# Enders Game the movie: wouldn't it be better in anime? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 5, 2003, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enders-game-the-movie-wouldnt-it-be-better-in-anime/199691 "2003-09-05T09:43:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2003, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enders-game-the-movie-wouldnt-it-be-better-in-anime/199691/21 "2003-09-05T20:28:07Z")
Some sci-fi really would be better as animation. I still would like to get the rights to all the Dune books and release them as anime. OTOH, PK Dicks works have been translated well, although less than faithful to the stories, as live action movies. I too would love to see a Gateway movie, if only to see what a damned Heechee looks like, and how they make their chairs look. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2003, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enders-game-the-movie-wouldnt-it-be-better-in-anime/199691/22 "2003-09-05T21:06:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fibber McGee \* > Yes [Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within] was a huge flop, but I think that had more to do with the subject matter than anything else. The average American filmgoer seems to have an aversion to movies that make you think, and people who think seem to have an aversion to movies that make no sense no matter how much you think about them. \*\* Hey…the only think that movie made me think about was changing the channel. And I LIKE animation and sci fi and moves that ‘make you think’ AND even Alec Baldwin and James Woods. I found it to be standard ‘don’t fuck with nature or nature will destroy you’ fare so often found in anime. I get it. Not every problem can be solved by strip mining and firing giant weapons. Now please make the giant bugs go away. I haven’t read Enders Game however in order to be a successful anime movie, you would need the following: CONFLICT: Earth a) has been overrun hordes of insectlike aliens, b) has been attacked by humanoid aliens with superior technology (usually in the form of giant robots), or c) is embroiled in a massive civil war no one can remember who started PROTAGONIST: a) A wisecracking rouge with a dark past b) A brooding efeminate teenager ROMANTIC INTEREST a) A screeching immature girl or b) A hard-core no-nonsense bitch c) His female enemy counterpart HIS JOB IS a) Genetically enhanced or otherwise gifted super-soldier (usually a pilot of some kind) b) Some kind of professional criminal c) Some form of paramilitary or civilian contractor (bountyhunter, privateer, gunfighter, detective, etc) ANTAGONIST(S) a) A personal rival b) arrogant military commander c) Some guy from his past BASIC PLOT -Our hero is thrust into a war he does not understand. -Over the course of countless battles fighting mindless bugs, mechanzied automatons or otherwise faceless enemies he is forced to deal with a variety of issues, both personal and external. -His relationship with his love interest will at first be professional and somewhat conflicted. -Eventually they will realize their feelings for each other and it will save them in the end (or kill one or both of them but saving the Earth). -In the end, there will be an epic battle that will destroy nearly everyone and everything. The good guys will win, but at what cost? So…if Enders Game is anything like that, it would be a perfect anime. And it would help if the book was writen something like this: “YOUR ACTIONS ARE INCORRECT! CAN’T YOU SEE I’M SERIOUS!! WE MUST CONTINUE FIGHTING THE BIOMEGALOPODS UNTIL ONE OF US IS DESTROYED!!! YAAAAAAAAAHH!!!” ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2003, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enders-game-the-movie-wouldnt-it-be-better-in-anime/199691/23 "2003-09-05T22:02:46Z")
The One Thing Anime Has Taught Me: Everything is better with giant robots ---
**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2003, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enders-game-the-movie-wouldnt-it-be-better-in-anime/199691/24 "2003-09-05T22:04:58Z")
I’ve also read that book, I can’t imagine it being live action. I second the **It Will Suck** motion. ---
**Author:** ![SuperNelson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@SuperNelson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuperNelson)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2003, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enders-game-the-movie-wouldnt-it-be-better-in-anime/199691/25 "2003-09-05T23:17:45Z")
Ender’s Game is one of those books that I’ve imagined as a movie. For all the internal dialogs, it’s a very visual book. However, I fear that the movie also stands a high risk of the sort of oversimplification and ideological inversion that doomed Starship Troopers. Too bad, because I would be particularly interested to see Ender’s Game filmed concurrently with Ender’s Shadow. It would be fascinating to see two different films, with identical casts, portraying the same scenes from different points of view. ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enders-game-the-movie-wouldnt-it-be-better-in-anime/199691/26 "2003-09-06T03:18:39Z")
It would be good in anime PROVIDED they do the following: 1. NO huge anime eyes. 2. NO stupid anime hairstyles/colours 3. NO stupid anime costume designs 4. more than 2 frames of animation a second. ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enders-game-the-movie-wouldnt-it-be-better-in-anime/199691/27 "2003-09-06T07:12:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by msmith537 \* > **I haven’t read Enders Game however in order to be a successful anime movie, you would need the following:** Hey cool. Let’s see what we got… **CONFLICT: Earth a) has been overrun hordes of insectlike aliens, b) has been attacked by humanoid aliens with superior technology (usually in the form of giant robots), or c) is embroiled in a massive civil war no one can remember who started** B applies, and the whole story is about defending against A. \*\*PROTAGONIST: a) A wisecracking rouge with a dark past b) A brooding efeminate teenager \*\* Hmm. Brooding, definitely. But effeminate? Nah. That’s Alai, the wisecracking sidekick. 🙂 Half a point. **ROMANTIC INTEREST a) A screeching immature girl or b) A hard-core no-nonsense bitch c) His female enemy counterpart** None in the novel, and OSC _demanded_ no romantic interest added for the movie (which was why it took so long to sell, I asked him myself over ten years ago.) **HIS JOB IS a) Genetically enhanced or otherwise gifted super-soldier (usually a pilot of some kind) b) Some kind of professional criminal c) Some form of paramilitary or civilian contractor (bountyhunter, privateer, gunfighter, detective, etc)** A in training. **ANTAGONIST(S) a) A personal rival b) arrogant military commander c) Some guy from his past** Quite a few A’s, and definitely B. (Would Peter count as C? Maybe.) \*\*BASIC PLOT -Our hero is thrust into a war he does not understand. \*\* Yep. **-Over the course of countless battles fighting mindless bugs, mechanzied automatons or otherwise faceless enemies he is forced to deal with a variety of issues, both personal and external.** Yep. **-His relationship with his love interest will at first be professional and somewhat conflicted. Eventually they will realize their feelings for each other and it will save them in the end (or kill one or both of them but saving the Earth).** See above. **-In the end, there will be an epic battle that will destroy nearly everyone and everything. The good guys will win, but at what cost?** Hmm, kinda. \*\*And it would help if the book was writen something like this: “YOUR ACTIONS ARE INCORRECT! CAN’T YOU SEE I’M SERIOUS!! WE MUST CONTINUE FIGHTING THE BIOMEGALOPODS UNTIL ONE OF US IS DESTROYED!!! YAAAAAAAAAHH!!!” \*\* Ehh…not really. I can just see it, though: **ALL YOUR BATTLE SCHOOLS ARE BELONG TO US.** Fwah! Maybe I should write the “Bad Anime Version”… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enders-game-the-movie-wouldnt-it-be-better-in-anime/199691.md?page=1)