Adaptations plague us these days. I cringe whenever I hear Hollywood
is turning a beloved book, cartoon or even toys I love into a movie or series. Available
in all kinds, if you want an adaptation of your favorite show or book in
another medium, it probably exists. Most popular shows right now come from
other sources. True Blood and The Walking Dead came from a book and a
comic book series respectively. Almost
everything is adapted from something
else and every industry does it, from making books into movies to turning TV
shows into books.
(Left) Cover for Dead Until Dark, book 1 of the Sookie Stackhouse novels (2009 Ace Books edition) ; (Right) Cover for The Walking Dead #1 (Image Comics, Oct. 2003)
My adaptation subject is based on one of my favorite shows. Interpreted
and expanded in many forms, it has a bizarre offspring rarely heard of. Often,
we hear of anime and manga being adapted for American audiences. Icons like Godzilla
and Astro Boy got the Americanized Hollywood treatment but this case is a
little backwards. A popular American show was given an animated adaptation from
a Japanese based animation company, given an anime makeover and presented to the United States. It certainly wasn't
the first to do so, but despite the hype it was given it disappeared into
obscurity once released. Some hardcore fans don't acknowledge its existence. I
present to you Supernatural: The Anime
Series.
 |
| Cover Art for the DVD Release. You be the judge. |
Released in 2011, it retells the first two seasons of the
CW's hit show of the same name. Condensed into twenty two episodes, it also
includes original anime-exclusive stories. It features the two main characters,
Dean and Sam Winchester, road tripping sibling hunters of all things
otherworldly, doing just that. The premise alone begs you to animate it, since it
doesn't count on a TV budget. The English version features some voice acting
from the show's actors and the animation is from Madhouse, the studio responsible for anime such as Chobits and Death Note.
Apparently it got adapted by having its way with the source
material. The anime original episodes don't quite match up to the mythology the
original show presented, which wouldn't be a problem if the animation wasn't trying
to imitate it. The voice acting seems off in both languages, strange
considering that in English one of the main characters is voiced by his live
counterpart. The brother's personality traits are exaggerated to the point of
absurdity. Instead of a serious, grief stricken younger brother and a more
optimistic but focused older brother, we get one character who cries all the
time and another who only speaks in wisecracks.
Considering it was released in 2011, older series by the
same company, such as Death Note (which
has a similar ambiance and setting) look a lot fresher than this one. Don't get
me started on the fact that even though the brothers look similar to their live
counterparts, everyone else got an ugly makeover.
Strangely, it's not
all bad. It has some solid episodes and since its animated, it gets away with
real monsters and action that can't be replicated by a TV budget or live actors.
I'll admit that was a good point for me.
Currently Listening To: Bleeding Out- Imagine Dragons
Book on My Nightstand: The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown
On my TV: Supernatural (season 5 finale; "Swan Song", for inspiration)
Currently Retro gaming: Final Fantasy VI (Still at it)
Random Pop Culture Thought of the Day: "This anime and the X-Men one with the adorable Beast needs to be recapped with Otaku K for the masses. We can then compare if Beast's fur is more adorable than Sam's hair."
No comments:
Post a Comment