When it comes to live-action anime adaptations, there might be none that are more notorious than Dragon Ball Evolution. Arriving in theaters in 2009, the film attempted to adapt the story of Son Goku and the Z-Fighters by radically changing several of the elements of Akira Toriyama’s original story. In a heartfelt post, the live-action Goku, Justin Chatwin, not only honored Akira Toriyama but apologized for the maligned film that many anime fans felt didn’t hit the same heights as the source material.
There were many elements of Dragon Ball Evolution that fans weren’t keen on to say the least. To start, it imagined Goku as a regular high school teenager, being bullied and called “Geeko” by his classmates. In discovering that his grandfather Gohan is killed by the villain Piccolo, Goku sets out to find the Dragon Balls while also running into established characters such as Master Roshi, Bulma, Yamcha, and more. Live-action anime adaptations have become a hot ticket item in recent days, with the likes of One Piece, Yu Yu Hakusho, and Avatar: The Last Airbender garnering major success. While no plans have been revealed for a new live-action adaptation of the Dragon Ball franchise, it only seems like a matter of time until another attempt is made.
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The Live-Action Goku Pays Tribute to Akira Toriyama
Chatwin took to his official Instagram account to pay tribute to the legendary manga artist while also apologizing for the live-action Dragon Ball movie. His statement reads as follows, “Rest in peace brother. Sorry we messed up that adaptation so badly.”
While Toriyama was thrilled to hear that a live-action Dragon Ball movie was being made, his ultimate dislike of the film helped to create Dragon Ball Super. In the 30th Anniversary Dragon Ball Super History Book, Toriyama had this to say, “Dragon Ball once became a thing of the past to me, but after that, I got angry about the live action movie, re-wrote an entire movie script, and now I’m complaining about the quality of the new TV anime, so it seems that DB has grown on me much that I can’t leave it alone.”
What do you think of this apology to Akira Toriyama? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and to honor Toriyama.
