J.J. Abrams targeted over fear that Japanese hit Your Name will be whitewashed
News that J.J. Abrams is to oversee a remake the Japanese anime hit âYour Nameâ has been followed by uproar that the movie will now be âwhite-washedâ once it hits Hollywood.
The manga, which Abramsâ Bad Robot company will turn into a live-action adaptation, is based on a novel of the same name in which a teenage girl from rural Japan and a high school boy in Tokyo begin magically switching bodies.
So far, itâs made more at the box office than any other animated movie in Japanese film history â hauling in over $355 million worldwide.
And as such, itâs caught the eye of Hollywood, with Abrams now in place to remake it with the Paramount studio and Toho, the filmâs Japanese distributor.
However, the main question being asked by fans of the original appears to be âbut why?â
Many have taken to Japan Todayâs website and Facebook page, one joking âIâm excited for Scarlett Johanssonâs next big filmâ, a reference to âGhost In The Shellâ, which was remade this year in Hollywood and lambasted for making its hero a white western woman.
Another said: âI get mad every time I read news like this. Stop remaking someone elseâs art and appreciate the original.â
Added another: âItâs essentially the same thing as when the dumb kid in class copies another studentâs homework.â
Said another, rather more pointedly: âI will definitely NOT be watching any white washed crap that comes out of Hollywood. Tired of watching uninspiring remakes.â
Twitter, of course, had something to say about it tooâŚ
Hollywood remake of Your NameâŚ. Why?! It was perfect as is! #YourName #KiminoNawa pic.twitter.com/wOyGkelZfM
â Land of Weeb & Glory (@WeebAndGlory) September 28, 2017
Thanks but no thanks. 'Your Name' is already available in Japanese and English and it's a masterpiece in both. We don't need a remake.
â Nicole Albert (@nicolerenee102) September 28, 2017
"JJ Abrams 'Your name' remake"
âŚâŚ whyâŚ.??â Kin (@taengho) October 2, 2017
Hollywood appropriating subject matter from Asia and the Far East is a contentious subject at present, making the decision to remake âYour Nameâ at all something of a puzzling one.
The reaction to it surely cannot have come as a surprise, particularly following the âGhost In The Shellâ debacle, during which it was heavily criticised, mauled by critics and then bombed at the box office â it too was based on a popular manga series.
But for his part, the animeâs original director Makoto Shinkai seems quite up for it.
âWhen such a work is imbued with Hollywood filmmaking, we may see new possibilities that we had been completely unaware of,â he said.
Read More:
Blade Runner 2049 âbetter than the originalâ
Justice League may mark end of DCEU
Kristen Stewart, Lupita Nyongâo eyed for Charlieâs Angels