Anime Adaptations That You Want To See (And Will Probably Never Happen)

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Self-explanatory, and yes, remakes are perfectly acceptable. Here's my top 7:

7. Ashita no Joe (one series for the entire manga from start to finish)- This is lowest on my list for one reason, and that's because both anime series for this manga were great, and in fact Ashita no Joe 2 is one of the best anime TV series ever made, and probably won't be outdone. The only reason I want a new anime to come out, is admittedly not really for my sake. I simply want this series to have the opportunity to get the attention that it deserves from the Western anime fans, just like JoJo did. And sure, JoJo still didn't really become that popular over here, but it did still garner an increase in the number of fans, all the same, and that's all that I ask for AnJ.

6. Devil May Cry: The GOOD Animated Series- The anime that we got was such a waste of the awesome potential that this property had for becoming a bad-ass action anime. If they made a new anime, I would want to see them actually adapt the stories from the games, except write them better by using the medium of anime to expand the mythos of the series and develop the characters. Or they could just basically make it the anime version of Angel. Either way it would be great.

5. Slam Dunk OVA series for the Summer Inter-High Tournament- How has this not already been made? Anyone who's read the ending match of Slam Dunk knows that it is some of the greatest and most exciting material to ever be put to page in manga form. I don't even know if Toei still holds any of the rights to any anime adaptations of this series, but I'd they do they need to get off their asses and do something with it. This manga is so popular in Japan that it is STILL IN PRINT nearly 2 whole decades after it finished running in WSJ.

4. Shounan Junai Gumi- We got a pretty decent 5-episode OVA series, but this manga deserves a full adaptation, or at least do one season of the best story arcs from this manga. Either way, it deserves to be made. And while they're at it, why not adapt the rest of GTO for us as well? That'd be be nice.

3. 20th Century Boys- Because 3 films are just not enough to cram in the countless hours of fucking amazing writing material that this manga has to offer. Even if its just a copy/paste job like Monster, it still deserves to get made so that this series can earn some more recognition.

2. Rurouni Kenshin: The Revenge Arc- some of the finest shounen material ever written, and it's just sitting there, collecting dust. What is wrong with you, Japan?

And the #1 anime adaptation that I want to see happen is....

Spoiler

1. Full Metal Panic! The Entire Second Half Of The Manga That You Pricks Just Up And Forgot Existed- Seriously, what the hell, KyoAni? You novels sold extremely well, and I think Fumoffu and TSR were pretty successful for you guys. You'd think that after all of the writing gigs that Gatou has done for you, that maybe you could throw the guy a bone and adapt the rest of his source material, which he has clearly expressed interest in since even he likes the anime adaptations of his work and even helped to co-write some of the episode scripts. But, no, you're clearly way too busy with your K-ONs and your FREEs and what have you. It's like KyoAni just made TSR so fucking awesome for the sole purpose of waving the rest of the novels in our faces and saying: "Oh, this? Do you want us to make this for you? Would that be awesome? Well in that case - FUCK YOU! Lulz...."

[close]

[Dr. Insomniac]

I want to see a historical anime about Nobunaga. No robots, gender flips, or any of that shit that's plagued previous Nobunaga anime. What does it say when Hyouge Mono was the closest to getting it right? What I want to see is something like I, Claudius, where we see the trials Nobunaga goes through as he eventually becomes a warlord.

[Rynnec]

Devil May Cry: The GOOD Animated Series- The anime that we got was such a waste of the awesome potential that this property had for becoming a bad-ass action anime. If they made a new anime, I would want to see them actually adapt the stories from the games, except write them better by using the medium of anime to expand the mythos of the series and develop the characters. Or they could just basically make it the anime version of Angel. Either way it would be great.

While I liked the anime we got, I completely agree. A DMC anime that got the treatment Sengoku Basara got would be all kinds of awesome.

As for mine:

Hayate X Blade - This manga would be PERFECT for an anime adaptation. A perfect blend of comedy and action with a simple, shounen-y premise. Why this hasn't been adapted yet is beyond me.

Psyren - This would make an enjoyable battle-shounen anime with a mystery-edge to it. Unfortunately the manga's falling popularity caused it to be cancelled, making an anime very unlikely.

A GOOD BlazBlue anime made by a competent studio - Actual animation, fights that don't suck, and given the amount of episodes needed to flesh out the story and characters.

Guilty Gear - It already has everything needed. A layered plot, a unique setting, quirky characters, a main character that's actually badass, a rival that's not an emo shit, and an excellent soundtrack. All it needs is a good studio and director to do the series justice. The Guilty Gear X trailer and is such a tease.

Megaman X and Zero: Ditto.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Yeah, MMX would be another great one. It'd be like a darker version of Astro Boy (except not as balls out serious as something like Pluto, obviously).

Also, for the DMC anime, an interesting thing that they could do is to expand the story of the first game and mix it in with thematically timed flash-backs of the third game. You fight Nelo Angelo in the game 3 times, so just a little before each encounter with him, we can flash back to Dante's corresponding encounter with Vergil from DMC3. You could also expand the story to make it last for a 12-episode season. Then the next season could adapt DMC4, and use the extra time in the episodes to expand on Nero's backstory, and maybe find some time to give us a bit more insight into Dante's character during his portion of the story. And then a third season could end up covering whole new material that expands the story and Universe, and all the while somehow manages to find a way to write DMC2 out of canon. That would be perfect.

[gunswordfist]

Samurai Executioner

Lone Wolf And Cub

[LumRanmaYasha]

Oh, I could go on about anime adaptions I want to see, but I'll save that list for another time. Here's one that's on my mind right now, though. The re-releases of the anime and manga this month have got me wondering again about why no one has yet made another anime adaption of Ranma 1/2 to finish adapting the manga. Seriously, Urusei Yatsura got the rest of it's stories (most of them, at least) told in OVAs and the fifth movie, and InuYasha got The Final Act, but why Ranma, which is both a higher selling manga and more popular internationally, hasn't gotten a finishing anime I just don't know. This year is the 25th anniversary of the anime even, and still, no plans whatsoever. It's just as baffling as how the Revenge arc of Kenshin isn't animated yet, to me (seriously though, with those live-action movies and everything you would think someone would get interested in making an adaption of the Revenge arc to capitalize on them, right?). And you know what? It wouldn't have to be a very long anime. They could adapt all the major stories from the remainder of the manga in a compact, 26 episode season. I know this because I am an obsessive fan and so I went, checked, and schemed a basic plan for one up:

Spoiler

1-3. Musk Dynasty arc (246-258)
4. Tentacular Spectacular  (235-238)
5. Carpy Deum(242-244)
6. Danger: The Target is Soun?  (279-281)
7. The Lowliest Jerk! (232-284)
8. The Seeds of Doom (303-307)
9. The King of Debt (309-311)
10. Spring Comes to Ryoga (312-313)
11. Special Treasure: The Brocade Butterfly (323-325)
12-13. House of the Sea, House of the Mountain arc (290-299)
14.The Glowing Girl (334-338)
15. A Hot Reunion! (319-321)
16. The Chosen One (341-344)
17. The Mushroom of Time (347-349)
18. The Punishment of Perv-Boy! (360-364)
19. The Two Ranmas (367-370)
20. The Saddest Kunoichi (372-376)
21-22 The Saotome Family Reunion arc (380-387)
23-26 Jusenkyo arc (389-407)

[close]

See? Every important, major storyline from the rest of the manga can so easily be condensed into a compact 26-episode run. All I'm saying is, if Ranma doesn't get a finishing anime for it's 30th anniversary, I'm going to be annoyed, since it's the only one of Takahashi's works that still hasn't had it's finale animated, and more importantly, all those stories are just great and would be a blast to have animated.

Back on the subject of the Revenge arc from Kenshin, that could also easily be a 26 episode season. The arc is 104 chapters, so at a good 4 chapters an episode pacing it rounds out perfectly into 26 eps. Really, I don't see why they haven't made one yet.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Vinland Saga, ideally by the same team that did Trigun- as impossible as that is (it's my dream, so let me dream!) even if they can only really do a part of it.

I actually think a 26 episode series that flashes between the war and the farm ending in the standoff at the end of the latter arc would be a great way to do it. That way you get the action, the introspection, the character growth, and the twists all at the right time. To be honest, the war would probably drag out in animated form and the farm would scare a lot of people off (even if it's the most I've enjoyed a manga in YEARS not made by Urasawa) but the ending of that arc dovetails into the end of the war anyway.

So while it wouldn't contain the entire story (can't, it'll be going for years at this rate) it would undoubtedly be a great series that would attract people to the manga without giving a non=ending that would annoy longtime fans like the Berserk anime did.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Oh, and this is more of a general one. I would have liked to see an anime of Psyren.

It wasn't the most original manga, but it was a fun action series that would have really worked well in animated form. Not to mention it is a good length and told a complete story. Apparently it was more popular everywhere else in the world than it was in Japan. Shame.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Sorry for the triple post, but I just realized I didn't comment on anything anybody else posted. I know, "who cares?", but still.

5. Slam Dunk OVA series for the Summer Inter-High Tournament- How has this not already been made? Anyone who's read the ending match of Slam Dunk knows that it is some of the greatest and most exciting material to ever be put to page in manga form. I don't even know if Toei still holds any of the rights to any anime adaptations of this series, but I'd they do they need to get off their asses and do something with it. This manga is so popular in Japan that it is STILL IN PRINT nearly 2 whole decades after it finished running in WSJ.

It would be easy money, I agree. The series was so popular and has still never really been given an animated conclusion. I wonder if there's just no interest from companies unless they can merchandise it.

4. Shounan Junai Gumi- We got a pretty decent 5-episode OVA series, but this manga deserves a full adaptation, or at least do one season of the best story arcs from this manga. Either way, it deserves to be made. And while they're at it, why not adapt the rest of GTO for us as well? That'd be be nice.

I've never understood why after the MASSIVE popularity of GTO in Japan that nobody got the idea to cash in and adapt this series for some easy profit. Especially considering both the popularity of GTO and delinquent series at the time. Another missed opportunity.

3. 20th Century Boys- Because 3 films are just not enough to cram in the countless hours of fucking amazing writing material that this manga has to offer. Even if its just a copy/paste job like Monster, it still deserves to get made so that this series can earn some more recognition.

No idea on this one. Really have no idea.

2. Rurouni Kenshin: The Revenge Arc- some of the finest shounen material ever written, and it's just sitting there, collecting dust. What is wrong with you, Japan?

Sorry, they can't hear you over all the non-canon movies they're making that completely miss the point of the original series.

And the #1 anime adaptation that I want to see happen is....

Spoiler

1. Full Metal Panic! The Entire Second Half Of The Manga That You Pricks Just Up And Forgot Existed- Seriously, what the hell, KyoAni? You novels sold extremely well, and I think Fumoffu and TSR were pretty successful for you guys. You'd think that after all of the writing gigs that Gatou has done for you, that maybe you could throw the guy a bone and adapt the rest of his source material, which he has clearly expressed interest in since even he likes the anime adaptations of his work and even helped to co-write some of the episode scripts. But, no, you're clearly way too busy with your K-ONs and your FREEs and what have you. It's like KyoAni just made TSR so fucking awesome for the sole purpose of waving the rest of the novels in our faces and saying: "Oh, this? Do you want us to make this for you? Would that be awesome? Well in that case - FUCK YOU! Lulz...."

[close]

On a related note, I just started watching my complete Trigun collection I got for Christmas and the first ad that plays on the first disc is for the complete FMP collection. I remember thinking it would be nice if it was complete.

Sorry, Rynnec, didn't see that you put down Psyren.

I want to see a historical anime about Nobunaga. No robots, gender flips, or any of that shit that's plagued previous Nobunaga anime. What does it say when Hyouge Mono was the closest to getting it right? What I want to see is something like I, Claudius, where we see the trials Nobunaga goes through as he eventually becomes a warlord.

This I would like to see. A straightforward historical drama without typical anime cliches.

Lone Wolf And Cub

This one has always puzzled me. It isn't like it would be impossible to do.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I still need to read Vinland Saga, but it seems like it would make for a pretty epic anime. Perhaps it may even be big enough to shut everyone up about AoT.

As for Kenshin, the simpe fact that they are even making a new live-action film proves that the last one was popular, thus proving that the series is still popular, thus making it all the more baffling that they'd rather make a shitty adaptation of the Kyoto arc (which already had an excellent adaptation in the TV anime) than a good adaptation of the Revenge arc, which still has ever been animated.

[gunswordfist]

Lone Wolf And Cub

This one has always puzzled me. It isn't like it would be impossible to do.

Maybe they thought the great movies were enough. IDK. 

[LumRanmaYasha]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I'd love a Trigun Maximum anime.

It still bothers me that a proper adaption of the manga hasn't been made, though the manga was apparently very popular in Japan even if the anime wasn't. Instead of wasting resources into that fillery movie, they should've invested in making a Maximum anime a reality. There's a whole other story out there with these characters that'd be excellent in animated form. In fact, it would improve the story from the manga, since the manga's biggest problem is clarity in what's going on in the action scenes (which sometimes requires one to really pick apart each visual, and reread in order to get what's happening in a fight), and the anime, of course, would have to clean up Nightow's fight scenes in the translation to animation, so they'd be easier to understand when you first see them and then people can just focus on how epic and intense they are. Besides this, the story is excellent and impressive in scope, and would be an engaging, intense watch in anime form for old and new fans alike.

I mean, come on. At the end of the day, I just want to see Livio and his fights animated. Is that really too much to ask, Madhouse?

[Spark Of Spirit]

I'm kind of surprised for the movie they didn't try to make a side-story that included the missing characters from the manga.

I like the movie for what it is, but I can't escape the feeling that it's a missed opportunity, and that it didn't really add anything to the overall themes or characters. If they wanted to expand the anime with a movie, they should have used some of the missing Maximum elements in some way.

[LumRanmaYasha]

I think because they wanted the movie to fit in with the anime's continuity, they didn't want to include any of the Gungho-guns in it. I still think they could've had re-interpreted versions of Livio (they honestly could've done a whole movie on the part of the story where Wolfwood returns to his childhood orphanage and protects it against the Eye of Michael's assault, so long as they changed their connection to Knives and the ending, of course), or Elendria, or Chronica and Domina (with the latter two they could've used them to make a pretty interesting story about how humanity is doing elsewhere in the universe and more on the treatment of the Plants). Having those characters appear and involving them in a story would have been nice. It's disappointing that they didn't go that route.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I think because they wanted the movie to fit in with the anime's continuity, they didn't want to include any of the Gungho-guns in it. I still think they could've had re-interpreted versions of Livio (they honestly could've done a whole movie on the part of the story where Wolfwood returns to his childhood orphanage and protects it against the Eye of Michael's assault, so long as they changed their connection to Knives and the ending, of course), or Elendria, or Chronica and Domina (with the latter two they could've used them to make a pretty interesting story about how humanity is doing elsewhere in the universe and more on the treatment of the Plants). Having those characters appear and involving them in a story would have been nice. It's disappointing that they didn't go that route.

That's actually exactly what I wanted them to do. 

The Trigun anime is done in a way that many stories could have happened before the Gungho-guns became a major player. A story centering on an important part of Wolfwood's past (one of the most popular characters) to deepen both his sacrifice and ties to the rest of the cast for later on would have been a great move. Unfortunately, he doesn't have much of a role in Badlands Rumble and is entirely inconsequential to the story. Not to mention they could have foreshadowed the Gungho-guns later appearance if they were clever about how they went about it.

Also it would have helped to keep Vash in character and not make him "stay out" of the conflict to let the villain become a threat. My biggest problem with Badlands Rumble was that Vash could have stopped Gasback two seconds after entering the city. Monev was a far greater threat, did the same basic things, and Vash almost killed him within minutes of meeting him.

But we got what we got. I guess we can only hope that eventually we can get another movie closer to the source material.