Live-Action Attack on Titan

[JasonPratt]

Funimation has been doing well picking up and distributing live-action anime adaptations in North America recently -- although despite their huge and highly talented voice-acting talent pool they've had decidedly mixed results dubbing for some reason that I can't fathom.

Last night I got in Blus of the two part Attack on Titan adaptation, annnnd the dubbing is still not quite up to par, which on a sfx-driven property can be a problem as I'd rather be watching the screen than reading despite how fast I read.

Other than that, I've enjoyed the first hour-ish, for various values of "enjoy": I knew the basic concept going in, but I was still surprised at how gross-out gory the film has gotten. (It's basically one 3 hour movie split into two parts.) Not having watched the anime, much less read the (still ongoing) manga, I can't compare with the source material(s), but so far I feel like it stands on its own merits well enough. I've read enough to know that the live-action adaptation has been criticized for going too far off script, but I'm either not there yet or I think they've done okay as its own property.

The director of the film(s) earned the call to direct Toho's new Shin Gojira film, released this past summer, and which was brought to North America on a limited theatrical run (thence extended to a limited world run) by Funimation, who presumably also struck a deal for doing the home video release later next year. They are VERY MUCH different films in tone, not to say plot, but both have contributed to a new era of the tokusatsu genre (special-effects melodramas using miniatures and, usually, also giant robots or monsters. Not always; Tora Tora Tora used Toho's effects work, for example.) Both films are, however, highly Japanese in culture, which makes for a curious comparison between the two.

[BanzaiCat]

JP, where did you get it? Blu-rays? My daughter LOVES AoT. She made me watch the first season on Netflix, and I admit it wasn't bad; pretty horrifying actually.

[JasonPratt]

B_C, the live-action North American Blus from Funimation can be gotten here at Amazon: https://smile.amazon.com/Attack-Titan-Movie-Blu-ray-Combo/dp/B01IPDCBWI

That's part 1, part 2 is easy to find from there.

Finished the second movie tonight. It's certainly a horror-genre film (treating the whole thing as one film). I'm not a fan of splatter-horror, and I still liked it. They kind of set up for a 'Season Two' eventually, but I have no idea how that would compare with whatever the manga and/or anime are doing.

My guess is that if your daughter loves AoT, she'll plotz with this -- or will hate it for not being AoT enough maybe. Fan reviews are definitely divided. I can relate; I thought the live-action Rurouni Kenshin trilogy departed a little too much from its source material, especially in the 3rd movie. Still, I have literally bought the trilogy twice and the first film 3 times total by now! -- for a Japanese wuxia, it's quite acceptable. (I mention this because you'll probably see the RK trilogy advertised on that page, and it's well worth supporting with a purchase, if you or your daughter is a fan of the anime/manga series and/or of Meiji Japan period as in The Last Samurai. I've seen reviews stating the English dub is dire enough that I got the Warner Brothers British release ordered instead, which I've read is superior.)

[BanzaiCat]

I talked to her a little while ago...I had forgotten she DID tell me about this, but she thought it was a pile of crap.  ;D

She's more concerned that the second season of AoT has been under development for 4-5 years now.