, introspective characters of the anime in mind, was quite an odd journey. ![]() Perhaps because I’m more emotionally invested in the Death Note anime series than in the Ghost in the Shell anime film –and yes, I’ve watched them both-, I realized how much could get lost in translation by just changing th cultural background of the characters. ![]() However, after watching Death Note, my personal view was challenged. The ‘issue’ of Johansson’s casting as Major didn’t really bother me¹, except for the ethics of opening the market to Asian or Asian-American actors, which I absolutely support. Great stories have a universal appeal, and when cultural boundaries are addressed it’s because they have something to add to the story itself.įor example, when I watched Ghost in the Shell earlier this month, I found myself thinking that Major was a character that could be played by anyone from anywhere. To some extent, it was ‘whitewashing’ the stories what ultimately hurt the narratives.Īs a viewer, I’ve always believed that stories that go above and beyond frontiers have more power to them. Protagonists Major and Light were played by non-Asian actors Scarlett Johansson and Nat Wolff.īut I would argue that changing the characters’ ethnicity wasn’t really the main problem of the films. ![]() For example, one of the earliest issues both films faced was the accusation of ‘whitewashing’ their originally Japanese characters. In fact, the two films have unexpectedly similar circumstances that have plagued their production and reception. Having two different premises, sources, genres and studios behind it, you would be tempted to think at least one of them would triumph. Two manga/anime-to-movie adaptations have come out this year, courtesy of the US.
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