Attack on Titan Live-Action Film Part 2!

Hello

Annyeoung

Konnichiwa

Ni Hao

It's been about 3 months since I posted about part 1 of the live-action film for Attack on Titan and if you checked it out then you know that I was pleasantly surprised with part 1 after going into it with pretty bad expectations. I was going to post this a couple of months back but I kept postponing getting it ready, so lets have a recap.

Attack on Titan is also known as Shingeki no Kyojin and is a live action film based around the manga. The films are directed by Shinji Higuchi and written by both Yasuke Watanabe and Tomohiro Machiyama.

The films star:

Haruma Miura as Eren

Google Images

Kiko Mizuhara as Mikasa

Google Images

Kanata Hongo as Armin

Google Images

Takahiro Miura as Jean

Google Images

Nanami Sakuraba as Sasha aka potato girl

Google Images

Satomi Ishihara as Hans aka Hange/Hanji

Google Images

Hiroki Hanegawa as Shikishima

Google Images

The films were split into 2 parts with the 2nd part being named Attack on Titan: End of the World.

Part 2 was released in Japan September 19th 2015.

End of the World trailer.

Sadly for the creators part 2 under-performed at the box office and made 2.1 billion Yen less than the first film, combined the films have made 4.93 billion Yen ($46 million).

Both of the theme songs in my opinion are really good and are both performed by Sekai no Owari.

Anti-Hero was used at the end of part 1.

By SEKAI NO OWARI CHANNEL

SOS was used at the end of part 2.

By SEKAI NO OWARI CHANNEL

After being surprised by the first film, I kind of felt let down by part 2 as it seemed predictable for who the bad guys were, which made me feel that Shikishima was even less like Levi. I was unimpressed when it seemed that they had killed of Hans and even more unimpressed when they killed of Jean. I feel bad that I don't really have much to say about this film compared to the first one but I'm in awe of how underwhelmed I was left with this film. I'm in no way saying I wasted my time watching the film, it is a re-watchable film but part 1 is definitely the better of the 2. I think my favourite part of the film has to be the ending, that to me was the only part I wasn't expecting and not something that has ever entered by head while reading the manga or watching the anime, so it will be interesting to see how the manga will pan out but I feel I will have a good long wait to see how Attack on Titan will end. One thing I will praise this film for is it's soundtrack, I wouldn't say I have to praise the acting as you will see from part 1 that I thought they all did a great job and Satomi Ishihara still had me laughing at how she brought Hans to life, she is definitely my favourite of the 2 films closely followed by Kanata Hongo and Haruma Miura.

I would love to see a big budget company get theirs hands on this franchise as with the right budget I really think these films could work, as it seems turning manga and anime's into live action films and shows seems to be popular with both Bleach and Sword Art Online getting a live action creation.

I'll still recommend giving these films a try as everyone is different and what I dislike about the film another could enjoy.

Have you seen part 2?

What did you think of the film?

Let me know in the comments below.

Annyeoung

Sayonara

Zai Jian

Bye

Attack on Titan Live-Action Film Part 1!

Hello

An nyeoung

Konnichiwa

Ni hao

If you've seen my past posts then you know that one of my favourite anime and manga's is Attack on Titan also known as Shingeki no Kyojin, well they thought they would try it out as a live action film based on the manga.

The film was directed by Shinji Higuchi and written by Yasuke Watanabe and Tomohiro Machiyama, with a change of scenery for the film the cast were mainly Japanese.

Starring in the film was:

Haruma Miura as Eren

Google Images

Kiko Mizuhara as Mikasa

Google Images

Kanata Hongo as Armin

Google Images

Takahiro Miura as Jean

Google Images

Nanami Sakuraba as Sasha aka Potato girl

Google Images

Satomi Ishihara as Hans aka Hange/Hanji

Google Images

Hiroki Hasegawa as Shikishima aka Levi

Google Images

Like the Death Note live action films this one was also split into 2 part films, part 1 was released August 1st 2015 in Japan with part 2 being released in Japan 19th September titled Attack on Titan: End of the World.

Back in October 2011 it was announced there was to be am Attack on Titan film that would be released in 2013, December 2011 it was also announced that it would be a live action film. A change in director caused a delay in the films release with a new director Shinji Higuchi coming on as directer December 2013. A few months later in April 2014 it was revealed that Haruma Miura was part of the cast, then in July 2014 it was revealed that the film would be separated into 2 parts. 
November 2014 saw the first pictures of the actors as their characters released, which caused many AOT fans to voice their concerns about the casting choices.
March 2015 saw the release of a teaser trailer for the film which for many hyped up the excitement of the film being released.
AOT teaser trailer.
April and June saw the release of 2 more trailers for the film.
AOT trailer 2.
AOT full trailer.

Part 1 was No.1 on it's opening weekend in Japan making $5.1 million, it was the seventh highest-grossing Japanese made film at the Japanese box office in 2015 and the 17th highest-grossing film in the Japanese box office in 2015.

Now we've got all the big information on the film out of the way lets get to what I actually thought about the film.
After seeing glimpses of titan Eren I didn't hold much hope for the film and even thought about ignoring the film altogether, but after seeing it pop up on my Amazon I decided to buy part 1 and pre-order part 2 and get the shame and pain done and out of the way. Like many fans I wasn't too pleased about the whole character change especially the fact that my favourite character Levi wouldn't be in the movie, I personally thought they took a big risk removing a character that even though he wasn't necessarily a main character he is a fan favourite for the show, you may have noticed above at the cast I did mention Levi's name because the character Shikishima seems to be Levi to me. Overall for the film I was pleasantly surprised, even though there were parts and character profiles I wasn't too happy with. The film takes a love story approach for Eren and Mikasa even though the anime and manga makes jokes that Mikasa is in love with Eren this looks more like they were put them together by the end of part 2(no spoilers please). I couldn't fault Kanata Hongo as Armin minus his blonde hair I think he got Armin pretty right and I was happy that they didn't make him as much of a wimp as he is in the manga and anime. I hated that they made Mikasa vulnerable to begin with, Mikasa is known for being a bad ass and for always being by Eren's side to get him out of whatever trouble he got himself into but Kiko Mizuhara did a great job. I personally didn't take a liking to Shikishima if he is being based around Levi I don't like how they portrayed him, don't get me wrong Hiroki Hasegawa did an amazing job bringing his character life but I couldn't help feeling that they were trying to make Levi a scheming character, Levi even though he tends not to show his emotions; Shikishima seemed to get joy out of others pain. Haruma Miura did amazing as Eren and I couldn't help laughing at the scene where he and another character were practically watching a couple get it on to the next bit him being pounced on and being requested he would become her daughters father. My favourite character from the film has to be Hans/Hange Satomi Ishihara did amazing bringing her to life, personally for me She was the only one that had the character down, even her look was on top. For me personally the only let down for me was the CGI(or whatever they used) titan Eren looked extremely cheap I understand that they had to work with what funding they had for the film but I believe if that had been better the film would have had better reviews. I bow down for the titans because they were creepy as hell and it made it feel more real especially showing the children crying when they start appearing. I noticed throughout the film too that none of the characters were called or their surnames mentioned, I'm guessing this was because of the location being changed from Germany to Japan, I don't think you'll find many Japanese people with surnames like Yeager, Arlert, Kirstein and Braus. I actually ended watching the film looking forward to seeing how part 2 would be, even the soundtrack was pretty good.

I'm sure I'll think of other points that I forgot to mention once this post is up but overall for a film I thought was going to be pretty bad turned out to be pretty good, it's a film I know I could sit and watch again and again.

Have you seen Part 1?
What did you make of the film?
Let me know in the comments below.
See you soon!

An nyeoung
Sayonara
Zia Jian
Bye

Kuroshitsuji (Black Butler): Live-Action Movie!

Hello

An nyoung

Konnichiwa

Ni hao

I know this post is kind of late but better late than never right? Thursday I posted about the live-action movies of Death Note and I said that Fridays post would be along the same lines and I did not lie it's time for the live-action movie of Black Butler. If you saw my previous post on Black Butler you will know I really enjoy both the manga and anime of the series. Like many fans I was rather reluctant with the film as what made the manga interesting for me was changed. 

Released 2014 (I noticed it was showing at my local Cineworld but couldn't go as we were going away), the film was directed by Kentaro Otani and Keiichi Sato, one of the films main actors Hiro Muzushima also co-produced and was also credited as a co-screenwrter for the film, he is credited under his birth name Tomohiro Saito as the co-producer. This was also his first starring role in three years.

Originally set in 19th-century London in the manga, the film gave it a new time and place setting it in an unnamed eastern nation and in the year 2020, which for me was the main reason I was a little reluctant to watch it as I really liked and enjoyed it being set during the reign of Queen Victoria. The main change I saw more people complain about was the fact that Sebastian no longer held a contract with the head of the Phantomhive's, the one and only Ciel Phantomhive intead his gender was changed and Sebastian now held a contract with a girl called Genpo Shiori also known as Count Genpo Kiyoharu, this change didn't bother me as much as it had aspects that could be used from the past like pretending she was male to be the head of the household, my only problem with this is that while I am writing this remembering that it's set in the future shows that not many people think we will lose the male led world that we are in today, that the man will always be the one to be in control. 

There were a few other character changes with our red headed sharp shooter Mey-Rin now only been known as Rin and the only real household staff to be seen regular, I was gutted about this as I missed Finny and Baldroy, Tanaka is seen after the opening credits with his famous Japanese cup. Ciel's Aunt is also changed from the manga and anime and is no longer known as Madam Red as we lose her red hair, even her backstory is slightly different from the manga and anime.

The main goal of Shiori/Kiyoharu is the same as Ciel, she wants revenge on the people that murdered her parents and kidnapped her, like Ciel she is the Queens Watchdog and while trying to get revenge for her parents she has to complete her mission sent from the Queen, find and stop whoever is causing the appearance of mummified dead bodies, to which a a mysterious tarot card is always left behind with the body.

Mummified dead bodies of various dignitaries from around the world are being discovered, a mysterious tarot card left beside them at the scene. The world is headed towards chaos... Kiyoharu is the young head of the Genpo noble family, owners of a massive toy manufacturing enterprise. He also functions as a secret watchdog for the Queen, a service that his family has provided for generations. The Queen orders Kiyoharu to solve the mummification incidents, and he starts to investigate. He is supported by his perfect butler, Sebastian, who is actually a demon. Kiyoharu has been hiding his true female identity since his parents' tragic death 10 years earlier. In return for perfect service to his master in public and private, Sebastian will receive his master's soul after Kiyoharu achieves revenge for the murder of his parents. Who is really behind the serial mummification deaths? Will Kiyoharu finally find out who killed his/her parents?

Like often seen in the anime there are flashbacks to Kiyoharu's past when her parents were murdered and snippets of this is shown in the opening credits with it closing on Shiori and Sebastian's contract being created with him rescuing her, there are scenes that any Black Butler fan would associate with the manga and anime, like the start of the film when Sebastian rescues Shiori from a smuggler (different from the manga/anime), he is shown fighting with his signature cutlery weapon and is shown to play dead as in the manga and anime.

I'm not going to lie I didn't have high hopes for this film but I really enjoyed the plot and the acting from Hiro Mizushima, Ayame Goriki and Mizuki Yamamoto made it an even more enjoyable watch, the trailer did not do Hiro Mizushima justice as I couldn't decide whether i liked him as my favorite demon butler but after watching it I couldn't have picked a better actor to portray him. Mizuki Yamamoto played Rin really well and I couldn't help smile when she went from clumsy maid to bad ass protecter. Ayame Goriki pulled of head of the Genpo family better then I could have expected she proved she could be the lead in a big movie that is well known in the manga and anime world.

The film was released in Japan January 2014 and the film debuted at third place in it's opening weekend in the Japanese box office and grossed a total of $5,243,260 (in Japan).

Any one can get into this film as you don't have to know the story of the manga or the anime to know whats happening and by the end everything is explained, maybe it will even make you want to know how the story will end in the manga and just see how cunning both Ciel and Sebastian can be.

see you soon!

An nyoung 

Sayonara 

Zai Jian 

Bye 

Death Note: Live-Action Movies!

Hello

An nyoung

Konnichiwa

Ni hao

Hello everyone, this week i'm mixing it up a bit with my Thursday and Friday posts, I'm going to be talking about some anime's that were made into live-action movies and vice versa and we're kicking it off with the Death Note movies.

In 2006 two live-action movies were created based on the manga of the same name, I say two because the films were created as a two-part series, with the first film released in June and the second film released a few months later. A spin off film was also released in february 2008. All three films star Kenichi Matsuyama as the reclusive world-famous detective L with Tatsuya Fujiwara playing the main character Light Yagami in both the main movies and a cameo role in the spin off movie. Both films were directed by Shūsuke Kaneko with the spin off movie directed by Hideo Nakata.

The Manga was created by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, I've not read the manga but I do really want to as I really enjoyed the films and I do have the anime boxset but not really watched it yet, only seen a  few episodes hence why this post is more about the live-action film. You may be wondering how I even got into the film when I've neither watched the anime or read the manga, well Andrew had the manga bought (the 3-in-1's with the black pages) and he really enjoyed, we couldn't find the anime at the time so after research found out that these films existed. We went shopping and I found the films in HMV even though I had no idea what the films would entail (Andrew had told me snippets of what happened in the manga) i was just excited that my favorite Japanese actor was starring in the film: Tatsuya Fujiwara. He may be my favorite Japanese actor but I've only seen about 5 of his films and of those five i have to say both the Death Note films for me are his best from start to finish his acting is incredible.

If you don't know anything about the Death Note series let me give you some quick info.

*this info is based on the films and may differ from the manga*

The films follow a Japanese college student called Light Yagami, whose life undergoes a drastic change when he finds a mysterious notebook titled Death Note. The Death Note is full of rules and instructions, one of which the book claims that if a persons name is wrote in the death note while they picture that persons face in their mind they will die. To test the notebook Light rights names of criminals he see's on the news etc and as each of the them die he meets the notebook's previous owner a shinigami called Ryuk, he decides he will be the god of the new world by killing those that are evil and becomes known as the notorious serial killer Kira. As the bodies continue to drop at the hands of Kira the situation takes the interest of the detective L and once L discovers that Kira is a student in the Kanto region that also can get access to police information it then becomes a race between Light and L to discover each others identities. A second Death Note is discovered by an actress called Misa and she uses her new found power to kill who do not follow and disrespect Kira, when Light appears Misa quickly indentifies him as the original Kira with her shinigami eyes (she gets this power by making a deal with the shinigami and reduces her life span by half, a shinigami can see a persons name and when they will die). Misa agree's to help Light found out L's real name so that he can kill him. Will Misa find out his real indentity so that Light can become the god he so wants to be? well to find out you have to 1: read the manga, 2: watch the anime and 3: watch the live-action movies.

I was gripped by both Death Note and Death Note 2: The Last Name and i even shed a tear at the second films ending, first time watching these films L irritated me but Kenichi Matsuyama plays him incredibly well proving that he's an amazing actor. Both Light and L are incredibly clever and you're constantly surprised with the clever ways they get to the information they want and in Lights case incredibly smart of getting the heat off his back even if it means killing someone close to him.

The spin off movie L: Change The World well all i will say is it follows L but I cant give any more information than that as it could reveal a spoiler for the Death Note films. I have this film but I'm still yet to watch it but already feel it will be a good film as Kenichi Matsyama reprises his role as L so I know the acting is going to be incredible from him.

Both Death Note and Death Note 2 include two songs from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers on it's soundtrack with Dani California appearing in both films and Snow, Hey Oh appearing for the closing credits of the second film.

Dani California 

Snow, Hey Oh

Death Note topped the Japanese box office for two weeks pushing The Da Vinci Code off the top spot, the film has also been released in Hong Kong, Tawain, Singapore and Malaysia, with also North America and England also getting in on the action. The film was described as a delightfully suspenseful 126 minutes for anyone who likes suspense, pretty Japanese boys or bad-ass female detectives, by Wired's Lisa Katayama. In the end the film earned $41 million in Japan and $1.9 million in Hong Kong. Death Note 2 was released in Japan, Hong Kong, Tawain, Singapore and Malaysia, with a two night English Dub released in North America, like the first film Death Note 2 topped the box office but this time for four weeks bringing in 5.5 billion Yen in Japan by the end of the year and making it one of Japan's highest grossing Japanese films. Death Note was also the first Japanese film to premiere in Hong Kong.

These were the first live-action from anime films i'd seen and they won't be the last, they really piqued my interest in Death Note to the point i do want to read the manga and prompted me to buy the anime so i can see how they all differ, i do think it will be hard to beat the amazing acting that i witnessed, but surely the original will beat out it all.

One thing i love about this series is it makes you think what you would do if you possessed the Death Note, would you toss it to one side believing it a haox or follow Lights lead and remove the evil of the world, what if the justice system failed would you take it upon yourself to punish those that deserved it if the notebook existed.

I find myself torn in two for that I agree with Light punishing the criminals that the system missed but agree with Light that the system would always find a way. What do you think? Who would you back? if Kira was Tatsuya I'd follow him to the end but only if I got to be by his side *winks*

See you soon! 

An nyoung 

Sayonara 

Zai Jian 

Bye