All around Asian culture fan and writer for among other publications the Guardian, Animerica (much missed) and Otaku USA, Patrick Macias wonders if the US realizes just how Japanese its pop culture is becoming:
Japan has since become a secret sauce, an inspiration, a font of ideas for studio heads and scriptwriters who don’t have to come up with ideas of their own. “The Magnificent Seven,”“Power Rangers,”“The Ring,”“Dragon Ball”- all have passed through the Hollywood meat grinder with varying degrees of success.
I suppose it is only fitting then that a new “Godzilla” film appears to be leading yet another wave that includes the likes of “Edge of Tomorrow” (based on a Japanese SF novel), a new “Power Rangers” reboot and lord knows what else is in development hell.
In a climate where geek culture potentially equals big business, but most of the major geek properties – like “Star Wars,”“Harry Potter,” and every dorky superhero from your childhood are locked up already – Japan takes on the appearance of an untapped reserve of pop culture, ripe for the plucking. I’ve had the weird meetings and can confirm: TV and movie people are now in the process of some serious plucking.
For anyone remotely interested in the America’s on-again, off-again love affair with Japan, Macias’s article for MTV makes for a decent read.
A Gin Soaked Afternoon 