Akira was being developed by Stephen Spielberg, to be directed by Ruari Robinson. Cowboy Bebop was supposed to star Keanu Reeves. Ghost in the Shell... well, here we are. Avatar. Robotech was a Tobey Maguire project, script by Lawrence Kasdan. Yep. The guy who wrote Raiders penned a fuckin' SDF-1 Ming Mae Zentraedi screenplay. That's off the top of my head. I'm sure there's more. "White people" is in reference to the fact that Japanese culture is its own thing with its own mores, its own conventions, its own standards, its own tropes and its own shorthand. Those components are a vital part of the makeup of anime and truly make it what it is. I mean - have you ever seen a Japanese overdub of The Simpsons? It's a trip. Homer's a total sarariman and Marge has this super high-pitched voice and the jokes are different and that's just the overdub. Now imagine that Japanese. For the record, I experienced a violent hatred for AoT that only got deeper with repeated watching.
Appreciate the explanation. In some way, the variation in the plot will be an exposé of the difference in tropes and conventions, which is a shame given the reason why it's even popular enough to get a live action. On another note, I wouldn't surprised if its added to examples of white-washing.