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Adapting a Live Action Movie Part VIII - Setting

posted 11 years ago by takashi_kupo
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This is a two part question since Setting encompasses both time and place:

Where would you set the story of Sailor Moon - Unless there's a bigger and more opportunistic studio in Japan, the likely investors in a SM movie will be American and therefore they may want to set the story in America. There are many melting pot countries that one could set the story in but many viewers might find that disrespectful and disengenuous to the source material. Would you keep this film in Japan or would you send it overseas to a country of your choice?

The next question is, what year would this take place in? Sailor Moon doesn't have many references to the year that it takes place in so it could be modern. There is however a lot of power in setting the movie in the 90's when big issues were happening in the world like Rwanda, Bosnia, Kosovo, the internet was taking off, cell phones began booming, and culture started to change in general. There's also a distinct style from the 90's that Sailor Moon emulated perfectly. What year would you set a live action film in?

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[–] TrekBeatTK 11 years ago

I would definitely set it in Japan. I know there would be a push to set it in America, but Sailor Moon IS Japan. I wouldn't want a Superman movie set in Canada, and I wouldn't want Spider-Man living in Detroit, so I want Sailor Moon set in Tokyo. They don't have to actually shoot in Tokyo (though some location shooting would help).

I'd really love to see it set in the 1990s. It's hard to make Sailor Mercury's computer skills seem as cool when everyone walks around with smartphones and tablets now. And again, there would be a push to make it contemporary, but doing it in the 1990s has its own charm. Now, that makes it harder and more expensive to shoot on location and stuff, but I think there's something nicer about avoiding the perils of modern teenage life. I don't think there are enough period superhero movies, and the '90s is just recent enough for it to be retro and not too dated. I don't want Usagi on Facebook or anything like that. I don't want to see Sailor Senshi exploits showing up on YouTube. And just personally, I'd like their wardrobe at least sometimes to reference some of the things they wore in the anime. It would be hard to nail down a specific year, but maybe 1993 or so.

-TK

"I've always admired atheists; I think it takes a lot of faith." -Dr. Joel Fleischman

[–] xenophile2002 11 years ago

Not a lot for me to add here. Yes, Tokyo. Yes, early 1990s.

If they can't or won't do that, though, I'd suggest either Hawaii or San Francisco. But really, I agree with TrekBeatTK: Tokyo, 1993.

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