I can say with confidence that remakes rarely beat the original whether it’s movies, books or anime. The chart above breaks down the net change in IMDb rating for anime that became a live action remake, and if you’re an anime fan you’re going to want to stick around.
The top and only title that saw an increase in rating of +0.1 is Alita: Battle Angel while the remaining sixteen had a decrease in rating from -0.8 to a whopping -6.0 on IMDb.
If you’re a Dragon Ball Z fan, I’ve got some disappointing news for you. The remake fell at the bottom of the chart with the biggest rating drop from 8.8 to 2.6 on IMDb. I think many true anime fans would say remakes are unnecessary and don’t do the originals justice. However, some of the remakes that didn’t receive such poor ratings, like From Me To You and Rourouni Kenshin, may be worth the watch. The Rourouni Kenshin remake did better than the Alita: Battle Angel anime so to me it seems clear that a drop in IMDb rating doesn’t necessarily mean a bad live action remake.
As a unique style of Japanese film, Anime, can be perceived as an art. You may have loved the Death Note remake, which fell at the bottom of the chart right above Dragon Ball Z, and hate Bunny Drop, which only had the fourth greatest rating drop. If you are a true anime fan you may not agree with the ratings at all. In fact, it’s probably a good idea to give the live action remakes a chance and rate them for your own.
