Forum - View topicNEWS: Live-Action Sword Art Online Producer: Series Sold to Netflix, Will Have Asian Lead Actors
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Random Name
Posts: 651 |
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I'll never understand why people care what race the actors are. Though I don't watch live action adaptations so doesn't effect me either way.
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TUSF
Posts: 191 |
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I couldn't really care less, one way or the other. It's nice that they want to at least portray the source material accurately (to an extent), but I do have a problem with one thing.
I wasn't aware that Tsuboi Ryoutarou was anything but a Japanese name? |
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MiloTheFirst
Posts: 429 |
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While I am not all that familiar with Sao (only watched the first 12 episodes) I am pretty sure the launching day was Japanese server only if memory serves me right. Even if it weren't, regardless of whatever ethnical heritage or phenotype the characters may have. They would need to be highly proficient in Japanese to understand 99% of the people in kirito's server, which is unlikely for a none Japanese teen, no matter how much of a Weeb they are, unless they had already been living in Japan for a while before, which then again also contradict the claim that some characters are abroad because it is a global game
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Sahmbahdeh
Posts: 713 |
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So they'll be Asian, but will they be actually Japanese? Because if not, that's tantamount to saying all Asian people are interchangeable. You can't go on about the series being fundamentally Japanese and how you're respecting the cultural heritage of it, and then turn around and cast Koreans. So until we get that confirmation, this announcement doesn't actually mean anything.
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Joeyy
Posts: 1 |
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I can't even stand Americanization of Anime (Such as changing Japanese names for Western ones), much less i would tolerate whitewashing. For example I think there was no excuse to change the name Satoshi to Ash, since anyways other animes broadcasted in my country keep the original names, such as Ranma, and after a few episodes I was able to tell the names of the different characters, even if at first I was confused. So of course I am happy this was not whitewashed, I hope the live action of Kimi No Na Wa also have Asian leads or at least one Asian lead, the same I wish for the upcoming One Piece live action.
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Chiibi
 Posts: 4829 |
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"Klein" is ABSOLUTELY a Japanese guy (and 25 years old). But I can't for the life of me remember where Agil is from. 
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Agent355
 Posts: 5113 Location: Crackberry in hand, thumbs at the ready... |
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Use Netflix's global reach to make a show with a global cast? Brilliant! I'm not a fan of the Sword Art Online franchise, but it definitely has potential, and I like that they're thinking big.
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Lobokendo
 Posts: 135 Location: Somewhere |
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Well Agil's real name is Andrew Gilbert Mills so probably safe to assume not japanese. Honestly, its a bit damned if you do damned if you dont. I do believe that the people who say "their race doesnt matter" are in the minority however. People would absolutely be louder about it. |
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Chiibi
Posts: 4829 |
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@lobokendo: Thanks; I just could not remember the man's real name. xD
....er actually, make that true for everyone not named Kirito, Asuna, Shino, or Yuuki. Last edited by Chiibi on Wed Feb 14, 2018 12:43 am; edited 2 times in total |
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harminia
 Posts: 2045 Location: australia |
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My thoughts exactly. As good as it is to give more Asians roles, if it's just casting a Korean or whatever as a Japanese then it doesn't mean anything. But a lot of people seem to settle on "well, it's a POC so that's good enough for me", which is kind of sad and borderline racist to be honest. So I really hope that after talking up getting Asian actors they get actual Japanese actors and not just like chuck in some Chinese person because hey they look close enough right? But, like, sorry but Asians aren't some easy interchangeable race, as much as Hollywood seems to want to refuse to believe that. I'm on the fence regarding their statement on Klein. On the one hand, design wise his design doesn't scream Japanese but on the other hand neither does Asuna. I mean, it's anime. Klein maybe doesn't look Japanese but his real name is Japanese and he is actually Japanese so not sure where this person is getting the "Klein is obviously not Japanese" thing from unless all they know about the series is his game handle and his design. |
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StarchildStorm
 Posts: 72 |
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Being honest I pretty much decided to never look into this series from the title. That alone is kind of more than enough to know I would dislike it.
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relyat08
 Posts: 4125 Location: Northern Virginia |
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Yeah, to be honest, the way she used "Asian" and "Japanese" interchangeably in her statements really rubbed me the wrong way. That's kind of racist yo! It feels like an attempt to prove that you are progress and "with it" for marketing purposes without actually understanding the reason people care. Asians aren't all the same. I understand the importance of giving any and all people an opportunity to star, regardless of their race, and the desire for more minority roles in Hollywood, but just as you shouldn't be calling a white dude from the US, Kirito, and having him play a Japanese youth, you also shouldn't be calling a Chinese guy, Kirito, either. That's not his ethnicity. It's just as much of a lie, and should be just as obvious why that generalizing is offensive. |
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ZiharkXVI
Posts: 387 |
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How about they just be good actors? Yeesh, this whole story is creepy and I found some of the comments to be troubling. How Asian is Asian? Dedication to racial purity? I'm shocked the person didn't tell us they had to be 90% purebred Japanese in the contract. I will never understand the concept of "whitewashing". It only emphasizes the ridiculous idea that race matters.
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18431 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Frankly, there's almost nothing inherently Japanese about the series or the story it tells except for the character names. The only detail I can think of where country of origin might matter is that Suguha does kendo, and that could be easily changed out for something else since it specifically being kendo only matters once or twice that I can think of. 99% of the story could be done in another country without fundamentally changing anything.
Unless critical elements of a story are inherent to a particular setting or culture, I don't have a problem with broadly-painted stories like SAO being put in a different setting, which is why I find any potential whitewashing to be much less than a big deal in this case. After all, that's happened innumerable times with Shakespeare's works, and nobody complains about how Romeo and Juliet aren't specifically Italian. |
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leafy sea dragon
 Posts: 7163 Location: Another Kingdom |
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Klein is Asian, but only offline. (So is Agil.) Of course, there was that weird thing where people's avatars were modified to resemble their actual selves. I didn't really see a purpose in that plot point except to show that Asuna's avatar looked like herself, and I'd say it'd be beneficial to a live-action adaptation to just excise that and let people resemble whatever they chose for their avatars.
Yeah, that's been done for a LONG time in live-action. They just get actors in their 20s who could pass for teens. Or just cultivate an image of teens looking older than they actually are. I remember this being really prevalent in the 1980s, when TV series about teens were extremely popular, but actually casting teens was difficult due to legal requirements.
Eh, I'm Asian and I don't really care. I can't really tell east Asians apart. Neither does Margaret Cho. I mean, you have similar things with Caucasians. White actors consider themselves pretty much interchangeable. You got Jim Carrey playing pretty much any role he's ever had (that is, a Canadian playing an American), Hugo Weaving playing Agent Smith (an Australian playing a character meant to appear American), Steve Martin playing Inspector Clouseau (an American playing a French character), Marina Sirtis playing Deanna Troi (an Englishwoman born of Cypriot parents playing an eastern European character), or Embeth Davidtz playing Miss Honey (born in the USA and grew up in South Africa playing an American). Heck, one of the reveals of The Artist is that our protagonist, an actor playing mostly American roles, is actually French. Like these white actors, if they're not Japanese but can act well enough that I can forget that as I'm watching, then they've done their job well. The big thing, however, is that there are very few young actors in the United States who are actually Japanese, compared to actors who are Korean, Chinese (or regions that split off from China), or Filipino. If they can find a young Japanese-American actor who is really good and fit for the role, that's great! But that's pretty unlikely, if you ask me, let alone finding more than one. (That being said, the lack thereof, considering there are plenty of Japanese-Americans, I would consider a real problem with casting and talent-hunting.) |
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