Been reading your backlog and came across your post re: the Kuro live-action movie. This has nothing to do with anything, I just thought you might be amused to hear--- I actually really enjoy it! I watched it first a very long time ago as a gay little sixteen-year-old in the throes of obsession and despised it with my entire being because It Just Wasn't The Same, And Sebastian Wasn't Hot Enough. I rediscovered it accidentally a year and a half ago, and have watched it like four more times since, because actually the aesthetics are fucking fire and somehow? Even with a change of medium, time period, and master? That magnificent actor embodies the spirit of Sebastian perfectly. Even the cinematography is faithful, with the gratuitous/significant shots of his shoes (and the sudden cuts to Cute Cats). The fight scene witiin the first 15 minutes is genuinely perfect as a demon dance...
I also just really like the implication that this idiot demon can't leave well enough alone after Ciel's death and sets himself up as a literal family curse. Damn glutton.
If you ever want to discuss it in more depth, you'd be guaranteed an audience of me XD
I just wanted to take a moment to reply to your ask, I appreciate it. I'll probably ramble incoherently now, as one does...
The Kuroshitsuji live action movie, when it is brought up, I find is usually brought up unfavorably... sadly for a lot of the reasons some enjoy it. It's nice to know that there were people who saw/rediscover it and appreciate it.
I'll watch it any time anyone else is willing to watch it with me simply because I'm entertained and amused by it. And also, because even if it wasn't manga-accurate and something new, there were parallels of things that actually did happen in the manga -- and 'crumbs' of truth to the plot left for us to ponder about. The movie literally revealed twists in the manga before they happened whether anyone likes that or not, so I think it's meant to make anyone watching it go 'hmmmmmmmmmmmmm...' (and that was very a very smart thing to do) and watch it again.
The reasons I personally consider it "...one of the most movies of all time! It is A movie! The MOST movie of all time, my friend!" if anyone asks me if it's GOOD though... How to say this (under a cut for length)...
It is definitely Kuroshitsuji inspired, I would say if you love Kuro and are open minded you might consider giving it a watch at least once. The Sebastian from the manga IS in it (whether the movie is canon or not I don't really give much thought).
I appreciate the "this is set in the future!" and the "NEW contract NEW Master but with twists because we're in Japan and --" all the hoops people jumped through to make the movie happen. It took a lot, to make it happen at all.
Sadly, I don't think it was the Kuroshitsuji movie the majority of the fandom wanted, though. They wanted London, the real English countryside, they wanted the victorian time-period, they wanted the characters from the actual manga and they wanted them depicted as accurately as possible.
I truly think, however… on that note… people have extremely, astronomically high standards when it comes to Sebastian and his looks. It's not necessarily their fault, because he himself yabbers on-and-on about the butler aesthetics and demon aesthetics and he's a demon and we all know, demon's are good at seducing people (and Sebastian is) so it stands-to-reason a live action Sebastian would be unsettlingly good-looking.
But. To be honest I think a lot of people have different ideas in their head of what he looks like, so it's impossible to make everyone happy and present the "PERFECT" actor that everyone unanimously agrees was the best choice. It's hard to strike gold like that.
Being limited to primarily actors that are known in Japan, would make casting even more difficult.
I think the actor did the best job he could have possibly done, with what he had to work with. A lot of fans at the time, especially in the west were really young (I was a teen reading / watching kuro once…) and without giving it much thought, a lot of public comments were echoing the 'he's just not right/not hot enough!', but a lot of us were very young at the time. Teenagers are allowed to be wrong (and often are…) And sincerely, I don't think anyone, any choice, would have been "hot enough."
If the movie came out now with today's standards I'm pretty sure the movie would have been "Cancelled" for. … Hmmmm (humming) (cough) iykyk.
At the end of the day…
There was virtually no way at the time, like, 0 chance, at all, that time-warner in the Japan division, would film an anime-live-action movie in England/London, hire a bunch of white actors, and make it an accurate period piece, and cough up the budget for that. There was just NO way. No chance. This was the best Kuroshitsuji Live Action movie we were going to get.
The reason why I think people are so frustrated with it, was because those specific restrictions in the budget make the changes to the dynamic and setting super obvious, and they tried to make-it-work. I think I personally would have liked it a lot more, if it didn't feel like a bastardized re-hashing of the Jack the Ripper Arc.
If it were an entirely original struggle and if everything that was happening was the result of the past, and I do mean everything, I think the movie would have done better… …HELL even if the story had more to do with actions Tanaka took in the past, as a means for why the Phantomhives descendants are in modern day Japan now, as a starting point-- if he was the reason they moved to Japan to begin with, if Tanaka for example like buried the phantomhive ring somewhere in his homeland and it was worth like 200 billion dollars by modern day standards-- and someone thought Shiori's family knew where it was hidden, that her family had it and were secretly still involved with underground society, moved-wealth and were responsible for some sort of misfortune that actually had nothing to do with them, and thus, they were massacred and everyone except Shiori perished and THAT'S how Sebastian was summoned and the story moves from there… and she didn't even know who the fuck the Phantomhives were or anything about her family history and was like "What the fuck is even happening right now who the HELL is CIEL Phantomhive T_T" that might have been more interesting, to me. …But it's not really like that.
In the end I still appreciate the effort and as I said I still watch the movie, I think I just wished it were a bit different.
I'll say something REALLY controversial, I like the Live Action Movie Better than any of the musicals. 💀
I think if Yana really wanted to try again at something live action, she could. I don't know if it would be a good idea, but she probably could. She's got that Disney money, now.
When I first saw Cap 2 there were one or two things about Natasha's characterisation that I felt didn't quite mesh, but then I thought about it and it was a case of "okay, I need to adjust my headcanon." The other things that irked me were mostly dialogue related and I've already meta'd about them far too much considering that I think it ultimately boils down to script problems rather than characterisation.
With my headcanon adjusted accordingly, I really love Natasha's arc in Cap 2, and while I do think Avengers gave us a bit more of Natasha's POV and the dialogue seemed better for her 'voice,' in terms of character arcs I think this is her best showing in the MCU so far.
When we see her at the beginning of Cap 2, she's still very much in the spy side of things. The mission on the ship is her bread and butter, including distracting Steve with banter so she can carry out her actual mission (that's my explanation for the first 10 minutes and I'm sticking to it).
Then she gets put through the emotional wringer. Her mentor/boss/father figure apparently dies before her eyes, and everything she thought she knew about the organisation she works for turns out to be tainted. She has to survive so she barely has time to process what that means for her. Then she finds out her mentor is alive, but he doesn't trust her the way she thought he did, and that hurts.
In the end she burns her whole life to the ground, and leaves to figure out something new. It'll be interesting to see where we find her in Avengers 2. If she does give up the spy life, does she embrace superhero-ing? Does she lay low and try to live a normal life, only to be dragged back in when Ultron attacks? I can't wait to find out.
Over my DEAD BODY will I ever have a pink or blue nursery. Ever.
Ok, so blue isn't as bad. But omg. PINK. NO. Btw, I had a pink room as a kid, and I ASKED for it, too. I just grew up. LOL My kid will have to ASK for girly colors if she wants them. lol
I hate this GIF. Because, just look at her face. Her eyes are filled with hurt. She was excited to see Kendall, she never got over him... she wanted to surprise him, but instead when the elevator doors open, she sees Kendall kissing another girl.
