The Legend of Galactic Heroes Is Apparently Getting a Live-Action Adaptation
It looks like another live-action adaptation is coming for the anime fandom, so buckle in. Recently, reports surfaced overseas that a Chinese production company was heading up a new take on The Legend of the Galactic Heroes by Yoshiki Tanaka. The project's announcement was shared across social media, but now, the team who oversees the Galatic Heroes IP is questioning whether this adaptation is even legitimate.
The whole thing came to a head when Hiroaki Adachi, one of the managers overseeing Tanaka's business affairs, learned about the report. The exec questioned whether the Chinese company producing the project had the needed rights to adapt Galactic Heroes. They went on to explain adaptation rights for the Galactic Heroes novels were sold to a Chinese company that no longer exists. As such, Adachi believes those rights were sold to another company in China in the past few years, but the team who oversees Tanaka's ventures was never informed of this sale.
As such, Adachi has asked fans to remain calm about this reported adaptation until his team can contact the Chinese production company behind it. The only issue is that Adachi's team has little idea of where to start asking around, and he went to far as to say he "can't understand that country" when speaking about China.
You can imagine there is tons of confusion about this Galactic Heroes adaptation now. Originally, reports about the project said the live-action project would debut on iQIYI overseas, but no release window was given. At this point, it seems Tanaka's representatives are trying to suss out the company in China overseeing this Galactic Heroes project to whether it can proceed. But if the adaptation rights were sold above board, we could very well get a live-action adaptation of Galactic Heroes from China before long.
If you are not familiar with Galactic Heroes, Tanaka's space opera has a long history. For more details on the epic series, you can read Galactic Heroes' synopsis here: "In the thirty-sixth century, humanity has conquered the galaxy and colonized countless star systems. The Galactic Empire, modeled along Prussian lines, and the democratic Free Planets Alliance are at war, and the fate of every human being in the universe hangs in the balance.
The "golden brat" Reinhard von Lohengramm, a military prodigy and admiral of the Galactic Empire, has ambitions beyond protecting the borders or even defeating the empire's enemies. He seeks to overthrow the old order and become a truly absolute yet benevolent dictator. His rival, the humble Yang Wen-li of the Free Planets Alliance, wishes to preserve democracy even if he must sacrifice his political ideals to defeat the empire. Their political and military battles play out over a galactic chessboard in an epic saga fifteen centuries in the making!"
What do you think about this wild anime report? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB.