Siang Wrote:
Kenshi in the game is feudal japan looking too in his story.. don't americanise everything, samurai's still do wear traditional garb for example
How does Kenshi look like he's from Feudal Japan in his story? In not one of his costumes does he come across as anything but modern.
Also, who said anything about Americanizing
Mortal Kombat?
Mortal Kombat is a very Eastern inspired video game series, while simultaneously having Western roots. It has a mix of both cultures, and pointlessly Americanizing any character, or any aspect of the story would be a disservice to the series as a whole. I agree with you on that.
However, I think that Tancharoen is prioritizing his personal aesthetic over the video game.
I completely accept the fact that different people have different takes on how
Mortal Kombat should be interpreted. I know that many people find my redesigns of
Mortal Kombat characters completely at odds with their own interpretations of those same characters. However, Tancharoen, in
Rebirth at least, started to turn
Mortal Kombat into something more closely resembling a horror/action franchise instead of a mystical/kung fu franchise. He certainly started to edge back toward canon for the first season of
Legacy.
That being said, I think that his take on the series – although certainly interesting, and very good as its own story – has strayed too far from the canon.
And I think Tancharoen places his own personal preference regarding how the characters
should have been over a re-interpretation of what they are.
It's one thing to trim down canon, and reinterpret characters to fit a narrative that can be easily told on screen (or any medium for that matter). That was what the first
Mortal Kombat movie excelled at! Kano was made into someone who joined the Tournament to receive payment, instead of joining the tournament to find Shang Tsung's palace supposedly made of gold. Kitana was someone aware of her history, instead of brainwashed.
On the other hand, Tancharoen's re-imaginings are lazier, and destroy the cohesiveness of the story (which is the opposite of what the first
Mortal Kombat did). He decided to make Sub-Zero and Scorpion from a feudal era. Which sets them in a completely different time period than the rest of the story, which confuses the whole history of the game. He made Jax a police officer instead of a Special Forces Agent. Which, aside from being pointless, did nothing to serve the story.
And, now it appears he's changing Kenshi to be someone that lived hundreds of years ago. On the surface, that doesn't make a difference: he can still be a great character. However, not only does it beg the question "if he was blinded back in Feudal times, how does he interact with the story, which takes place in modern day?". But it also is lazy. Instead of Tancharoen trying to come up with an explanation for how a character like Kenshi should exist in modern day and still use a mêlée weapon (instead of a firearm, for example), he decides to just say "oh, he's from a time before guns...problem solved."
I admit, I'm a hardcore fan, with hardcore beliefs. My views and opinions are my own, and you may disagree with them. At this point, it just comes down to preference.
big thanks to flameshang for the sig. 
Thanks to MINION for the sig! My name is Ian, if you really care to know.
