Featured artwork by Stanley “Artgerm” Lau.
This week saw the release of Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender, continuing the often dubious history of English/live-action adaptations of anime and manga. You’ll be able to read our thoughts on the first episode later today, but in any case, we wanted to know: what is the best English-language adaptation (film, TV, live-action or otherwise) of a Japanese (or Japanese-inspired) comic or cartoon?
Yes, it’s a broad question: this was originally meant to be live-action only until we remembered there was an animated American Astro Boy film in 2009 (and let’s face it, Alita: Battle Angel was a spiritual follow-up to Who Framed Roger Rabbit.) Similarly, Crying Freeman is not an American film, but a French, Canadian, and Japanese co-production, however, it’s still relevant to the subject at hand. So be sure to vote below to tell “Hollywood” what their best attempt to turn anime into gold has been, and to check back for the results on Monday.
