Anime have become increasingly popular in recent years, and even classic franchises like Star Wars or The Lord of the Rings have now received them. Experts behind a well-known anime studio, however, are not too pleased about it.
Which experts are being referred to? Animes no longer focus solely on new stories or manga adaptations. Even big franchises are now getting animes. Major examples include The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim or the first season of Star Wars: Visions. In the case of Star Wars: Visions, there was even collaboration with well-known Japanese studios.
However, not everyone is happy about it. Recently, Noritaka Kawaguchi, the CEO of CoMix Wave Films, and Mie Onishi, a consultant of the company who deals with international business, also expressed their views on the matter.
CoMix Wave Films is the production company behind the anime hits of director Makoto Shinkai. These include the films Your Name, Weathering with You, and Suzume. The two are less positive when it comes to the topic of Hollywood and anime productions
.
Onishi believes Hollywood does it because it’s simply cheaper
What do the two say about the topic? In an interview on Anime Corner, both talked about franchises that are getting animes, mentioning Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings. Onishi, in particular, expresses her views quite negatively. She says it is not a good idea to animate everything. Anime is a method, not a genre.
What I hate nowadays is when I talk to people in Hollywood, and they ask me: ‘Can’t you make this as an anime?’ Behind that is something like: ‘It’s cheap if it’s an anime,’ and that really annoys me.
Mie Onishi on animes from Hollywood
The two further joke that companies approach them explaining that live-action is expensive, so why not just make an anime. Kawaguchi adds that people from Hollywood do indeed like directors such as Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in the Shell
) or Makoto Shinkai.
For Onishi, these new anime films are just a cheap option to make money.
Does Hollywood really only make anime because it is cheaper? Star Wars: Visions was a short film series where many Japanese studios were allowed to experiment with the franchise. While this is cheaper than a large live-action series, it also naturally addresses a smaller audience.
For smaller stories, the format anime
is also quite suitable, although one can assume that the commercial aspect is at the forefront. However, this is also the case for all major productions.
From a creative perspective, the anime format offers great potential. Series like Star Wars: Visions or even Cyberpunk: Edgerunners would not have been feasible as live-action productions.
Series like Avatar: The Last Airbender have already drawn inspiration from elements of anime. But there is also the opposite. Animes that have been turned into live-action films. They still come out, but usually, they are not that good: Despite a budget of 55 million euros and big names, an anime adaptation flopped dramatically this year
