The recent start of the ‘Honey and Clover’ live-action series, and the criticism it has garnered from long-standing fans of the franchise, has gotten me thinking about the whole adaptation game. When it comes to a specific franchise, do we tend to always love most the adaptation that introduced us to the franchise? Can a second adaptation ever eclipse the first? And is it possible to adore them all equally?
Like the majority of ‘Honey and Clover’ fans outside of Japan, my first experience with the series came in the form of the anime, and without exaggeration, in a matter of weeks it became one of favourite anime of all time, a position it still easily holds almost three years later. I’ve still unfortunately only been able to read one chapter into the second volume of the manga, but that will be rectified when Viz begin releasing the English version in a few months time.
When the movie was announced, I ate up every piece of information I could gather and was ecstatic to discover Yoko Kanno was attached as composer. And when it was released, despite the changes, I felt the atmosphere and the emotions conveyed struck close to the heart of the story, and I’ve watched it a number of times over the past year or so.
In the same light, although I’ve only see the first four episodes, I have really enjoyed the live-action TV series. It’s not as good as the anime, but it would be a rare thing indeed for that same bolt of lightning to strike twice. I think that because of that expectation, I haven’t been as disappointed in the series as other ‘Honey and Clover’ fans out there. I went into watching it accepting the fact that the storyline could change to fit the format; it would be nice to see the original events in live-action, but I don’t overly mind as I always have the superb manga and anime for that. I can separate those from the live-action adaptations easy enough, just as how when I watch the Harry Potter movies, I don’t get bogged down by the changes they made or pieces they cut out. I just sit back and enjoy what the format does have to offer, the great elements present, without my mind going through comparisons.
The anime is always going to be the perfect adaptation, not because it was the first one out there, but thanks to the expert direction. However, at the same time the criticisms aimed towards both the live-action film and series seem a little too harsh and I feel are largely born out of disappointment that they take a different direction.
It’s a little different when it comes to the ‘Nodame Cantabile’ adaptations. The live-action series came first, and even though it did take some liberties, it doesn’t stray nearly as far as the live-action ‘Honey and Clover’, keeping the manga fans happy. It is heralded as one of the best doramas of the past few years, and even eclipses the later anime adaptation in popularity, despite that being produced by the masterminds behind the ‘Honey and Clover’ anime. The slapstick, the music, the actors, there is little that could make the whole thing more entertaining, and it has even come very, very close to bringing me to tears on more than a few occasions.
The anime adaptation is amazing as well. Although some criticise it for being too visually similar to the ‘Honey and Clover’ anime, it really is Tomoko Ninomiya’s illustrations brought to life on screen. It had some of my favourite Japanese voice actors, and the whole composition was delightful. It’s a solid ‘9′ in my books. But at the same time I myself prefer the dorama, and it makes me wonder if I’m biased towards it as it’s the medium I first connected to the characters in.
And in that light, although criticisms would always arise due to the alterations, it makes me think that maybe both the ‘Honey and Clover’ live-action series and movie are being treated more harshly than they should thanks to the amazing anime that pre-dates them. Maybe if they had come first, they would have an easier challenge to overcome.
Another example of this three-pronged adaptation cycle is ‘Death Note’. In this case, it was the original manga I was first introduced to, and I felt there was little could be done to make a more perfect adaptation in anime form. However, the two movies just left me feeling very blah. And it wasn’t anything to do with the changes. As in the other cases, I was glad to see these alterations as it added a little variety to a story I already knew so well. However, there was just something that didn’t strike me in the direction, the acting and other elements. They are pretty good movies, but to me personally forgettable in comparison to the other versions. Just like with ‘Nodame’ and ‘Honey and Clover’, the second adaptation is once again the second favourite.
I don’t think there are really any examples, whether it’s anime VS manga, anime VS live-action, where I have held all the adaptations on the same level. There has always been something to push one ahead of the other, to make one superior. And in each and every case it, it has been something unique to the fandom, but more often than not, the order of introduction does play into things.
