Adaptation - Blog Posts

Welp, I'm back at doing Portuguese covers of songs that didn't really need it. What can I say, it's what I like to do! And I haven't done one in a long time. My channel is catching dust 😩

Anyway I did this this not only because I felt like but to celebrate Identity V's 4th anniversary. So yeah, I sung the 3rd aniversary song XD

Happy birthday Identity V fancy a game

I hope you like it! I'm really proud of how it came out. It's not perfect but I think it's the best of my covers so far and I'm really happy to see some progress.

Chameleon colours ‘switched by crystals’:

Swiss researchers have discovered how chameleons accomplish their vivid colour changes: they rearrange the crystals inside specialised skin cells.

It was previously suggested that the reptiles’ famous ability came from gathering or dispersing coloured pigments inside different cells. But the new results put it down to a “selective mirror” made of crystals. They also reveal a second layer of the cells that reflect near-infrared light and might help the animals keep cool. Reptiles make colours in two ways: they have cells full of pigment for warm or dark colours, but brighter blues and whites come from light bouncing off physical elements like these crystals: so-called “structural colours”. These colours can also be mixed. A vibrant green might arise from a structural blue overlaid by yellow pigment.

Review: Rurouni Kenshin Trilogy (2012-2014)

Overall rating: 9.0 of 10

Rurouni Kenshin, adapted from popular manga and anime of the same name (popularized in North America and Indonesia as Samurai X, referring to his cross-shaped scar), tells the story of one skilled assassin from Japan’s Bakumatsu Era who turned into a wandering pacifist, helping people along the way and vowed to never kill anyone again.

The live action trilogy consists of Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji kenkaku roman-tan (titled simply Rurouni Kenshin in the English world) which was released in 2012, followed by two-parter Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto taika-hen (Rurouni Kenshin: Tokyo Inferno) and Rurouni Kenshin: Densetsu no saigo-hen (Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends), both released in 2014. I just binge-watched all of them so it made more sense to me to do a comprehensive review of the trilogy. Besides, I just thought it’d be just a tad boring to read me raving about Takeru Sato (who played the titular character) three times over.

The biggest accomplishment these movies achieved, aside from hiring the right director for obvious reasons, was casting Takeru Sato as Kenshin Himura the Manslayer Battosai. Kenshin Himura was a difficult character to get right. He was a small, unassuming, baby-faced, soft-spoken person who had the weight of all Japan on his shoulders and swordsmanship skill of a god. Not only Sato looked exactly like how Kenshin would look like in real life, he was able to play just about every range of Kenshin’s in the most unobtrusive way, from Kenshin’s trademark goffiness, kindness, to his restrained composure, deafening sadness and powerful regret, and the bombastic rage that he eventually let out. Every once in a while he lets out quiet words of wisdom that are so excessively true your heart breaks, because you know it took a great deal of pain and mistakes to be able to say them.

The rest of the casts were great too, each one of them dissolved nicely into the characters that we have come to know and love from the manga and anime (I never read the manga, admittedly). Animes in particular are difficult to adapt into live action because animes in general operate in a wholly different reality. Jinei Udoh’s and Shishio’s powers weren’t exactly realistic, for example, but director Keishi Ohtomo was able to make them at least plausible. Even small things like clothes, hair, and behaviors of characters from animes might be harder to translate from animation into live action but Rurouni Kenshin was able to bring them come to life with grace.

The film was also absolutely beautiful to watch. The colors and cinematography were absolute striking, and so was the fighting scenes. Each of the fights are fluid, absolutely clear and delightful to watch, and definitely captured the magic of samurai fights that we have come to expect.

But the truth is, the three movies weren’t created equal. The first movie did a great job at introducing and sucking us into its world, for reasons above. TL;DR It was a great origin movie of a compelling character, surrounded by a hoard of interesting supporting characters. But more intellectually, what I really appreciated from this particular movie is that they hit the tone right with the violence. They were dirty, they were bloody (not overly so that it’s unwatchable) but enough to bring home the fact that killing, no matter the cause, is an ugly thing to do.

I found Kyoto Inferno to be the weakest installment. Shishio was a brilliant arc in the manga and anime, partly because they spent considerable amount of time building into the arc. The movie had such little time to tell its story in comparison that it was understandable that it would not have the same effect, but TL;DR I also found the film to have problematic pacing, and it felt particularly heavy and overwrought.

That said, The Legend Ends was brilliant. It started as the slowest of the bunch, and I appreciated the change of pace (without resorting to spoilers I'll just say it was refreshing to see someone who looks down on Kenshin for once). I have to say it built up nicely into the climax though, so don’t worry, it was every bit as intense as the others and the fights were every bit as exciting. TL;DR The Legend Ends was a very focused movie, especially compared to Tokyo Inferno, and that’s why I found it to be the best.

If I had to assign individual ratings for each film, I maybe would give them 9.0, 8.0, and 9.5 respectively (and a completely unscientific overall rating of 9.0). Collectively, they were such a great adaption that if you’re a Rurouni Kensin fan by any means, you maybe should watch them.

Guys. Guys. Please. Not every adaptation has to be live action, not every adaption can be live-action, because making it so can rob the original IP of its very essence. If making everything look realistic diminishes it to the point where you literally have to animate it anyway to make it recognisable, then why even try to make it live action in the first place? What is so bad about animation that we have to make things live action because it’s otherwise “just for kids”? Why are we ignoring a perfectly good medium only to force a different medium to do what the former was designed to do only much worse?

Some things can only be done by animation, in the same way that some things can only be done by books or musicals or games. That’s what makes adapting things so difficult, and it’s what makes choosing the medium you want to write in so important.

Little Women (2019) v. Book: the Timelines

I knew before seeing Little Women (2019) that it was going to have a start in the middle approach, something like Jane Eyre (2011) did. Writer/Director Greta Gerwig said (in “A New Generation of Little Women”, the first special feature on the dvd) that she wanted to feature the characters as adults, that in the second part of the book, the chapters are "the adult answer to what happened in childhood", and the film flashes back and forth to line up the storylines, although in this interview, at 1:50 she describes it as two timelines that are both moving forward.

When is Little Women set?

Published 1868 (Book/Part 1, Chapters 1-23) & 1869 (Book/Part 2, Chapters 24-47)

Civil War took place April 12, 1861 – May 9, 1865

Here's a proposed book timeline for the whole series concerning the Marches.

For my book to movie comparison I watched the dvd with subtitles, and text searched lines in the Ebook on Project Gutenberg. You can also search the text in Apple Books and Kindle (and I assume whatever other ebook formats exist) which also have free editions.

I did not make notes of where changes to character or plot were made, just tracking the movie timelines in comparison to book timeline

Timeline 1 (because that's where the film starts) is the later years (Book Part 2)

Timeline 2 is the earlier years (mostly Book Part 1, but towards the ends it catches up with the beginning of Timeline 1, including content from Book Part 2)

Movie: the dvd "scenes" seem to cut in the middle of story scenes, so I've tried to indicate where there's overlap

Scene/Chapter 1 (00:00:00)

Timeline 1: Book Part 2 - Chapters 34, 33 Jo

Scene/Chapter 2 (00:06:03)

Timeline 1: Book Part 2 - Chapters 31 (references), 37 (quotes), 26 (references) Amy

00:08:40 -Timeline 1: Book Part 2 - Chapter 28 Meg

00:09:40 - Timeline 1: Book Part 2 (no particular reference except her sisters living away - home, Beth playing piano, .

00:10:11 - Timeline 1: Book Part 2 - Chapters 33-34 (but no particular reference) Jo and Bhaer at theater and a dance.

Scene/Chapter 3 (00:12:05)

Timeline 2: "7 years earlier, Concord, Massachusetts" - Book Part 1 Chapters 4 (references), 3 (quotes), 1

00:17:53 - Timeline 1: Book Part 2 - Chapter 33 (quotes), Jo (New York)

00:19:18 - Timeline 1: Book Part 2 - Chapters 37 (ball), 39 (quoted) Amy (Paris)

00:21:26 - Timeline 1: Book Part 2 - Chapter 34 (references) Jo (New York)

Scene/Chapter 4 (00:24:24)

Timeline 1: Book Part 2 - Chapter 34 (references) Jo on her way home

Scene/Chapter 4, Scene/Chapter 5 (00:30:18)

00:25:10 - Timeline 2: Book Part 1 - Chapters 2 (quotes), 1 (quotes), 13 (quotes), 6 (references), Part 2 - Ch 29 (references painting boots blue), Part 1 - Ch 7 (references), 5

Scene/Chapter 5

00:33:24 - Timeline 1: Book Part 2 - Chapter 34 (references) Jo on her way home

Scene/Chapter 5, Scene/Chapter 6 (00:38:40)

00:34:04 - Timeline 2: Book Part 1 Chapters 4 (quotes), 7 (quotes), 1 (references), 5 (quotes)

Scene/Chapter 6

Scene/Chapter: 6 - Timeline 1: Book Part 2 - Chapter 34,  Jo on her way home, post office/mail box

00:40:59 - Timeline 2: Book Part 1 - Chapter 10 (quotes)

00:43:12 - Timeline 1: Book Part 2 - Chapter 36

Scene/Chapter 6, Scene/Chapter 7 (00:47:07)

00:44:41 - Timeline 2: Book Part 1 - Chapter 8

00:53:21 - Timeline 1: Book Part 2 - Chapter 36

Scene/Chapter 7, Scene/Chapter 8 (00:57:36)

00:54:23 - Timeline 2: Book Part 1 - Chapters 9 (quotes) Meg, 6 Beth (quotes)

01:01:24 - Timeline 1: Book Part 2 - Chapter 28 Meg

Scene/Chapter 8, Scene/Chapter 9 (01:07:18)

01:03:15 - Timeline 1: Book Part 2 - Chapter 39, Book Part 1 - Chapter 15 (references: making fortune, marrying for money) Amy

01:07:28 - Timeline 2: Book Part 1 - Chapters 12 (references), 14 (quotes)

01:09:07 - Timeline 1: Book Part 2 - Chapter 36, Jo and Beth

Scene/Chapter 9

01:10:05 - Timeline 2: Book Part 1 - Chapters 4 (quotes), 15 (quotes)

01:13:36 - Timeline 1: Book Part 2 - Chapters 39 (quotes), 41 (references)

Scene/Chapter 10 (01:16:25)

01:16:25 - Timeline 2: Book Part 2 - Chapter 26 (cast of Amy's foot), Book Part 1 - Chapters 16, 6 (quoted, Beth's slippers for Mr. Laurence, piano), 17 (quotes, scarlet fever)

Scene/Chapter 11 (01:20:08)

01:20:08 - Timeline 1: Book Part 2 - Chapter 36 (quotes), Book Part 1 - Chapter 10 (quotes, Jo writing it), Book Part 2 - Chapters 42 (references) *costume trivia, I think Beth is wearing the same plaid top that Jo wore in the past and is wearing in the following flashback

01:24:34 - Timeline 2: Book Part 1 - Chapter 18, Beth and Jo

01:22:03 - Timeline 2: Book Part 1 - Chapters 19, 23 (referencing marrying well) Amy

01:23:39 - Timeline 1: Book Part 2 - Chapter 41, Amy

01:24:29 - Timeline 1: Book Part 2 - Chapters 40, 28

Scene/Chapter 12 (01:25:46)

01:25:46 - Timeline 2: Book Part 1 - Chapter 18

01:26:02 - Timeline 1: Book Part 2 - Chapter 40

01:26:09 - Timeline 2: Book Part 1 - Chapter 20

01:26:40 - Timeline 1: Book Part 2 - Chapter 40

01:28:00 - Timeline 2: Book Part 1 - Chapter 22

Scene/Chapter 13 (01:29:37)

01:29:37 - Timeline 1: Book Part 2 - Chapter 40

01:31:22 - Timeline 2: Book Part 2 - Chapters 25 (Meg's wedding), 23 (quotes), 29 (references), 30 (quotes)- *Amy still with her young hair and short dress, "free spinster and paddle my own canoe.” quote from an LMA journal.

01:36:04 - Timeline 2: Book Part 2 - Chapter 35 (quotes)

Scene/Chapter 14 (01:39:53)

01:39:54 - Timeline 1: Book Part 2 - Chapter 42 (quotes), "all a woman is fit for" quote is from other LMA book, Rose in Bloom Jo

01:43:03 - Timeline 1: Book Part 2 - Chapter 41, Amy

01:44:46 - Timeline 1: Book Part 2, Jo

01:45:12 - Timeline 2: Book Part 2 - Chapter 33, Jo (arrival in NY)

01:45:42 - Timeline 1: Book Part 2 - Chapter 43

Scene/Chapter 15 (01:49:37)

01:49:38 - Timeline 1: Book Part 2 - Chapter 43

01:50:47 - Timeline 1: Book Part 2 - Chapters 42, 27 (writing)

01:54:23 - Timeline 1: Book Part 2 - Chapter 47

01:56:04 - Timeline 1: Book Part 2 - Chapter 34 (writing)

01:56:40 - Timeline 1: Book Part 2 - Chapter 43

01:57:06 - Timeline 2: Book Part 2 - Chapter 33

01:57:39 - Timeline 1: Book Part 2 - Chapters 43, 46, 44, mixed in with material drawn from Alcott's experience writing and publishing

Scene/Chapter 16 (02:06:22)

02:06:22 - Timeline 1: Book Part 2 - Chapter 47, mixed in with material drawn from Alcott's experience writing and publishing

For reference, book chapter list:

PART 1 1  PLAYING PILGRIMS 2  A MERRY CHRISTMAS 3  THE LAURENCE BOY 4  BURDENS 5  BEING NEIGHBORLY 6  BETH FINDS THE PALACE BEAUTIFUL 7  AMY'S VALLEY OF HUMILIATION 8  JO MEETS APOLLYON 9  MEG GOES TO VANITY FAIR 10  THE P.C. AND P.O. 11  EXPERIMENTS 12  CAMP LAURENCE 13  CASTLES IN THE AIR 14  SECRETS 15  A TELEGRAM 16  LETTERS 17  LITTLE FAITHFUL 18  DARK DAYS 19  AMY'S WILL 20  CONFIDENTIAL 21  LAURIE MAKES MISCHIEF, AND JO MAKES PEACE 22  PLEASANT MEADOWS 23  AUNT MARCH SETTLES THE QUESTION PART 2 24  GOSSIP 25  THE FIRST WEDDING 26  ARTISTIC ATTEMPTS 27  LITERARY LESSONS 28  DOMESTIC EXPERIENCES 29  CALLS 30  CONSEQUENCES 31  OUR FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT 32  TENDER TROUBLES 33  JO'S JOURNAL 34  FRIEND 35  HEARTACHE 36  BETH'S SECRET 37 NEW IMPRESSIONS 38  ON THE SHELF 39  LAZY LAURENCE 40  THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW 41  LEARNING TO FORGET 42  ALL ALONE 43  SURPRISES 44  MY LORD AND LADY 45  DAISY AND DEMI 46  UNDER THE UMBRELLA 47  HARVEST TIME