Oh dear god.
I'm confused by some of these reviews. It's partly animated? Like, there is animation overlaid onto live action? Is it rotoscoped or something? What is this madness?

Something that relies on the medium of animation like FLCL would be pointless to adapt, for sure. The works of Masaaki Yuasa (Tatami Galaxy/ Cat Soup) come to mind as well.

Welcome to the NHK is hilarious though, and I'm not sure America is ready to laugh at Pepe in the age of Trump.

I think something like Mushishi would be damn near impossible. It's both too episodic, and too Japanese-mythological. You could make it as a live action movie, but you'd end up with something like Akira Kurosawa's Dreams.

Lucky Star would be basically impossible, since the very fiber and sinew of the show is hyper specific references to anime and Japanese culture. A mass market, whitewashed Lucky Star would be…. literally nothing.

So if someone asked you for an anime recommendation, you would tell them with a straight face to watch Steamboat Willie? Come now. Anime is not a genre, it's a medium, but being animated and of Japanese origin does not seem needlessly restrictive.

"People keep calling out for a Cowboy Bebop live action film and I think it would ultimately disappoint for the same reasons."

Honestly, I was confused by this as well. The American Empire is very much a representation of how the U.S. is perceived as an aggressive imperial power in certain circles of current day east Asia, and, as such, I always saw it as a stand in for the United States.
I get what you're saying, but it feels misleading.

The beginning of SAC is a bit of a mess. The quality is dubious, as the director and voice actors haven't yet figured out the characters. It feels like they had to start production before everything was in place. It gets notably better after a few episodes. Seriously, I love SAC and 2nd Gig and when I went back to…

I don't mean to be "that guy", but anime isn't a genre. Just saying.