Mango Tai's manga adaptation of the Japanese manga The Prince of Tennis, Struggle, Boy! After several twists and turns, no one will know that it is actually adapted from the famous manga. However, since the beginning of the broadcast, there have been various controversies, some people feel that the plot of various tributes is touching, and some people feel that the special effects and acting skills are really anxious.
The poster of the animation "The Prince of Tennis" and the domestic comic drama "Struggle, Boy!" stills.
Not long ago, Tencent Video also quietly launched a comic drama "Stop! Guan Classmate", this drama is adapted from the Japanese manga "Small Action in Class", as a rare domestic bubble noodle drama, although Douban has not yet scored, but the current short reviews are focused on: comic works are finally less embarrassing. As the two main types in the current tide of IP adaptation, online text reform and comic change have come out of two completely different trajectories, compared to the current situation of frequent adaptation of online text adaptations, live-action works adapted from comics or animations have repeatedly overturned, ratings, playback, and word of mouth are not satisfactory, what is the problem?
The overturning of domestic comic works has become the norm
At present, there are not many successful precedents for domestic comic adaptations, and all that can be thought of is a "Take My Brother Away", and the drama is only a good reputation, and the popularity is very general. If you add the movie, only its film of the same name and another "Animal World" are successful adaptations.
Posters for the domestic manga adaptation of the movie "Animal World" (adapted from the Japanese manga "Gambling Apocalypse") and "Take My Brother Away" (adapted from the domestic manga of the same name).
In fact, the number of domestic comic adaptation works is not a lot, in the past two years, the major film and television companies have announced more than 50 comic drama projects, including many classic IPs like "Chess Soul", including "Town Soul Street", "Qin Shi Mingyue", "Bad People Painting Rivers and Lakes", "End Brain", "Prince of Tennis", "Stop It!" "Classmate Seki", which includes both works adapted from domestic manga and works adapted from Japanese manga.
Thanks to the huge domestic group of two-dimensional fans, these dramas seem to be stable, but after the start of broadcasting, they overturned, "Qin Shi Mingyue" was scolded a dog bloody head, "Telencephalon" reputation is OK, the heat is really not good, "Struggle, teenager!" (The Prince of Tennis) fully explains how embarrassing it is to have awkward special effects and awkward acting skills. And the recently launched vertical screen drama "Stop! Guan Classmate", as a campus-themed youth bubble noodle drama with only more than 4 minutes per episode (referring to the work of short time and finished watching the bowl noodles), it is actually difficult to see how much progress has been made in domestic comic dramas.
Stop! Stills from the Japanese manga "Little Actions in Class".
At present, the theme choice of domestic comic works is all-encompassing, campus, e-sports, science fiction, costumes, fantasy, fantasy, fantasy, etc., which work is adapted to become the consensus of the industry, but this kind of non-picky adaptation remake has caused Frequent Thunder works. Shooting one and smashing one seems to have become a curse for domestic comic adaptations. Seeing that the next door network adaptation production investment is getting bigger and bigger, the special effects are becoming more and more sophisticated, and the explosion is more and more, while the comic can only hold the five-cent special effects and hide in the corner and cry.
"Chicken Thief" Japanese manga adaptation
As a two-dimensional cultural country, Japan's film and television drama production industry is also developed, the combination of the two, naturally there are a lot of comic works, and the quality is relatively stable, the routine is very mature, whether it is the original fans or passers-by audience will go to eat two bites. However, if you count the Japanese comic adaptation works, you will find that Japanese practitioners are very good at pleasing the game, and they basically only choose from two themes: girl comics and youth comics.
The former is mainly based on campus love stories, the latter is based on adults' workplaces or daily lives, such a theme determines that this kind of comic drama remake is very simple, one does not need special effects, and the other does not need brain-burning settings. For example, in 2015, the fire-day drama "Towards 5 to 9: The Handsome Monk Falls in Love with Me" starring Rimi Ishihara and Tomohisa Yamashita is a manga adaptation, but after watching the whole drama, there is no trace of a manga, it is a more distinctive workplace love story, why? Because the original comic is actually a more distinctive workplace love story.
Comic cover and TV series poster for 5 to 9.
So are there any manga adaptations in Japan with other themes? Of course, there are also, such as "Killing City" in the science fiction genre, "The King of the World" and "The Sword Heart of the Rangers" in the historical theme, and what else? There seems to be no familiar work.
For the Japanese film and television drama industry, science fiction films are too difficult to shoot and need large-scale productions, but comic adaptation works are often insufficiently funded, so naturally they do not touch them. Historical themes only dare to choose works with relatively small scenes and more emphasis on personal themes, such as "The Heart of the Sword of Langke", because Japan's shooting conditions do not allow the filming of historical themes with large production scenes. The original author of "The King of The World" even said that my comic could not be made in a live-action version, because it could not be made. The reason why it was finally able to be made was mainly because the entire film was filmed in Hengdian Film and Television City in China.
This is why the author will say that Japanese film and television practitioners are good at flattering ("chicken thief"),if this subject is unstable, the investment is large, and the objective conditions are not allowed, then choose a subject matter that is mature enough and has a low cost. This is why they prefer girly comics, such as campus love themes, that is, the yukata festival, the gakuen festival, the back hug, the rooftop, the rain to borrow an umbrella to stew, the brain does not need to move. But this kind of chicken thief is a disaster for the development of the entire industry, and the lame development will only make the weak subject matter no longer have the opportunity to turn over.
Comic book cover and movie poster for King of Kings.
Comic IP has a particularity, and adaptation should be cautious
So the topic returned to the question that has been asked by countless people, how to shoot domestic comic works? "Qin Shi Mingyue" has been scolded for excessive adaptation to the present, resulting in all directors pursuing as much restoration as possible when shooting, which is not a big problem for campus themes like "Take My Brother Away", but like "Full-time Master" and "Telencephalon", the problem is very big. The creation, storyboarding, and character design of comics have their particularities, and this set of creative modes and narrative modes is suitable for comics, but it is obviously not suitable for film and television dramas, and excessive pursuit of comic effects in film and television dramas is also impossible to achieve.
For example, "Struggle, Boy!" The various special effects and tricks in ", comics or animations feel like there is no sense of violation, but when the protagonist shouts various skill names when playing, and various special effects flash on the screen, you will feel that this is really stupid. If the costume theme is not in place, it will eventually become a large-scale cosplay performance in a studio costume.
Therefore, the core of the creation of domestic comics lies in trade-offs and balances. For example, works like science fiction that rely heavily on special effects, if the script is not solid enough, then don't shoot. With the current production cost of domestic film and television dramas, it is indeed too difficult to bear the high cost of science fiction themes, and the result of forced launching is only endless overturning. For example, if there is insufficient funding for a person like historical themes who rely on the Service Ofe? Then polish the script, a good script can make the audience tolerate some of the shortcomings of the costume.
Gai Nie in the animated and TV series versions of Qin Shi Mingyue.
For comics of other genres, it is equally important to make trade-offs when adapting. What is the heart of The Prince of Tennis? Of course, it is the story of the male protagonist's continuous growth on the tennis court, as well as the friendship between him and his teammates and classmates, so whether the tricks in the original work are good or the special effects, can we make appropriate trade-offs and simplifications, rather than blindly pursuing restoration?
Similarly, how to do local adaptations while retaining the core of the story, to balance the tastes of the public is also a domestic comic creator to learn, the author suggests that director Han Yan open a cram class, specifically to talk about how to adapt comic works. In fact, the successful adaptation of "Animal World" lies in the balance and trade-offs, under the premise of retaining the essence of the original's tricks and human characteristics, a bold localization adaptation of the protagonist's motivation and world driving force has been carried out, which is very in place and has also won an excellent reputation.
A comparison of similar scenes from the comic book Gambling Apocalypse and the movie Animal World.
At present, this state of shooting one film and smashing one film will indeed make capital reduce investment in comic works. The shooting of comic adaptations has its own particularity, but the capital that flocks to it obviously does not calm down to look at this particularity, and one comic adaptation after another makes me deeply feel how the impetuous market has ruined the patience and expectation of the audience little by little.
Stop! "Classmate Guan" is indeed a good example, the localization adaptation and theme selection are very flattering, and even the 4-minute episode length reduces the chance of making mistakes. However, if you want to rely on such a bubble noodle drama to open up the situation of domestic comic works, it is obviously too difficult, and the real thing to rely on is a solid work like "Animal World".
□ Yuan Lei (Reviewer)
Beijing News Editor Wu Longzhen Proofreader Zhai Yongjun