Quote:
Originally Posted by Powder
No, it wouldn't. Get your head outta the clouds. First of all, all big pop culture properties go through this cycle. When certain old demographics reach the point in their life where they're looking back on fonder days, they they become new demographics as that nostalgia is capitalized on. That is by no means a new or exclusive trend in Japanese media. Not sure what you're talking about with Gundams, they had a "please buy our model kits" cash-in show with Builders but it featured designs that span 30 years, & the new iterations have their own distinct looks. The others you mentioned are just doing the same thing TMNT & a host of other properties have done- mix the old & new to get fathers & sons simultaneously. But they're all beloved domestic franchises that have been successfully re-done many times over, of course it works.
TMNT was huge in Japan during Turtlemania, I'm not arguing that, but a resurgence would not have the same or similar impact, nor would it grant further lasting power. There's no way a western cartoon series is gonna get a modern 'anime' produced in Japan by a huge/prominent studio, let alone an independent one. Do you even know what the otaku market is like these days? Audiences there have become very finicky, & a significant chunk of anime viewers in the 2010's want cookie cutter "moe-blob" shows, which is to say cute girls doing cute things. While there are some action successes each year, a lot of their legacies end up as mere flavor of the month 12 episode manga adaptions that come & go without so much as a second season.
Japan isn't really on par with the USA when it comes to the consumption of foreign entertainment. It is an inclusive nation on many levels. Sure there are plenty of western films that get subtitled & released to welcoming excited crowds, but they're a novelty whose spectacle comes more from the higher budgets & quality CGI than it does a genuine appreciation of the source material. They don't get manga & anime made for them, at best they get a collector's toy from Good Smile Company & even then it's just for the most prominent of characters (like Batman & The Joker, for example) because there isn't enough love for the entire property to warrant the cost of producing more extensive lines.
4kids & the Nick series had strong starts & then immediately fell off. That's pretty telling of how the turtles are viewed in general there. They're a memory. Is it a fond enough memory to cash-in on in 2017 for the Japanese public? I doubt it. Sure, Viacom has made commendable efforts pushing the brand there, we've gotten some very cool items from overseas, the bay films had theatrical releases, even The Visual History book & (some) IDW comics were translated, but it's hardly booming.
& there you go once again trying to take subtle jabs at Mirage.  Classic. |
I didn't even mention mirage, I was referring to any future attempt to take a serious tmnt media over there; it would fail against domestic product. I do not, and have never, taken a pot shot at mirage. Just at certain sections of the fandom; and no I Don't take jabs at mirage fans, either. I like certain parts of volume one, and most of the image series, along with the usagi and savage Dragon crossovers. Drop this junk about me hating mirage, it's getting old.
My head is not in the clouds, you failed to notice where I said demand for any tmnt media in Japan is low, I was just pointing out if anyone remembers the Tmnt at all, it's usually the OT they remember, not 4kids or any other version. My point on gundam is during the 90's there was an attempt to keep things fresh with new material that paid homage to the original, but was it's own thing- gundam wing, g gundam, etc. But all I hear gundam fans complain about, both American and Japanese, is how they 'pander to U.C. fans now'. Same goes for laymen rider and sentai; decade and gokiager were anniversary seasons, but the fact the latter and their key gimmick keep popping up in team up movies is annoying both U.S. and Japanese fans. My point on that was with a shrinking market of kids in Japan thanks to a low birthrate, toy and anime companies are catering more to nostalgia there than they used to.
And again, I never said there was any demand for or nostalgia for tmnt in Japan, I was speaking strictly on what version they are going to remember if asked about it (though there might be a few that remember the film's.) So if say gainax or toei were handed the Tmnt for a Movie or OAV series, and given complete creative freedom, along with translated research materials on tmnt history, we'd still get a version with Krang, Shredder,Rocksteady, bebop, and the technodrome.
I've had it with this nonsense. I don't freaking hate mirage, I actually like parts of it. I recognise the OT is goofy and dumb, and I view IDW as my perfect blend of tmnt. This getting old, leave me alone.