New Report Explores Reasoning Behind Hollywood's Failed Anime Adaptations

Back in 2007, the world was treated to one of anime's biggest nightmares to date. After a rough period of development, Dragonball Evolution made its debut under 20th Century Fox, and fans of the iconic series tipped into theaters with cautious optimism. By the time they left midway in, fans worldwide had sworn off live-action anime just on principle, but that ideology is starting to fade away. The only problem is that Hollywood has yet to fix all those flaws which brought about Dragonball Evolution in the first place.

Recently, a brand-new report from Japan Times went live, and it was there writer Roland Kelts broke down Hollywood's troubling history with anime. This year alone, Alita: Battle Angel and Detective Pikachu went live to fair success while a slew of other live-action adaptations were given the green light.

However, there are several things Hollywood needs to do before it can do anime the justice its deserves.

Japan Times spoke with Jeff Gomez, the founding CEO of Starlight Runner Entertainment. The executive, who is familiar with the ways how Hollywood approaches licensing, says the greatest issue Hollywood has with anime is Japan's focus on creative influence.

"As a kid I knew the names Osamu Tezuka and Go Nagai. They were called 'celebrated creators' in the English-language write-ups. That was very different from the U.S. model, where most of the writers were just hired hands," Gomez said.

Not only did this investment give creator's singular oversight of a story, but anime is often a serial experience; Unlike cartoons in the West, Gomez says, "The Japanese story model didn't need to keep reminding me of the premise of the series or constantly summarize what happened beforehand."

"It didn't repeat itself or reset itself in terms of a format, the way 'Spider-Man' or 'Superman' so often did. Japanese stories were serial in nature and they left me starved to learn more. This was all very different from your standard American cartoons and monster movies at the time."

For so long, Hollywood has struggled to decipher the emotional themes hidden within anime in lieu for making a cheap buck. The added drama involving white-washed casts continued to alienate international fans looking to celebrate the best of Western and Easten storytelling. With films like Detective Pikachu making headway against disasters like Dragonball Evolution, the industry remains hopeful that Japan's epic franchises will translate into box office saviors. After all, titles from Gundam to My Hero Academia are being eyed by Hollywood executives nowadays; The only question is whether or not those series will be approached with a creative, fan-centric lean.

So, do you think anime live-action adaptations are moving in the right direction in Hollywood? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!