Source: @Tencent Animation World Style Feature

Modern Chinese manga film and television dramas have a feature - Tibet. As long as there is no special explanation, it is difficult for non-original parties to identify that the show is from the comics. For example, the good boy's version of "The Prince of Tennis", obviously took the copyright and sold it back to Japan, but the name and background have to be changed, the stronger the realistic atmosphere, the better, and the lighter the comic sense, the better. Another example is the smash hit "Pink Girl", in order to eliminate the symbolic sense of the comic characters, the four heroines were deliberately given specific names.

Of course, each crew naturally has their reasons for doing this, but it always makes people feel a little bit of concealment, as if adapting from comics is a thing that is not on the table.

Compared with this, American manga film and television dramas do the opposite-obvious. As long as you are familiar with the American comic mode, when you see a new movie, you can guess eight or nine points by touching the routine - there is another "chivalry", and there are superpowers, the comics have been changed, right? That's right, "The Avengers" ranks third at the box office in film history, and "Iron Man" has recently had a good time, and has become a golden signature American comic film and television drama, what is hidden?

Compared with these two countries with distinctive characteristics, the film and television dramas adapted from Japanese comics have a completely different style - they dare to do everything and can do anything. As long as you give me the copyright, I can shoot any comic for you to see!

Masterpieces? It's you

We mentioned in "Manga Film and Television Drama China Chapter" that the gap between comics and reality is still very large. Especially for the Japanese comics known for their beautiful painting style, even if a real actor finds a fairy, I am afraid it will be difficult to satisfy all comic fans. Therefore, in order to take care of the public's sentiment and avoid the scolding before the film is released, it is best not to shoot the famous work casually.

That's not what the Japanese think. It doesn't matter if you're famous, subject matter, fans, strong cross-range, suitable or not...... As long as you dare to put the copyright, we dare to shoot! The adaptation of film and television dramas by Japanese comics realizes how bold people are in the real sense and how prolific the film is. Unbelief? Let's look at a few super bold examples.

"Detective Conan": As early as 2003, the manga circulation of "Conan" exceeded the 100 million mark, which can be described as a long-lasting popularity, with a large number of fans, and the annual theatrical version also has a box office of 3 billion to 4 billion yen. Such a work also dares to be live-action? Dare. As early as 2006, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the launch of the "Conan" animation, a single-episode live-action drama came out. In 2011, another 13-episode TV series was launched, and the average rating was still about 5%, which is incredible.

"Doraemon": The Japanese blue cat was not let go either, and this time it was Toyota that did it. At the 2011 Tokyo International Motor Show, Toyota Motor Corporation unveiled a live-action billboard for Doraemon, followed by a series of short stories. What makes people tremble is that Doraemon is played by the tragic killer Uncle Renault in "This Killer Is Not Too Cold", and it is really surprising that he has come to wade into this troubled water as an international superstar.

"Sailor Moon": Produced by Toei, launched in 2003. As soon as the stills came out, they shocked audiences around the world, especially the TV series used lame stunts to restore the transformation plot of the comics very "faithfully", from the posture to the order to the lines, and then hit after reading, which was extremely shocking. The editor believes that the only scientific part of this drama is to explain why the soldiers are not recognized by their families before and after their transformation, and strongly recommend that the audience watch it accompanied by their parents. is such a TV series, which has been filmed for 49 episodes and broadcast for a whole year!

Rogue Kenshin: To commemorate the 15th anniversary of the Kenshin anime (again this gimmick), Warner Bros. released a live-action version of Kenshin in 2012. Although the cast has made fans complain, the live-action drama adapted from the shogunate in Japan is as smooth as our martial arts, and the word of mouth has been excellent after its release, and the box office has even exceeded 2.5 billion yen.

Needless to say, from the above four examples, I believe everyone can clearly understand that the adaptation of Japanese comics live-action dramas is a god in Japan. Regardless of whether it is a teenager or a girl, regardless of the difficulty of the stunt and the fame of the work, it is not a problem. So I believe that the reason why "One Piece" and "Naruto" and the like have not yet released live-action versions is by no means that Shueisha does not dare to let go of power to film, but the time has not come. Wait for "Fire" and "Sea" to end ten years, and then you will take a look? When "Ranma 1/2" was serialized, it was used by the Shogakukan to fight against "Dragon Ball", and I didn't dare to do it back then, wasn't it also a real person in 2011?

This is strange, the gap between Japanese fans and Chinese fans is not so big, it doesn't make sense that there is a cloud of scolding here and thunderous applause there? Take the above examples as an example, after all, the box office of the live-action drama adapted from a masterpiece such as "Kenshin" is a minority, and the one who is scolded is the majority! Is the Izuku version really not afraid of being scolded? Why do you repeatedly agree to adapt these masterpieces into live-action dramas?

Wishful thinking: a win-win advertisement

There is only one truth.

The fundamental reason why the copyright owners are under pressure is that the live-action of masterpieces is a win-win deal.

The reason for the decentralization of the version of the society - a single advertisement

First see の版社。 Taking Shueisha as an example, fans who are familiar with the company know that the longer the work and the more popular the work, the worse the animation tends to be. Regardless of the collapse, originality, and delay of "Naruto", "One Piece" uses limited funds to create endless possibilities is really a pain in the hearts of many fans.

So why do you still want to shoot it? A: Animation is a single line of advertising. It doesn't matter if it's bad.,It's okay to occupy a good time to promote the sale of comics.,After all, it's a publishing company.,Selling books is a serious thing.。

The same goes for live-action dramas. A more extreme example is the 2012 semi-annual box office king "Roman Baths". The live-action film "Roman Baths" grossed 5.8 billion yen, and after the great success, the Izuku Publishing Company couldn't wait to print a bunch of single books, and "The Roman Baths", which was only four volumes at the time, entered the top club with an average volume of 2 million copies. Although these books did not sell and became a joke (hey), at least it clearly shows the role of live-action dramas in the Izuku edition - a single book advertisement.

In fact, whether it is an animated or live-action drama, the pulling effect on a single book is obvious. There is only a controversy over the number of increases, and there is no controversy about whether or not they can be raised. This is also the reason why many out of the edition club like to fry cold rice and take out some of the old works that have been completed and live-action - after so many years, let new audiences also buy a set!

An absolute harvest for the producers

The producers are even less foolish. They are by no means willing to give the sedan chair to the company, but have their own plans.

First of all, live-action dramas adapted from comics tend to be very low-cost. For example, the above-mentioned "Roman Baths" was revealed to have a box office of 5.8 billion yen this year, and the author only received 1 million yen. Coincidentally, another popular movie, "Sea Ape", grossed as much as 7 billion yen, but the original author, Hidemine Sato, also complained on Twitter, saying that the second film earned only 2.5 million yen when it was released. Hidemine Sato said that there are very few examples of authors being paid based on box office and ratings, and it is generally a one-time buyout. The list price is about 1 million to 2 million yen for movies and 2 million to 3 million yen for TV dramas in the first quarter. The copyright fee that the author can get is not only less than the income from film and television dramas, but simply less.

Secondly, manga works, especially masterpieces, have a very fixed fan base. For the actors and producers, the saddest thing is not to drown in spit, but to scold the audience from the start of filming to the end. This is "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", "Romance of the Sui and Tang Dynasties", "Dragon Babu"... Wait for the reason why ancient and modern masterpieces have been filmed many times and knelt down repeatedly, and they will continue to be remade. There is a ready-made audience to lay the foundation, and the starting point is high; Regardless of the outcome, awareness and attention will be the first to get a head start, so why not?

An actor's chance to become famous

For actors, compared with abstract scripts, comic film and television dramas have ready-made comics to study; Although you have to resist a certain amount of pressure, it is a great opportunity to become famous. For example, the Japanese drama King Takuya Kimura became an instant hit with "Love White Paper" (adapted from the original comic book of the same name by Chai Wenmen); Tsuyoshi Domoto in KinKiKids is also known to a wide audience for "Kanedaichi Shonen Incident Book". In fact, the actors who have starred in Kaneda and turned purple are also the well-known Jun Matsumoto and Kazuya Kamenashi.

In such a win-win situation, the copyright owner and the producer are of course happy to shoot back and forth, no wonder the number of film and television dramas adapted from Japanese comics is amazing.

Japanese specialty: stage plays

In fact, the Japanese people's love for live-action dramas is not only expressed on the screen, but also can be staged out of the screen and in three-dimensional fanaticism. Among them, the most famous is the Japanese stage play.

If Peking Opera is our quintessence, then Japanese stage plays are the quintessence of Japan, and the most famous is probably the Takarazuka Opera Company (which has been spoofed many times in "Gintama"). The stage play basically adopts the form of "speaking, singing, and dancing", and the live performance is not bullied. And animated comics undoubtedly provide a richer selection of materials for stage plays.

The most famous example of a live-action stage play adapted from a Japanese manga is the "Prince of Tennis" stage play (referred to as net dance). Net dance has been performed 23 times so far, with 5 generations of actors, and it has been 10 years since April 2003. Net dance has also produced a large number of well-known actors, singers, and voice actors. For example, Mamoru Miyano, who is familiar to comic fans, once played Ishida in the net dance (and stood on the stake to play soy sauce as a member of the Lihai University in the live-action movie "The Prince of Tennis").

In addition, "The Hunter", "Black Butler", "Three Kingdoms of Steel", "Warring States BASARA", "In Distant Time and Space"... and many other anime works have also been adapted into stage plays. It is worth mentioning that the stage play of "Hunter" is performed by the older generation of voice actors, and the auditory enjoyment is first-class (visual...... ）！

In short, there are various forms of live-action adaptations of Japanese comics, from on-screen to off-screen, the copyright owner makes a lot of money, and the producer and the actor can gain fame and fortune. It's no wonder that Japanese comics are so bold in adapting film and television dramas - if you dare to give the copyright, I will dare to shoot!

epilogue

Behind the large-scale adaptation of film and television dramas from famous Japanese comics, it is a win-win situation for the publisher and the producer. In this country where comics are thriving, the audience can appreciate the interpretation of a work in many forms, which is indeed extremely envious.