Given how Warner Brothers has struggled to bring Akira to US screens I can't imagine how they think this will be any easier:
Warner Brothers have hired producer Peter Segal and writer Dan Mazeau to adapt Tite Kubo's popular manga Bleach - already the subject of a long running anime series and multiple animated features in Japan - to the big screen in the US.
Frankly, I don't see the path to success on this. The story behind Bleach is an enormous, sprawling thing with a huge cast of characters set in a universe that requires a great deal of explanation. The origin story alone - in which Japanese teen Ichigo travels to the afterlife and becomes a sort of death god to battle evil spirits known as Hollows - is an absolute beast that will be extraordinarily hard to contain within the running time of a single feature, never mind that the mythology that anchors the whole thing is something entirely foreign to US audiences.
It's been ages since I watched any of the Bleach anime but if I recall correctly it took pretty much the entire first series just to get Ichigo to Soul Society and a whole lot more for him to battle through the various obstacles between him and his initial goal. Wrangling that story line down to feature length - and that's the story they're going to have to start with - will require radical changes.
Warner Brothers have hired producer Peter Segal and writer Dan Mazeau to adapt Tite Kubo's popular manga Bleach - already the subject of a long running anime series and multiple animated features in Japan - to the big screen in the US.
Frankly, I don't see the path to success on this. The story behind Bleach is an enormous, sprawling thing with a huge cast of characters set in a universe that requires a great deal of explanation. The origin story alone - in which Japanese teen Ichigo travels to the afterlife and becomes a sort of death god to battle evil spirits known as Hollows - is an absolute beast that will be extraordinarily hard to contain within the running time of a single feature, never mind that the mythology that anchors the whole thing is something entirely foreign to US audiences.
It's been ages since I watched any of the Bleach anime but if I recall correctly it took pretty much the entire first series just to get Ichigo to Soul Society and a whole lot more for him to battle through the various obstacles between him and his initial goal. Wrangling that story line down to feature length - and that's the story they're going to have to start with - will require radical changes.
they must be funny guys :D my only wish is to not adapt One Piece
WHAAAAAAATTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NO NO NO NO NO NO NO IMPOSSIBLE I MEAN LIKE HOW CAN YOU???? NO YOU CANT!!! LEAVE IT ALONE HOLLYWEIRD!!!!!! OMG I NEED A TRANQUILIZER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So far it sounds like shit. The original story is wonderful as it is. All the characters, their reasons for interacting the way they do, their relationship to one another, this movie's going to tear it to pieces.
It'll be boobs boobs boobs fighting fighting fighting no feelings revenge angst boobs fighting angst, the end.
If Rukia's even IN it, which I doubt because she doesn't have a major rack, she'll be Asian while everyone else is some tan skinned knock-off.
They tried the same lame move with Dragon Ball some time ago. It was a bad one. What's next? Ranma 1/2? :))
Aesthetics of the characters and settings must always be spot-on with certain properties. That, I will be adamant upon with the 'Bleach' title.
The story however could be barely re-worked into a 2 hour feature, and still appease fans and newcomers alike. It is not impossible.
Features such as 'Watchmen' and 'Storm Riders' made it work. Every arc of 'Bleach' is simple and straightforward.
"Given how Warner Brothers has struggled to bring Akira to US screens I can't imagine how they think this will be any easier:"
You ever read Bleach Todd? Because a complex epic brimming with metaphysical questions and social commentary it is not. While adapting something that's a bajillion volumes into a two-hour movie might be tricky as long as there's lots of fighting it'll be fine.