This film adaptation made by the Wachowski brothers seemed to have everything in favor to be a big blockbuster: a team of writers and directors who knew the manga since childhood, a cast formed by Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci and Susan Sarandon, as well as the actor who plays Racer X.However, it tanked at the box office, despite the high budget of $120 million, with a local revenue of just $43 million, and even less acceptance in cinemas worldwide, totaling $93 million, which translated to a break even.
The fans of this manga by Yatsuo Toshida were not happy. Why?
Despite the unique aesthetic (if somewhat kitsch) inspired by the atmosphere of the classic 60s anime show, the main argument did not convince at all. For many people in the audience it seemed cliché, predictable, unnecessary, and too heavy in visual effects and CGI that didn't contribute at all to the story.
Another thing that the fans hated was: WHERE IS THE MACH 5 BUTTON????? A key element of the entire series, in which the writers took a unforgivable license with. Again the old rule comes to play: if it's not broken, don't fix it.
Yet the main problem was that the general public never watched the anime, even less the manga and they didn't know what to do with a film that they couldn't understand, given the amount of 'winks' and 'easter eggs' to the fans, with situations in which the writers assumed that everyone would know or be familiarized with.
When it comes to adaptations, there's no doubt that Hollywood hasn't fully understood that the thing that really matters and has its own weight is the story, adapted in a realistic manner so that everyone can relate to it.