I like to think that Netflix is on something of a swing trajectory, it's just difficult deciding whether that trajectory is sending them down before a sudden rise or deceptively high before a meteoric fall- and the next year is really going to spell that out in plain terms. For a prolonged stretch of monopolistic peace, Netflix was everything it wanted to be- a open library of content spanning every taste and medium that it could, constantly highlighting so many shows that if any were terrible another would be great to subsidise it, and a consumer friendly alternative to all the raw-deal television networks that had locked the viewing public within. Of course now the balance of power has shifted, there's slowly blossoming streaming services ruining the purity of the market and Netflix has been forced to make some very unpopular decisions to offset their usual laissez-faire approach to running their service.
The big one is the password sharing debacle, where Netflix cracked down hard on an issue that wasn't really hurting their bottom line in as significant a manner that they claimed it was. Thinking that people were getting together in massive password sharing cabals in order to run a single Netflix account among a crowd of thousands- I'm sorry but even the most charismatic people on the planet don't have social pools that large- it'd get exhausting to keep up with! But alas, password sharing has been cut off and as a result Netflix has seen a rise in new subscribers signing up to their service, which is likely going to provide one of those phantom boosts which withers as people grow bored of the withering service and end up moving elsewhere. Best case scenario: such people forget the Netflix charges on their account.
But it's okay because Netflix has a way of getting eyes back on their service! Another season of Stranger Things! Yes, because a show which is currently developing a series beyond the number the original show runners promised the run would be is always the sign of things going to plan and not rhe desperation of a studio desperate not to lose their one sure-thing cash cow. No, Netflix really need another hot button show which they haven't managed to maintain forever. Oh they've had single season hits. But such hits are a surprise, not a guarantee. You can't rope in investors and partners based on the quality of a series you brought out one year which won't get a sequel and made by a creative team that have moved on to movies now! They need to put out something long-form, with a dedicated fanbase, that can secure profits for a while. For ever if they need to! They need Anime.
Yes, the live action Anime trend is probably one of the most sure-fire routes to disaster in entertainment that there is. Perhaps the only live action anime series adaptation which isn't terrible would be... 'Thus spoke Kishibe Rohan', which only slides by on account of it being a low-action series which revels in it's shortcomings to bring silly pulp stories to life. Everything else, Cowboy Bebop, Ghost In The Shell, Death Note- have simply gone on to prove the superiority of the original medium instead of adding anything new. Because that, in my opinion, is the mark of a successful adaptation: bringing something new to the source material that is only possible in this new medium. So with that in mind, can someone tell me exactly what it is about the Legend of Aang that simply demands his mug be plastered on the face of a real actor? Again?!
Netflix can't help themselves but end up committing in vain to doomed adaptation projects for shows that simply cannot withstand the live action transition. I consider this the 'Lion King' effect. Sure, they had the money to create a new version of the Lion King with almost true-to-life computer renditions of the main cast, but in doing so they had to cut out the animated emotions, the visual displays of fear, love and everything which made that movie an animation masterpiece. The Lion King wasn't made by it's story alone, the story is just Hamlet anyway! Just look at a comparisons between the original and remake versions of 'I just can't wait to be king' and tell me which one feels more alive. That same philosophy lives on in Anime adaptations.
The Legend of Aang isn't quite anime, of course, but I'm sure fans are just as worried about the loss of the creative silliness of the original show in a theoretical transition to live action. Even if they do manage to find a convincing way to portray an uber-powerful sassy blind girl facing off against the tank-laden fire nation- is it going to carry the same impact of the original Toph scenes? Will Azula be as lovably, unapologetically evil? Will Aang remember how to pronounce his own dang name? And most importantly of all- will a live action adaptation allow the expression of anything remotely new whatsoever? Personally, I think just making a new season of the old animated show would be just as fruitful a way to find your time.
And now we have the One Piece show barrelling our way on cheap looking sets and blurry animation techniques. But to be honest, there's a campiness I find vaguely endearing in what we're seeing, and in the knowledge that the original creator is heavily involved in production, I'm willing to expend some benefit of the doubt. Don't get me wrong: the show doesn't really look good or compelling- but then neither does the Anime itself. If anything this might just end up being a super condensed recap of the show with all the dead weight cut off, which would be some small mercy in itself. (Cutting off the excess is good for everyone in my mind.) If One Piece ends up being watchable, however, just wait until it's weaponsied into justification for more adaptations. Berzerk, Persona, Jo- wait... oh my god, do you think they'd do a Jojo Adaptation?
Now here me out... a Jojo adaptation would be the most insane thing of all time! Oh, it would be a disaster- don't you get me wrong- but what a glorious disaster it would be! The animated stands- the overly detailed hero outfits, the ludicrous physical humour moments, the spurts of suddenly graphic violence! We need One Piece to do well to facilitate this must-happen moment in TV production, for no other reason than to see what poor masochist ends up being cast as the titular bad boy himself, Jojo. Or perhaps the buttoned up gentlemanly hero, Jojo. Or maybe the rambunctious street rat hoodlum, Jojo. There's options, is what I'm saying. Mark my words, even if you can't stomach the endless Pirate adventure- endure a bit of One Piece so Netflix can sink the last of it's originals money on the single biggest disaster adaptation of all time- we need to make sure our Streaming rebel goes out with a bang instead of it's recent slate of whimpers.
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