Bokurano director Hiroyuki Morita dislikes original manga

Paul

Paul

Ghost of Animes
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<a href="http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2007-06-14/bokurano-helmer-changes-story-due-to-dislike-of-manga">Former Studio Ghibli director Hiroyuki Morita</a> ("The Cat Returns") has revealed online (via a Japanese production blog) that despite directing the GONZO-animated adaptation of the cult favourite mecha manga Bokurano, he actually "dislikes the original" and then goes on to say "you can't expect the animated version to expand on what you might find appealing in the original. So, fans of the original, please do not watch the animated version from now on".

Bokurano is a mecha-horror anime TV series currently airing in Japan. The story revolves around a group of children who, having agreed to pilot a giant robot to protect Earth, are destined to die in the immediate aftermath of their debut battle.

The manga is from Mohiro Kitoh, infamous for his shocking earlier work, Narutaru (often described as Pokemon with a violent twist). Hiroyuki Morita has already asked of Kitoh "Is it all right if I save the children"? Fans of the original story are understandably distressed with this news, but with the manga story still on-going, an original ending for the Bokurano anime was always going to be the case anyway.
 
I must admit I'm not especially concerned since I don't believe an anime adaptation of a manga should be exactly like the original. Don't get me wrong, Bokurano is a fantastic manga, but obviously, we've now got to start treating the anime as an almost separate story. Based on what I've seen so far (first four episodes) it's been pretty good anyway, it could use a bit more support from GONZO in terms of animation budget though.
 
Hmm...basically what I said on the other thread.

I'm not too keen on Morita changing the story merely because he 'didn't like it' but since the Cat Returns was a great movie and he has the manga-ka's permission it may not be as bad as the purist backlash makes out.

At the end of the day, the manga is ongoing so he'd have to diverge from the original story sooner or later. Otherwise he'll have a Kare Kano-type of situation on his hands where the ending is sudden or just plain unsatisfactory.

Besides, it's not nearly as interesting to have a story with its TV adaptation following it scene-for-scene! I'm thoroughly enjoying Bokurano so far but since I haven't read any of the manga yet it'll be a pleasant surprise.
 
From how I see it. "I don't like the manga" means "I'm going to change the ending to how the studio sees fit to and mess it all up."
 
That is Gonzo's MO.

They only time they don't do it is when AiC is there to smack them one upside the face and tell them to make the godamn pie like it was in the cook book.
 
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