Death Note

Death Note -- the manga, anime and live action film --try them all, they're all good! (Viz Graphic/Viz Media/Viz Pictures)

This week, American audiences will have an opportunity to see a hit, live action Japanese film adaptation of a popular manga (that's a Japanese comic book). Hollywood has taken note of the increased popularity of Japanese manga by optioning a number of them for the big screen. In addition to the recent Speed Racer, there will be live action film adaptations of Dragonball, Akira, and Blood: The Last Vampire. But the film that manga fans are embracing is Death Note (playing May 20 and 21 at 7:30pm only at AMC Mission Valley, Horton Plaza Theaters and Edwards Mira Mesa Cinemas; for online tickets are available). Death Note began as a serialized manga back in 2003. Since then it has inspired a trio of movies, an anime TV series and a spin-off novel. The first live action film was a hit in Japan back in 2006. Now Viz Pictures is giving Death Note a unique 2-day run in U.S. cities. 

Death Note knows how to hook an audience. The intricately written and strikingly illustrated manga by Tsugumi Ohba Takeshi Obata has sold more that 25 million copies in Japan. Last year the anime version of the manga found success in the U.S. on the Cartoon Network. Now the live action film will pose Death Note's intriguing premise on the big screen: what if you found a notebook belonging to one of the gods of death.

Horton Hears a Who!

Horton Hears a Who! (20th Century Fox/Dr. Seuss Enterprises)

Dr. Seuss has not had much success on the big screen recently. The two live action films based on his books How the Grinch Stole Christmas and The Cat in the Hat were atrocious and gave me nightmares in ways that horror films never have. Neither film captured even the slightest inkling of Dr. Seuss' charm or humor. In fact you have to go all the way back to 1953's The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T to find a good live action feature based on something Dr. Seuss wrote. So when I heard that Jim Carrey - the Grinch in Ron Howard's big screen fiasco - was doing Horton Hears a Who! (opened March 14 throughout San Diego), I must confess that it sent a shiver down my spine. But then I heard that it would be animated and that Ice Age's Chris Wedge would serve as executive producer - two reasons to be hopeful that maybe this time Hollywood would get it right.

Manga Mania

Manga distributor and publisher TokyoPop celebrates its 10th anniversary. (TokyoPop)

Variety Asia Online just did a series of articles about Japan-based manga distributor TokyoPop celebrating its tenth anniversary and how mangas (Japanese comic books) may be the next big thing in Hollywood. Tom McLean writes: "Comic books and graphic novels have been hot stuff at the box office the past few years. But as studios work their way through the superhero pantheon, the need for new properties to adapt has put manga -- the Japanese-style cousin of American comics -- on deck to be the next big thing."

Well, as a fan of manga and as someone who runs an anime and manga club at a middle school, the news is promising. But if it does prove to be the next big thing, Hollywood will be behind the curve. Mangas have long been the source of inspiration for popular anime (Japanese animation) series, movies and live action films. TokyoPop manga favorites like GTO and Lupin III have inspired popular anime series as well as a live action films, while their mangas Bleach, Fruits Basket and Trinty Blood are among the many highly successful anime series. There's plenty of material out there and TokyoPop is just one of many publishers. The challenge, though, is that many of these mangas have developed very loyal followings so whoever adapts them to the screen had better take care.

Comic-Con Sunday Events Preview

Azumi: Interview with Ryuhei Kitamura

Azumi kicks some ass (Asia Vision)

Last month, Comic-Con came to San Diego and once again demonstrated the appeal of comic books around the globe. It also highlighted the fact that Hollywood studios are NOT the only ones turning to comics as source material. Japanese filmmakers are looking to their homegrown comics, known as mangas for inspiration. KPBS film critic Beth Accomando spoke with the director of Japan's manga-inspired Azumi (opening August 4 at Landmark's Hillcrest Cinemas).

The Ring

Naomi Watts stars in the remake of Japan's The Ring (Dreamworks)

Did you hear about the one about the videotape that when you watch it, you die in seven days? Sound like an urban myth? Well for the characters in The Ring (opening October 18 throughout San Diego), this turns out to be much more than an urban myth, it turns out to be a terrifying reality.

The appeal of this simple premise has already been proven in Japan, that’s where the Koji Suzuki’s book, The Ring, was published and where the first version of the film was made by Hideo Nakata. The 1998 film The Ring was so wildly popular in Asia that it spawned a sequel, a prequel, a TV mini-series, mangas, and a Korean remake. Now Dreamworks Pictures has decided to bring the story to the screen Hollywood style. And the film is one of more than a dozen Asian properties recently purchased by Hollywood studios for American remakes.