Ultimately, they don't turn out very good. But it would be interesting to read an article on this topic.
The last one I watched, Rurouni Kenshin, was just about passable.
And before that, Blood: The Last Vampire, didn't come up to expectation either despite its leading lady Gianna Jun.
The live action versions just can't seem to get the pacing right. There are just too many lingering shots in which nothing happens, so it feels like filler.
Having said that, I do have hope for Battle Angel Alita (read the manga, haven't seen the anime), if it ever gets made, simply because we have seen resonating glimpses of what the grimey post apocalyptic world could look like in recent movies such as Elysium and District 9.
If the live action versions could be made like Pacific Rim, then, I'd certainly be looking forward to them.
Akira and Ghost in the Shell will provide some interesting conversation for this topic. – Kristian Wilson10 years ago
I think it'd be important to look at whether or not the a film would be decent if the series that the film is based on didn't exist. Aka, would Rurouni kenshin still be good/be better if the anime weren't held in in such high esteem? – Austin10 years ago
It would be interesting to see the consistency between most live action movies based on anime. Like it was said...they ultimately don't turn out very good...so why does each subsequent release suffer from the same issue? How can these filmmakers take the next step in appealing to casual audiences? – Giovanni Insignares10 years ago
Such an article could discuss some reasons why live action movies based on anime/manga/light novels could turn out to be so horrible. For example, it could be the character designs, the CG effect, the plot (of having to squeeze so many things into less than 2 hours) etc. Examples that come to mind are "Haganai", which received negative reviews for the character appearances, and "Recently My Sister is Unusual", which has turned out to be more like porn than anything. – Justin Wu10 years ago