Another live action thread (yes, I know)

[WittyUsername]

I assume most people know why they’re suddenly seeing another thread about a hypothetical live action Dragon Ball adaptation, but for the sake of clarity, I’ll explain it anyway.

The Netflix One Piece show was just released a couple of days ago, and in what may very well be a first for a western (please note that specification) adaptation of a manga/anime, it seems to be doing surprisingly well with both critics and audiences. I haven’t seen it for myself, but apparently fans of One Piece don’t seem to mind the show.

To be clear, I’m not suggesting this means that there needs to be another go at a live action Dragon Ball adaptation, but would it be fair to say that the apparent success of the One Piece show effectively disproves the notion that Dragon Ball can’t work in live action? After all, One Piece is every bit as outlandish and cartoony as Dragon Ball.

Anyone have their two cents to give? Any fans of OP who watched the Netflix show?

[MasenkoHA]

The notion that Dragon Ball wouldn't work in live action when its DNA is baked in live action movies has always been absurd. People who think Dragon Ball wouldn't work in live action just lack imagination and think Goku's hair not being able to get perfectly translated means bad adaptation.

One Piece is pretty irrelevant here

[JulieYBM]

Literally just give Sakamoto Kou-ichi (varuous Kamen Rider, Power Rangers, Super Sentai and indie films) a good production schedule BAM, he'll turn in a kickass action series.

Live action is possible if you just play into the range of camp that it allows.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

The reason people often claim Dragon Ball can't work in live action is because a lot of them aren't familiar with the spectacle filled Burning of the Red Lotus Temple of 1928-1931 or the countless movies produced in Hong Kong in the latter part of the 20th century. Movies like Wind and Cloud, Dragon Tiger Gate or series like the 2004 Buddha's Palm and A Chinese Tall Story could be described as Dragon Ball live action adaptations in all but name.

I really enjoyed Netflix's One Piece. It's been a while since I started the series and watched East Blue and Alabasta but it was very faithful from what I could tell. The acting and set designs were also done wonderfully. I wholeheartedly recommend it for anyone that hasn't got into One Piece as its quite newcomer friendly.

Don't know whether or not the success of the One Piece live action makes a Dragon Ball adaptation any more likely. I'd say at least a little bit, as Eiichiro Oda is a huge admirer of Toriyama and it would be natural for Netflix to go after his best known work and the property One Piece is considered a spiritual successor to next.

[MasenkoHA]

Literally just give Sakamoto Kou-ichi (varuous Kamen Rider, Power Rangers, Super Sentai and indie films) a good production schedule BAM, he'll turn in a kickass action series.

Live action is possible if you just play into the range of camp that it allows.

Since you mention Sentai, Dairanger is basically what a 90s live action Dragon Ball made by Toei would have looked like anyways. Just take away the spandex and giant robots and boom live action Dragon Ball. (Although knowing Toei and Bandai a live action Dragon Ball series in the 90s probably would portray Shen Long as a giant robot dragon ala Daijinryu)

[JulieYBM]

Literally just give Sakamoto Kou-ichi (varuous Kamen Rider, Power Rangers, Super Sentai and indie films) a good production schedule BAM, he'll turn in a kickass action series.

Live action is possible if you just play into the range of camp that it allows.

Since you mention Sentai, Dairanger is basically what a 90s live action Dragon Ball made by Toei would have looked like anyways Just take away the spandex and giant robots and boom live action Dragon Ball. (Although knowing Toei and Bandai a live action Dragon Ball series in the 90s probably would portray Shen Long as a giant robot dragon ala Daijinryu)

I need to watch DaiRanger still, but I would not be surprised if a Toei-produced series had that crossover. Sakamoto has managed to get a lot of great action work out of face actors and well-hidden stunt actors, so I would love to see a similar approach with a Dragon Ball series, especially if even more changes were made to get the series nore toku-esque. https://twitter.com/TimesSqKungFu/statu ... NwXyg&s=19

[Hellspawn28]

I would imagine an American DB show in the 90s being a odd mixture between Mortal Kombat: Conquest and a Saban live action show.

[MasenkoHA]

I would imagine an American DB show in the 90s being a odd mixture between Mortal Kombat: Conquest and a Saban live action show.

I could see it going the 90s Hercules route and just have Goku and co fight a bunch of crappy cgi monsters

[MrSatan2099]

One Piece is pretty irrelevant here

I do agree that in general terms it's kind of apples to oranges. However, the relevancy of One Piece in this particular conversation is that if it's as successful as Netflix hopes it will be, we're almost certain to get a wave of high profile, big budget anime adaptations.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

It's not necessarily that there's absolutely no way a live action adaptation could work and never will. It's just that there hasn't been the immense amount of time and effort sunken into it by a studio in order to to do so. It seems that DB Evolution's abysmal performance and failure back in 2009 has for the longest time scared away anyone from attempting to take another crack at it. Who knows, as others in this thread have said the One Piece adaptation shows you can translate a manga/anime with the right budget and care.

So, i'm not saying it will NEVER happen. Just that there isn't any active attempts at this point of trying to do one. Maybe the OP live series will set a precedent and a future attempt at doing Dragon Ball in live action turns out way better than the complete joke that Evolution was. That being a generic mid 2000's action movie with DB names and terms slapped onto it but otherwise not being very faithful to the source material.

[DragonBallFoodie]

The live-action One Piece adaptation was heavily edited, from 45 episodes/95 manga chapters into 8 episodes. It's currently debated if that was okay, but the performances got a solid pass.

There were Easter eggs and myth gags and stuff that's nice, but the plot is the main thing, and they did reasonably ok there.

I don't know if I want a Dragon Ball adaptation to go the same route.

[Peach]

Live action can work and there's a lot of ways to do it. I would hope however it's made in the future, they film on location and find a great martial arts choreographer.

I would personally want to see it done like the Star Wars films, and less like a tokusatsu film like others here want.

[JulieYBM]

The live-action One Piece adaptation was heavily edited, from 45 episodes/95 manga chapters into 8 episodes. It's currently debated if that was okay, but the performances got a solid pass.

There were Easter eggs and myth gags and stuff that's nice, but the plot is the main thing, and they did reasonably ok there.

I don't know if I want a Dragon Ball adaptation to go the same route.

Why not? You can pick up a copy of the 1984 Dragon Ball comic any time you like. The purpose of a live action adaption is to adapt to the perks of live action. Tighter and more efficient storytelling that gives actors more room to play with their contributions to a project are also important, and a lot of that is done through their performance.

Bare in mind, I don't generally like One Piece, but I sat through the 2023 series and thought that it actually did a good job at condensing the story and making it more efficient, while also not sticking religiously to the beat-by-beat of the comic. The project also set up parallel story and character threads to challenge and reflect by the main threads of the Straw Hat crew. That's a really important move to make, all things considered. Obviously, nothing is perfect, but within the context of the limited about of time and resources provided by the capital, I think it's a ship-shape season of television.

A similar-style Dragon Ball series would actually be really interesting to see created, although it would also likely require even further changes from the source material to create a cohesive narrative that would fit in eight hours of screen time.

Adaption is always a big game of "how do we role with the punches of the limited resources available to us" and I think that is definitely an exciting art form unto itself to try and create.

[Grimlock]

The live-action One Piece adaptation was heavily edited, from 45 episodes/95 manga chapters into 8 episodes. It's currently debated if that was okay,

Well, they certainly can't put everything in it, and they shouldn't anyway. Otherwise the live-action may inherit any pacing problems the series may have. If it can be condensed, then that's what they should do. I may even end up watching the live-action version instead of watching over one thousand episodes.

[MasenkoHA]

The live-action One Piece adaptation was heavily edited, from 45 episodes/95 manga chapters into 8 episodes. It's currently debated if that was okay, but the performances got a solid pass.
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So they improved the source material but not overindulging in unnecessary length. Awesome.

[DragonBallFoodie]

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Well, I can't argue with these points.

Adaptation is a tricky business to balance things. What to keep in, or leave out. How long things can be drawn out or shortened.

I think would have given the One Piece show 13 episodes and not 8, for a better pacing maybe. But that's the only change I think I would have made.

[WittyUsername]

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Well, I can't argue with these points.

Adaptation is a tricky business to balance things. What to keep in, or leave out. How long things can be drawn out or shortened.

I think would have given the One Piece show 13 episodes and not 8, for a better pacing maybe. But that's the only change I think I would have made.

13 episodes for a show on streaming might be a bit excessive nowadays. Maybe 10?

[kemuri07]

The live-action One Piece adaptation was heavily edited, from 45 episodes/95 manga chapters into 8 episodes. It's currently debated if that was okay, but the performances got a solid pass.
.

So they improved the source material but not overindulging in unnecessary length. Awesome.

Yeah....nah? As daunting as One PIece can be: that's part of its charm. A reason why it remains one of the best anime/manga of all time is because it rewards the audience for sticking through it. You read 400 chapters, and then OP reveals that a character that you knew since Ch 5, now actually has an important part of the grand narrative of OP, completely changing your perspective of that character. What you're getting with OPLA is a sparknotes version of the manga that gives you a competent summary of what makes One Piece work. But it absolutely is not an improvement or a replacement for the source material.


In regards to can a DBZ live action adaptation not only happen but actually be good? Eeeeeh.....

I'd say if it were just Dragon Ball? Sure. Much like how OPLA is really just One Piece by way of Pirates of the Caribbean, I'd say that.a DB show could be done if it's framed as a Jackie Chan Martial arts epic. But Z? Yeah that's not going to happen.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

I liked the One Piece live action series, as did most people I know who are more well versed in the series than I am. Luffy's Gum Gum Pistol naturally looked a bit weird, but everything else was really well done. The set pieces were beautiful, actors were good and well cast, contained all the plot beats I remembered from watching the first 45 episodes some time ago.

Apart from One Piece getting a second season (which isn't out of the question because it is #1 in many countries) the series that will be very telling about Dragon Ball getting a live action adaptation depending on both its success and critical reception is another wuxia - Yu Yu Hakusho. That drops in December.

[ABED]

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Well, I can't argue with these points.

Adaptation is a tricky business to balance things. What to keep in, or leave out. How long things can be drawn out or shortened.

I think would have given the One Piece show 13 episodes and not 8, for a better pacing maybe. But that's the only change I think I would have made.

13 episodes for a show on streaming might be a bit excessive nowadays. Maybe 10?

13 is too many? FFS. For the record, my exasperation isn't aimed at you, but rather the state of TV. 13 episode should be the minimum on average. I highly doubt the shortening of the episode orders is purely artistically driven or even audience driven.