Live Action Changes Everything: Library Wars

First Movie

In volume 5 of Sasaki and Miyano by Shou Harusono, Sasaki and Miyano go to a live-action BL film. Afterwards, Miyano, who is a BL fan (alongside several of his straight friends, one of whom reads it because of his girlfriend), comments:

"It was sooo good...and it was live-action...I was honestly a little worried about how they were going to adapt it....The original story's told on paper after all, so I figured it wouldn't feel right as a live-action movie. I was kinda scared of it ruining the original. Like, I was scared that they wouldn't look how I imagined them...I think maybe there was even more subtle emotion in this version."

It is a fantastic explanation of why--absent the kind of manga that is simply slideshow images from the movie, which medium I detest--a manga, an anime, and a live-action film of the same work can evoke such different reactions. 

The mediums don't have to be ranked. They simply do different things in different ways. 

The live-action Library Wars movie is a great example of how different different can get. 

I'm a fan of the Library Wars manga series, which I read first. I got the anime for a gift and very much enjoy it. It is similar enough to the manga to feel like a tribute but distinct enough to offer a new experience.

And then there is the live action film from 2013, which I was finally able to watch (thank you, Inter-library Loan!). 

And it's a totally different story.

Kasahara is in there. And Dojo, of course. One major difference: Dojo of the film, played by Junichi Okada (who is apparently as reserved in real life as he is in the film), looks considerably older than his co-star, Nana Eikura. There's an 8-year difference (in the manga, the difference is 4 years). 

The age difference matters because Dojo of the film comes across as quite mature already, not a guy in the process of maturing.

The film is also far more violent than the manga seems to be. Violence is an ongoing thread in the manga and in the anime. With the film, though I enjoyed it, I kept thinking, "Wow, okay, yeah, I guess that's part of the story: another shoot-out." 

Dojo is right in the middle of it. As in the manga, in one scene, he enters a bathroom where Kasahara has cornered a bad guy. The bad guy goes after her and Dojo takes him out. The movements are so quick, I jumped in my seat. 

To put it bluntly, Junichi Okada as Dojo is super hot. And a great action hero.

Consequently, almost by necessity (actors are "writers" in the sense that their auras and abilities transform a film), the film is more about, well, war and the seriousness that accompanies it than the mixture of ordinary life, learning curves, battle scenarios, and dating that appear in the manga.

I don't consider the manga "fake." Look at Londoners going about their shopping during the Blitz!

The point is, a live-action film will gain its own interpretation. It is, in fact, a different beast--so much so that reviewers have complained that the live-action sequel doesn't have much of the Kasahara-Dojo relationship (and note that Junichi Okada moves center stage on the poster).

I'd still like to see it.   

Second Movie