Out of Ideas
Christopher Booker once wrote an essay called "The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories" in which he argued that there are only seven basic stories in the world and that every single story told is a variation on one of these seven. Various people, such as Stephen King, have over the years more of less restated what Booker wrote in different words.
When the story in question is a traditional story or mythology, the exact same story may even be retold. I'm sure you can think of many examples of this. The legend of King Arthur comes to mind for me.
When Hollywood started up, this style of remake became more frequent. Even in the very early years of Hollywood, The Wizard of Oz, The Mark of Zorro, and various other stories were remade at least once.
Movie remakes have remained a thing since that time, but in recent years they have become even more frequent. I think as movie fans, we are all frustrated by all the remakes, but it is worth realizing that remakes have always been a thing and are nothing new.
Well... now it seems like anime is also joining the remake club.
Ranma 1/2 was a very popular long-running manga and anime series from 1987 to 1996. It featured Ranma Saotome, a young martial artist, who is engaged to Akane Tendo. The twist being that Ranma is cursed and will turn into a girl when exposed to cold water, then back to a boy when exposed to hot water. Bizarre, but funny. Add to it an equally crazy cast (for example, his father is also cursed, but instead of a girl, he turns into a giant panda when splashed with cold water) and the result was a very popular and successful comedy.
And now it's back!
Nippon TV and Netflix are producing a remake of the series. Judging by the trailer (linked below), it is pretty much an exact remake, with little changed. I don't know...maybe the trailer is just showing the exact same scenes, but the rest of the remake will be different. Even the original voice actors are returning.
Looks fun, I suppose. I'm not normally much for anime, but I was introduced to the series when I first came to Japan and used it in my study of Japanese, so I have some fondness for it. Given the chance, I may watch this remake.
But I'm left scratching my head... what's the point? We already have one anime series. Unless this one gives a radically different interpretation of the story, what is the point of remaking it? Money, I suppose. Even if it is scene for scene exactly the same, the are probably hoping fans of the original will tune in.
What do you think? Is this a bridge too fan, or no different from other remakes? Let me know in the comments.
By the way, here is the trailer for the Ranma 1/2 remake.
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David LaSpina is an American photographer and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku. He blogs here and at laspina.org. Write him on Twitter or Mastodon. |
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I'd love to see a remake of Robotech. That show was so pivotal for animation in the US I think. I just remember it wasn't like anything else that was on American TV at the time. The seven plots reminds me of the four chord song. Have you ever seen that video on YouTube?
I just looked it up. Very funny!
I rarely watch a remake, kind of tarnishing some old memory
The goal: to attract a new and younger audience. They already did it with another classic that was just as popular in its time, "Urusei Yatsura" by the same creator. They did a remake of it, already having a series and a few movies, and it was a huge success. I discovered the anime and the play thanks to that remake. The same thing happens to me with this one, since at 26 years old, I obviously didn't know this work and thanks to this remake of Ranma 1/2 I'm getting to know it. Yes, they obviously do it for the money, that's an obvious fact, but I also assume they do it to revive their old fandom and reach a newer audience. Imagine, this anime came out in the 80s, I wasn't even born back then. 😅 And although as an anime fan I should have known about it before, it is true that this Remake makes my life much easier by knowing this famous work with a new redesign and good animation (although it seems that the animation tries to maintain the classic style of the original work). I'm watching it right now and I'm liking it, let's hope it stays that way.
Good post.
You make a great point. I guess where I am coming from is that instead of spending all this effort remaking something that is already pretty good, why not make something completely new? There is a ton of manga that could do with some animation.
A few years ago a friend gave me a boxed set for Gatchaman. That's even older than Ranma 1/2. I have very vague memories of watching the English dubbed version of it once or twice when I was a kid. I took that boxed set and put it on for my 8 year old (at the time) and he loved it. No need to remake it to give that exposure to a classic series.
Well... There is a lot of demand for anime adaptations of new mangas that have never been animated before. But it is true that Netflix, which is in charge of this remake (as well as others in the past), has its own way of paying for and producing adaptations. But outside of Netflix, it's as simple as looking at the future broadcasts that have been confirmed for 2025 to realize the huge amount of new anime that are coming.
And well, that would be the case, in mine, as I don't have anyone who knows about old anime like you in my life, I have to wait for a Remake and that at some point in my life I come across the name from the original anime to go see it, if I'm interested since another detail is the style and quality of animation. I know that, like me, there are many young people in the world who are grateful now that the Remake has come out.
But well, we'll have to wait for it to be fully broadcast first and then give our opinion in case they don't ruin it along the way with a bad adaptation or something like that. 🤔