# A Favorite Japanese Cartoon is Now a Live-Action Movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 24, 2011, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-favorite-japanese-cartoon-is-now-a-live-action-movie/590180 "2011-07-24T15:41:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2011, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-favorite-japanese-cartoon-is-now-a-live-action-movie/590180/1 "2011-07-24T15:41:33Z")
During the few months I lived in Japan, I grew really fond of a kids’ cartoon called _Nintama Rantarou_. It was about a bunch of kids in a ninja training school. Even though I only understood about one or two words per episode, I really fell in love with the show. Fast-forward to Summer 2011, and it’s now [a live-action film](http://wwws.warnerbros.co.jp/nintama/). I hope HOPE **HOPE** Warner Brothers Japan has the foresight to release an English-subtitled version on DVD in the US in the next few months. ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2011, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-favorite-japanese-cartoon-is-now-a-live-action-movie/590180/2 "2011-07-24T21:02:17Z")
The same thing has happened with the Anime series Death Note which was fan-fucking-tastic. The photos from the film definitely look very much in keeping with the series, not sure if it’ll be as good though. I’ve just bought it as a present for a friend, hopefully he’ll be able to give me the thumbs up or not. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2011, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-favorite-japanese-cartoon-is-now-a-live-action-movie/590180/3 "2011-07-24T21:42:53Z")
Whew. For a second I thought that someone had fished the live action adaptation of _Akira_ out of development Hell. It needs to stay in development Hell (at one point it had Keanu Reeves attached to play Kaneda. No, [that’s not a joke](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/keanu-reeves-circling-warner-bros-185872).) ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2011, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-favorite-japanese-cartoon-is-now-a-live-action-movie/590180/4 "2011-07-24T22:30:36Z")
I don’t read Japanese, so I’m having a hard time finding a video trailer on that site, **Homie**. [Fortunately, my google fu is awesome](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnbk7-3CfhI)! I hope you’ll let us know if you find that DVD release in a few months. This movie looks like a lot of fun! This seems to be a trend, too. A couple of months ago I picked up [Goemon](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1054122/) and it was about a thousand times better than the anime! ---
**Author:** ![infinitii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e8c25b/32.png) [@infinitii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/infinitii)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2011, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-favorite-japanese-cartoon-is-now-a-live-action-movie/590180/5 "2011-07-24T23:43:00Z")
I heard recently that there was a live-action movie planned of my favourite anime of all time, _The Irresponsible Captain Tylor_…has anyone else heard this rumour? ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2011, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-favorite-japanese-cartoon-is-now-a-live-action-movie/590180/6 "2011-07-24T23:57:35Z")
Ok, if no one else will say it, I will. THE _ **NAME OF THE MOVIE IS** _, wait for it… **NINJA KIDS!** I Tweetered about this weeks ago because I was so delighted and confused to find out it’s a [Takashi Miike](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takashi_Miike) movie. It’s so completely different from what he’s normally known for. I saw his most recent movie, [13 Assassins](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirteen_Assassins), twice in the theater, it was outstanding ([here’s the trailer](http://youtu.be/NgPC74-Tde8) for that). I don’t know that the Ninja Kids trailer is all that exciting, but I’ve heard that it’s a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to it. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2011, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-favorite-japanese-cartoon-is-now-a-live-action-movie/590180/7 "2011-07-25T00:58:29Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I don’t read Japanese, so I’m having a hard time finding a video trailer on that site, **Homie**. [Fortunately, my google fu is awesome](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnbk7-3CfhI)! Here’s a version with English subtitles: https://www.youtube.com/embed/XSJxRbrvmUM?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque FWIW, I e-mailed Warner Brothers DVD and asked if there were plans to release the movie in English in the US. I await a response (it’s Sunday after all). ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2011, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-favorite-japanese-cartoon-is-now-a-live-action-movie/590180/8 "2011-07-25T01:02:51Z")
[Here’s a clip of the original Japanese cartoon](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2jHzWD56NE&feature=related). The fat kid at 0:08 is Shinbei, my favorite.