The popularity of Japanese animations causes several attempts at adaptations to be made. Between hits and misses, transforming such beloved content is a challenge that carries a huge weight with it.
For that reason, the My Series made a selection of the worst anime live-action adaptations, both for series and movies.
Take a deep breath, try to keep your nerves and check out the worst anime to live-action adaptations below!
7 – Kite
(Source: Anchor Bay/Disclosure)Source: Anchor Bay
The 1998 anime adaptation sees Sawa seeking revenge against her parents’ killers. The protagonist has the help of a friend and a former partner of her father in the police.
The film experienced difficulties during its production due to the death of the original director, David R. Ellis. Then, he was replaced by Ralph Ziman midway through filming. Critics pointed to the adaptation as being boring and without any emotion. On Rotten Tomatoes, it received a 0% approval rating.
6 – Mutronics – The Future of the Human Race
(Source: New Line/Disclosure)Source: New Line
The 90’s film tells the story of Sean, a teenager who finds an alien bio-armor and uses it to fight against mutants from a corporation, who are trying to recover the armor after it is stolen by a scientist.
The plot changes the narrative on which it is based, that of the Guyver manga, and inserts aliens as a key point of the story. This unnecessary addition together with a script that tries to be funny beyond measure and bad performances, made the film extremely critical.
5 – The vigilante of tomorrow: Ghost in the Shell
(Source: Paramount/Disclosure)Source: .
Major has a human brain, but his body is fully robotic. She works as a special agent and has been assigned to fight against criminals and extremists. The character tries to understand who she is, if there is a past behind her life or if she is just a machine created for combat.
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It was from the casting of Scarlett Johansson to the role of the protagonist that the film began to cause controversy. The choice of a white actress instead of a Japanese one caused an uproar on social networks, with netizens and the media pointing out the whitewashing that the adaptation was committing.
Although the film is divisive, with some people arguing that the adaptation of the story itself was well done, still many cannot simply ignore the fact of the production’s poor casting.
4 – Cowboy Bebop
(Source: Netflix/Disclosure)Source: Netflix
The series that adapted the 1998 anime premiered on Netflix in 2021 and was a major target of negative reviews, not passing the first season. The story accompanies the trio of bounty hunters who travel through space in their ship looking to fight crimes.
The project suffers from a lack of differentiation between adapting and being faithful. There are scenes that come straight from the anime, but that only work in it. When it came to turning them into something functional for a live-action, those involved in the project couldn’t understand what should or shouldn’t be done.
3 – Speed Racer
(Source: Warner/Disclosure)Source: .
The famous Speed Racer driver needs to participate in a race that killed his brother after his family business in the racing business is threatened by a large corporation. Royalton Industries is furious at Speed’s negative response to his offer.
The classic ’60s anime was wildly ill-adapted in 2008 into a film that was a massive box-office flop. The production budget was US$ 120 million and grossed only US$ 93.9 million at the worldwide box office.
The damage of almost 30 million dollars is totally justifiable. Here the whitewashing was taken to an extreme, with the entire cast being all white actors. In addition, the script is childish and silly, being rushed and not bringing any depth to the characters.
2 – Death Note
(Source: Netflix/Disclosure)Source: Netflix
The Netflix film adapts the story of a teenager who finds a dangerous notebook. After the character writes someone’s name in the diary, the person in question dies instantly.
Yet another example of whitewashing, the feature has received criticism since its announcement. Furthermore, the story is turned into pure teen cliché, with the protagonist being the nerd who is bullied at school and is in love with the popular cheerleader.
The loss of the essence of the anime it is inspired by is glaring and has enraged many fans of the famous anime.
1 – Dragonball Evolution
(Source: 20th Century Fox/Disclosure)Source: 20th
This is the film most remembered when talking about bad adaptations. The feature fits not only in the selection of worst anime adaptations, it easily enters the list of worst adaptations in general.
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Although the premise is similar to the anime, this is another example of whitewashing and a script that doesn’t know where it’s going, telling a shallow story and disrespectful to the source material.
So, have you watched any of these adaptations?
