M. Weald

Adaptations are on my mind. No real surprise there. We certainly have a profundity of them these days. Not that I’m complaining. I adore getting the chance to see that which was relegated to my mind’s eye given new form. In the recent past I’ve watched the new One Piece live action, the Cowboy Bebop live action, the His Dark Materials adaptation, and a rewatch of the classic Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. And I’m currently making my way through the newest seasons of Shadow and Bone, The Witcher, and The Wheel of Time. After all of this, I have thoughts on what makes an adaption successful. Would those thoughts be helpful to a random Hollywood executive stumbling their way through the internet until landing on the blog of a no-name, aspiring author such as myself? Beats me. They should probably be more focused on giving both writers and actors proper compensation for their work anyway. Big props to the WGA and the new contract culminating from their strike. The rise of generative AI and the world of streaming called for changes, and it looks like writers will get some much needed protections. Here’s to hoping the actor’s guild can be similarly successful. But I digress. Back to adaptations and the need for good writing before anything else. First, let’s look at the aforementioned adaptations on an individual basis.

One Piece: Starting off strong. The live action final product far exceeded my expectations. It’s great writing that is both respectful of, and in some ways makes the necessary changes to, the manga (and resultant anime) source material. I watched a video of Oda, the creator of the manga, meeting Iñaki Godoy, the actor Oda himself had a large role in picking for the lead character. The joy and respect going in both directions was palpable. That was an incredible thing to see, an original creator incorporated into the process to such an extent. I hope other adaptions take note. However, and this might be a hot take, nobody is perfect, and I credit the writers in making some tweaks where needed. The first thing that comes to mind is Sanji. In the manga/anime his character is, in part, defined by a trope that is a staple of the medium: the perv. While I enjoy anime, I only have so much of a tolerance for this whole schtick. The general treatment of women is a barrier to the genre, an apology that has to be made whenever introducing anime to someone new. The fetishizations and “fan service” in most just distract from otherwise fun worldbuilding or characters. I mean, I get it. Sex sells and all that. But there is a way to do it well for women (or men) that isn’t so cringey. I think the live action did Sanji well. They took pervy and made it flirty. They made him a sometimes misguided yet earnest romantic. I’ll take that change any day.

Cowboy Bebop: This is a tough one. I actually enjoyed this one more than it seems the general populace did. First off, I’m a huge fan of the original anime. The soundtrack and visuals and general vibe that descends into an almost cathartic melancholy makes for some impressive storytelling. But I’ll also say I’m a sucker for a ragtag crew trying to make it’s way through space doing odd jobs a la Firefly, and the anime still took me a little bit to get into. I think the live action would’ve done better marketed as it’s own thing. It feels like it tried to take the original Cowboy Bebop and strip out some of the melancholy. What was left was still fun and interesting. In my opinion, it was a laudable entry into the collection of misfit, found-families aboard a spaceship doing their adventures of the week. Yet, in stripping the melancholy, it wasn’t true to the original Cowboy Bebop, even if the soundtrack most certainly was. I wish it could have been judged in isolation. I want more shows like it, just maybe not attached to such a beloved IP. Related to that, Netflix axes things too early. I mean let a show find it’s feet before cutting it’s head off.

His Dark Materials: Was this one just not marketed well? I feel like my partner and I are the only ones I know who finished the final season, and I’m glad to say we did. I teared up from some of the final monologues. Lyra’s was straight from the book’s pages. For those who haven’t read the original books, I’ll summarize their message as there is nothing inherently wrong, or shameful, in being human, no matter what some major religions (original sin, cough, cough) would sometimes have you believe. Treat everyone with respect and kindness, love with an open heart, and you’ll do better than following the maxims of those who claim authority on your afterlife only to wield power over your actual life.

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring: It’s a masterpiece. Peter Jackson’s whole trilogy is. As someone who has elvish tattooed on their arm and has read Tolkien’s works more times than I remember, I give the adaptation a whole-hearted recommendation. For any who hasn’t dipped their toes into the works that inform so much of modern fantasy, give it a try. Another possibly hot take: As much as I love Tolkien, the dude couldn’t write women at all. Like my comments on One Piece above, I actually appreciate the movie’s attempts to improve on that front.

Shadow and Bone: I haven’t read the original books, so my input here is skewed perhaps. I’ll have more to say later, but at this point I’m liking the adaptation a fair amount. Fun characters and tropes done well. Can recommend.

The Witcher: I’ll hold my full comments until I finish the season, but I see troubles ahead for this IP without Henry Cavill. I haven’t been sold on the character work or plotting that strays from the books. Not that the books are perfect, but I do wish the show could’ve hewed closer to them, or even the video games. Maybe give the writers from CD Projekt Red a crack at a live action. They’ve shown they’d probably be better at it.

The Wheel of Time: Another mixed bag. There are moments in this most recent season that were quite good. But there were also decisions I just don’t get. Drama for drama’s sake. Like Moraine and Lan. Why Moraine so mean? I get what they’re trying to do but it just didn’t land for me (Side note. Rosamund Pike is incredible. Not her fault at all). This is another one where I wish they could’ve hewed closer to the books while making tweaks where needed. I’m currently in the middle of reading the third book in the series, The Dragon Reborn, and so far I agree with Brandon Sanderson: This adaptation is a different turning of the wheel.

At the end of the day, I think an adaptation does well when it understands what worked with the original and stays true to it, updating only where needed. It’s often easier if the original creator is given more of a role to play, but not essential as the Lord of the Rings movies have shown.

All the best,

M. Weald

P.S. My website hit 5k all time views! Thanks so much to everyone checking it out. Here’s to hoping my book sales can hit that number some day. Shameless self plug: Buy Here