by Jillian Ocken

Sometimes it feels like there are no new stories. I complain as much as anyone about the latest remake of a remake, but I have to admit to enjoying a few recently recycled stories. There are even some upcoming adaptations I’m looking forward to.

The biggest recent success story for my family was “One Piece.” As far as manga to anime to live action adaptations go, it was surprisingly good. (I keep my expectations low on these, because they often recreate the source material scene-for-scene without being particularly well done.) It was a fun watch with good pacing, but the big win with “One Piece” was the family tearing through over 90 volumes of manga in just a few weeks. This is where my library card really saves some money!

Our family also watched the newest Percy Jackson series. We all enjoyed this one too, but I thought it felt rushed. As Percy went from one place to the next on his big quest, I though “surely they spent more time here in the books?” So, again, the show inspired a return to the source material to find out what was left out of the show. After years of talking about it, I’m finally reading “Percy Jackson and the Olympians.”

With my expectations slightly lifted, I’m looking forwarded to what I hope will be a much better adaptation of “Avatar: The Last Airbender.” I think we can all agree that the 2010 live action movie was somewhere between “meh” and flying bison dung. Here’s hoping the upcoming series is better!

I’m also curious about the “Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” animated film that’s in the works. I know, Lord of the Rings has been done and redone, and the Peter Jackson films may well be the best we’ll ever get (for the main trilogy, anyway). But there’s a lot of Middle Earth history to explore, and I’m willing to give it a shot.

I guess there’s comfort in returning to familiar stories or worlds, and there’s plenty of entertainment in dissecting the differences in a new adaptation. I may grumble about studios being uncreative, but you’ll probably find me reading the source material for the next big screen adaptation—especially if it’s heavy on fantasy and/or adventure!