Watchlist #52 - Attack on Titan Part 1 Live Action (Film)

So last week, my friend and I had the opportunity in watching the live adaptation of the Anime phenomenon known as Attack on Titan. This is not an American rendition, but rather Japan has put forth the effort into making it into a reality. So...does it exceed all expectations or did it fall short? Well, for me anyways, it fell flat 100%. Apart from making MANY changes, it loses focus and changes the motivation behind the character's desires. It felt rushed and had a lot of pacing issues as well as introducing movie-exclusive characters that are just as bland as cardboard cutouts. If you guys don't know what AOT is about, it's about a young kid who witnessed his Mom get killing by a Titan and his conquest for vengeance knows no bounds when he enlists to kill them all alongside his friends Armin & Mikasa. A lot of fans were in disbelief that someone actually managed to mess up an adaptation AND it wasn't by us, 'Murica. Japan has had a pretty good resume in making good adaptations such as Death Note (2 movies and a Drama) and Rurouni Kenshin (which I heard many good things about), but in their efforts in making AOT ~ it didn't really deliver. It felt like a punch in the face to the fans rather than the swift impact of relief. Some changes I'd like to point are (and yes there are spoilers):

1) They changed Eren's motivation to kill the Titans, In the Anime, he witnessed his Mom get eaten by the smiling Titan whereas in the movie rendition, it's depicted that Eren and Mikasa are apparently boyfriend & girlfriend and Mikasa was "eaten" by the Smiling Titan. Also, Mikasa isn't a Captain.

2) Certain key characters aren't shown or rather are replaced by counterparts that we could care less about (ex: Levi isn't in the movie and is replaced by a man named Shikishima).

3) Eren and Armin look ALIKE - couldn't tell them apart sometimes.

4) If soldiers were trained in using the shifting gear, why did NO ONE know how to use it? Only Mikasa and Levi's replacement were able to successfully to deliver some badass moments.

5) Eren's 30 second love-interest with a movie-exclusive character. This not only affected him, but apparently is the reason why he became the badass Titan Shifter we all know and love.

So there is a lot more I could've pointed out, but I'm going to point out the things that the live-adaptation got spot-on

1) Sasha and Hange's personalities are spot-on
2) Eren turning into a Titan Shifter

Yes, there are only 2 things I pointed out that were actually spot-on. I could've gone on a long rant, but unfortunately my friend and I are somewhat curious to see Part 2 to see if it holds up. We'll just have to wait and find out. I already made a rant on yesterday's Food for Thought so I'm just going to leave it at that. The movie loses focuses, changes motivation, excludes key characters, and has a lot of pacing issues. I give it a 5/10 ~ it's not good nor is it terrible. I will say this ~ it's better than most American adaptations of Anime, Cartoons, & Video games....but that's not saying much.

I hope you enjoyed this week's Watch-list post. Watch-List posts will be on Wednesdays. Until then, stay classy as always. Don't forget to check out the other Watch-list posts (in order):

1) Tenchi Muyo

2) Cowboy Bebop

3) Trigun

4) Dragonball Z

5) School Rumble 

6) Is This A Zombie?

7) Fairy Tail

8) Omamori Himari

9) FLCL

10) Gurren Lagann 

11) Shin-Chan 

12) Tenchi Muyo GXP

13) Tenchi Muyo In Tokyo

14) Power Puff Girls Z

15) Kirby!

16) Samurai Champloo 

17) Hanaukyo Maid Team 

18) True Tears 

19) Zombie Powder (Manga)

20) Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai 

21) Teen Titans
22) Yu-Gi-Oh
23) Rosario+Vampire
24) Death Note
25) Pokemon
26) Digimon
27) Big-O
28) X-Men (Anime Version)
29) D-Frag
30) Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun
31) Akame Ga Kill
32) Invaders of the Rokujyōma!?
33) OniAi
34) Ben-To
35) Testament of a Sister New Devil
36) Minamoto-kun Monogatari (Manga)
37) My Love Story (Ore Monogatari!)
38) Space Dandy
39) Wanna be the strongest in the world
40) When Marnie Was There (Film ~ Studio Ghibli)
41) The Garden of Words (Film ~ Makoto Shinkai)
42) Song of the Sea (Film ~ Tomm Moore)  
43) Nagasarete Airantou
44) DBZ: Resurrection 'F' (Film)
45) Bikini Warriors (First Impressions)
46) Yu Yu Hakusho
47) Monster Musume (First Impressions)
48) Code Lyoko
49) Ninja Scroll (Film)
50) Kill La Kill
51) Attack on Titan
52) Attack on Titan Part 1 (Live-Action Film)