Furu Anime Panikku

I’ve finally caught up with Bloody Monday, at least till the latest tankoubon release. Book 8’s going to be out real soon, in probably a week or 2.  I think I should really begin reading the weekly chapter releases in Shonen Magazine after completing book 8. Meanwhile, it’s a good thing the drama’s ongoing and the end doesn’t appear anytime soon. This means I’ll still get my continual weekly dosage of hacking and action scenes.

Anyway, I’ve finally understood why I didn’t enjoy the previous episode as much as I should have. I’ve was trying too hard in my comparison between every single thing in the drama and the manga.

I know that it’s just in my character, not being able to resist comparing the original work to every single thing that spawns off it. Hence, my view of an adaptation always tunnels through the tinted glass of the original. That’s the reason why most of my thoughts regarding adaptations split to either ends of the extremes. I either hate it or love it. Seldom do I find myself sitting on the face saying “Well, it was alright”.

To me, a good adaption is defined by how smoothly it runs parallel to the original, with only their media forms differing. Hence, when I start observing that parts of the original plot get snipped, or even totally replaced with brand new content, a sense of dissatisfaction begins to build up within. This dissatisfaction leads on to wrecking my experience of the adaptation.

I’m a sucker for minor details that are similar, if not exactly the same, in the original, so if I observe that an adaptation includes a sufficient amount of such details, I would give it a more positive rating, even if it wasn’t exactly that great. I guess this is what most fans of an original work might do.

Leaping from Bloody Monday’s original manga to the adapted drama, I’ve come to the realisation that the only way which I can fully enjoy it would be to smash that tinted glass. This means to temporary drop the fact that I’ve read the original work, at least during the viewing process. It’s not easy though, since you can’t exactly filter your mind.

Of course, there’s another way. Watch an adaptation that originates from a source that you’ve never been in contact with. It will definitely work, since you have no benchmark to hold it against in comparison.

Well, at least I only find myself having this problem with the life action adaptations, and not so much for anime ones. Stripey enlightened us on how to enjoy anime adaptations some time back, and the tips might prove to be useful with life action adaptations too.

By the way, just in case anyone was wondering, Bloody Monday episode 5 was interestingly awesome, especially since I’ve began opening up my opinion, or at least trying to. Aside from the usual fare of action, Kirishima’s emotional battle within himself was quite a highlight. Also, there was some packet sniffing done this week. Hurray!