Blog of Nuke

zekaric fired a link my way from Variety reporting that Steven Spielberg will be bringing Masamune Shirow’s “Ghost in the Shell” to the big screen. (Article) (jG7JE9J6ZH)

Variety writes:

Avi Arad, Ari Arad and Steven Paul of Seaside Entertainment are attached to produce and brought the project to the studio. Jamie Moss has been tapped to pen the adaptation.

Universal and Sony were also chasing “Ghost in the Shell,” but Steven Spielberg took personal interest in the property and made it happen at DreamWorks.

” ‘Ghost in the Shell’ is one of my favorite stories,” Spielberg said. “It’s a genre that has arrived, and we enthusiastically welcome it to DreamWorks.”

It’s been reported long ago that James Cameron will be working on the Battle Angel Alita (”Gunmm”) film but apparently that’s on the backburner. Cameron is working on his sci-fi baby “Avatar” first before moving on to Alita.

It does appear that we’ve attained a saturation point both in terms of anime/manga penetration and visual effects technology.

Anime has proliferated to the point where it’s now virtually mainstream making it more financially feasible for the suits in the Hollywood studios.

Furthermore, technology has reached a point where even start-up visual effects houses can do some pretty sophisticated effects making many of the settings, story concepts and characteristic visual storytelling techniques in anime/manga possible on a budget. Meanwhile, the boom in new VFX studios around the globe has caused per-shot costs to drop by as much as 30%-40% due to increased competition; good for audiences, bad for the visual effects industry but that’s a topic for another article.

The Good Old Days

Having been an anime fan long before the big anime boom. Back in those days, today’s level of mainstream distribution and fan support was wishful thinking. It’s ironic that I should feel like something special has been lost in the transition from ultra-niche hobby to mainstream exposure.

In those days, it was possible to shock, surprise and even impress people with anime.

I recall one day when I was ‘working’ at Ryerson University in their computer graphics department during my high school co-op program. It was a slow day so I decided to screen an episode of Bubblegum Crisis (I think).

Eventually a small group of passers-by had formed. Like most people, the crowd had it firmly entrenched in their minds that “cartoons” were for kids. For these people, the most serious animation ever got for them was the death of Bambi’s mother.

They were all fairly impressed at how detailed (compared to ‘toons’), fast and dynamic the animation was and that animation could be used as a medium to tell stories for more mature audiences.

However, these days it’s come to the point where the mere mention of being anime fan can be a source of ridicule.

I suppose that ultimately greater acceptance is better for the anime/manga genre as a whole, for both fans and those who work in the industry. But I still do miss those days of ’shock and awe.’ ^_^

Gosh I feel old.