McMurphy
Apostate Against the Eloi
I noticed the trailer and some sample episodes for the anime adaption of Shakespeare’s "Romeo and Juliet” were playing at this year’s AX. It looked pretty spiffy (hmm, I need to work on my word choices...), and it reminded me of other literature based animations, such as The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. Both works have romance, violence, lust, revenge, and, for the emo fans out there, even suicide. What easy choices for anime adaptions! Right?
Almost too easy if you ask me. Where is the challenge in Shakespeare? People have been using his work as blueprints for film and television dramas for decades. What glory is interred for the Dumas imitator? The ultimate vengeance tale has already been penned, after all. They—the group of people I will make reference to vaguely in avoidance of admitting I have no idea what I am talking about—need to dig up some classic source material that has not already been tested true several times over.
For example, how about an anime version of Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls? In the year 2115, Oklahoma native Billy Colman hunts the alien ferret infestation, which is due to generations of the careless behavior of union cargo ship crews arriving back from space harvests, with his pair of trusty android hounds. Wipe away your tears as Billy learns all too familiar lessons about love and lost when one of his robo-dogs is sent to the eternal “Read Error” message in the sky when it sacrifices its wiring to appease a malfunctioning mountain automaton. One must ponder as the credits roll, do android dogs dream of electric red ferns?
Or, why not Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice? Strap yourself in for a thrill ride of a lifetime as you lend witness to the ultimate love story involving the regal society of feudal Japan. Elizabeth Toyota may be a sharp tongued and intelligent socialite, but can she match the frustratingly fickle nature of Mr. Darcy, the Duke of Saito? Darcy is accused of the recent demon raids, but Elizabeth is not entirely convinced. When her sister becomes engaged and elopes with one of the said demons in disguise, time becomes dangerously short for Elizabeth to unravel the mystery.
Or, must we forget Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo? Forfeit what you remember of the Disney adaption. Nothing compares to what anime can do to this French classic. On New Paris, a moon colonized by the French Republic in Sector 29 of the Starbucks Galaxy, Quasimodo (God, his name even SOUNDS a little Japanese, doesn’t it?) is victim to a blotched cyboric parts transplant at an early age and has ever since been made to suffer society’s disgust towards his mangled, rusted metal parts and cracked infrared lens. Such divine torture left him only an occupation of tolling the sirens, which sound when it is time for the occupants of New Paris to gather at the Church of Radiation Vaccines. Quasimodo’s soul becomes more and more dark and would have ultimately been of ill repute if it wasn’t for the kindness of Esmeralda, the run-away daughter of a rogue space pirate. Can love overcome such physical hurdles? Will Frollo, the deranged caretaker of the Church of RV, who secretly dabbles in alien technology, have other plans for Esmeralda? What of Phoebus, the captain of the Moon Watch who is the object of Esmeralda’s enchantment after saving her life? And, perhaps, the most important question of all, can anyone hear your heart bleed in space?
There are so many possibilities. Feel free to post your examples.
Almost too easy if you ask me. Where is the challenge in Shakespeare? People have been using his work as blueprints for film and television dramas for decades. What glory is interred for the Dumas imitator? The ultimate vengeance tale has already been penned, after all. They—the group of people I will make reference to vaguely in avoidance of admitting I have no idea what I am talking about—need to dig up some classic source material that has not already been tested true several times over.
For example, how about an anime version of Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls? In the year 2115, Oklahoma native Billy Colman hunts the alien ferret infestation, which is due to generations of the careless behavior of union cargo ship crews arriving back from space harvests, with his pair of trusty android hounds. Wipe away your tears as Billy learns all too familiar lessons about love and lost when one of his robo-dogs is sent to the eternal “Read Error” message in the sky when it sacrifices its wiring to appease a malfunctioning mountain automaton. One must ponder as the credits roll, do android dogs dream of electric red ferns?
Or, why not Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice? Strap yourself in for a thrill ride of a lifetime as you lend witness to the ultimate love story involving the regal society of feudal Japan. Elizabeth Toyota may be a sharp tongued and intelligent socialite, but can she match the frustratingly fickle nature of Mr. Darcy, the Duke of Saito? Darcy is accused of the recent demon raids, but Elizabeth is not entirely convinced. When her sister becomes engaged and elopes with one of the said demons in disguise, time becomes dangerously short for Elizabeth to unravel the mystery.
Or, must we forget Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo? Forfeit what you remember of the Disney adaption. Nothing compares to what anime can do to this French classic. On New Paris, a moon colonized by the French Republic in Sector 29 of the Starbucks Galaxy, Quasimodo (God, his name even SOUNDS a little Japanese, doesn’t it?) is victim to a blotched cyboric parts transplant at an early age and has ever since been made to suffer society’s disgust towards his mangled, rusted metal parts and cracked infrared lens. Such divine torture left him only an occupation of tolling the sirens, which sound when it is time for the occupants of New Paris to gather at the Church of Radiation Vaccines. Quasimodo’s soul becomes more and more dark and would have ultimately been of ill repute if it wasn’t for the kindness of Esmeralda, the run-away daughter of a rogue space pirate. Can love overcome such physical hurdles? Will Frollo, the deranged caretaker of the Church of RV, who secretly dabbles in alien technology, have other plans for Esmeralda? What of Phoebus, the captain of the Moon Watch who is the object of Esmeralda’s enchantment after saving her life? And, perhaps, the most important question of all, can anyone hear your heart bleed in space?
There are so many possibilities. Feel free to post your examples.
