The Naruto Movie Will Impact The Entire Anime Industry

Well boys and girls looks the the first real effort by Hollywood to adapt Anime and Manga en mass is upon. (You know now that they spectacularly failed to adapt video games this year.) Regardless of how good you think the Ghost in the Shell trailer, Scarlet Johanson is one of the most popular actresses on the planet right now. So WHEN the movie does really well, we’re guaranteed to get at least a few years of studios trying to adapt anime and manga to the big screen. This could be very, very good for the Anime industry. But if we want this to last, we’re going to need more unconventional stuff like Naruto to succeed as well.

2014's Lucy made over $450 million worldwide on a $40 million budget. So audience will be showing up for Ghost in the Shell AKA Hey Marvel, its me ScarJo, look how much money a solo Black Widow movie make!

Let’s be real, the anime industry isn’t in a great place right now. No it's not doomed, it's not going to collapse. But most of the people who work in the industry don’t get paid what they deserve, thanks to all but the biggest studios subsisting on the barest of profit margins from sales of over priced Blu-Rays. Sadly those exorbitant prices are necessary because the audience for Anime discs is so small (and because my fellow millennials don’t want to pay for anything anymore).

But the success of the live action Naruto movie could change all this. Yes a rising tide raises all ships, but if Naruto fails and only Ghost in the Shell succeeds, then we’re more likely to only get adaptations with more western friendly settings like Trigun, Black Lagoon and Cowboy Beebop. All of which would make for awesome movies, but wouldn’t bring as much attention and money to the industry as a whole. Or more likely the industry would probably shift its output to make more Western Friendly stories. And while that wouldn’t be totally bad, it might lead to over saturation of certain genres or stagnation. An Anime / Manga industry where there is enough excess cash to take risks on new ideas is better for everyone.

Remember, back in the day an original Anime like Evangelion was a huge risk, almost everything was an adaptation, but now it's one of the biggest merchandising empires in Japan

While something like Naruto has the potential to appeal to a wide demographic, like Harry Potter or the Marvel movies, and cause more people to be receptive to anime. I’m ultimately more worried about the damage a bad Naruto movie could do, than how it could bring about a renaissance for the industry. Specifically, if Naruto is a dud, it could frighten studios away from adapting the one Anime that could really be world wide in live action. Fullmetal Alchemist.

Hey Hollywood, its Japan. We've got your next Harry Potter right here. Ya know...if you want

Let’s not kid ourselves. The primary goal of the people making the Japanese Full Metal Alchemist movie, is to pitch Hollywood on a live action FMA franchise. And I posit that there is no other Anime/Manga property out there, more suited to be Anime’s ambassador to the world than Full Metal Alchemist. Its set in world with elements that audiences are already comfortable with, reminiscent of LOTR, Harry Potter. But it also has that unique Japanese flavor that would make it stand out without potentially scaring audiences off the way Naruto’s very Japanese setting could. In a better world the Full Metal Alchemist movie would come before Naruto, but its not, so we all need to cross our fingers and hope really hard that Naruto is a good movie.

Next Week: I argue about which actor I believe should play Kakashi. Why not do hypothetical casting on Naruto? Well you’ll have to come back next Sunday to find out!!!