The lore of Blade Runner has just gotten a little bigger with the premiere of the anime midquel series, Blade Runner: Black Lotus on Toonami and Crunchyroll. Not only has it brought a new story with new characters into the franchise, but the animation has also brought a new look and style to it while still keeping the feel of the original film.
In the realm of animation, anything is possible, and the aesthetic of Japanese anime feels perfect for exploring the deeper mythos and alternate stories of an already established sci-fi universe. With Black Lotus expanding its world with a new intriguing story and set of characters, which classic sci-fi films should take the leap into anime form next?
The Star Trek Franchise (1966-present)
The Star Trek franchise is no stranger to animation, with a short-lived cartoon in the 1970s featuring the original cast, and even now with the more comedic Star Trek: Lower Decks. However, the lower-budgeted animation from the ’70s show and the more comedic nature of Lower Decks don’t exactly offer the same sort of action or world-building opportunities as the films.
While the animated shows of Star Trek are always controversial, an anime aesthetic could potentially create the most visually appealing animated series of the franchise. With the fourth film in the Kelvin timeline still in development, it would be more than satisfying to at least see a new crew or even the original crew back to their daring space explorations in one form or another.
Stargate (1994)
Roland Emmerich’s Stargate is another sci-fi classic that had ventured into animated territory with the short-lived and long-forgotten series Stargate Infinity. Unfortunately, out of all the films and shows of the Stargate franchise, it was far and away from being one of the best, but perhaps the franchise could benefit from taking another dip in the animation pool.
The series Stargate SG-1 really gave the franchise a chance to further explore the film’s characters and show off its fantastical world. With the help of higher animation budget, along with a more mature edge, an anime could give the franchise could have a new life and reignite the interest of its small yet devoted fanbase.
Alien (1979)
Ridley Scott’s classic Alien doesn’t play like the start of a potential franchise, but with 3 sequels, 2 prequels, 2 crossovers, and a video game, the mythology of its world has only gotten bigger and continues to expand even further. There have been several failed attempts over the years to produce a fourth sequel to the original films with Sigourney Weaver, but perhaps it could still be a possibility through the power of animation.
As seen in the video game, introducing Ripley’s daughter, and in the Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, explaining the origins of the Xenomorph, the Alien universe is truly full of rich potential that remains open-ended. If a talented enough animation director could manage to capture both the horror of the first film and the action of the second, viewers and fans of the franchise could be in store for an incredibly unique and wild ride.
Looper (2012)
Rian Johnson’s first big-budgeted action film, Looper, had quite a unique and interesting premise: present-day contract killers who execute targets sent back in time from the future. The film was never made to be the jumping-off point for a series of sequels and spin-offs, but certain elements of the film’s plot could possibly translate well into a new anime.
Given the events that transpire in the film, it wouldn’t make much sense for a continuation of the original story, but the idea of the Looper profession could lend itself to a completely different set of characters with a completely different dilemma. The film stands so well on its own that doesn’t exactly need a spin-off, but it’d be nice to see an effort made to revisit Johnson’s fictional crime world.
Minority Report (2001)
Based on another Philip K. Dick written sci-fi story, Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report takes in a future where a special police force known as “Precrime” apprehends future criminals and murders with the help of psychics known as “precogs.”
A TV spin-off was produced for Fox and lasted only 1 season in 2015, which is a shame because Minority Report roots in the police procedural genre lends itself to episodic TV rather well. That being said, it’d be great to see another world from Philip K. Dick through a more stylized anime lens like the 2006 rotoscope film A Scanner Darkly.
The Running Man (1987)
Before The Hunger Games had their characters participating in life or death challenges for the amusement of the masses, Arnold Schwarzenegger was surviving The Running Man. Based on the novel by Stephen King, prisoners in a totalitarian America are forced to run and compete for their lives on a popular reality TV show (does that sound like anime potential or what?).
This premise certainly opens the door for many different storytelling opportunities, especially in an episodic format, even if it’s a complete reboot as opposed to a prequel. Since none of the adaptations of King’s novels have ventured into animated territory yet, why not start with a story that lends itself to dynamic sci-fi visuals and dystopian settings?
The Terminator (1984)
The Terminator franchise has gone through several ups and downs since Judgment Day in 1991, with some sequels faring better than others, both critically and financially. But the Fox show Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles proved that the franchise is perfectly capable of handling a TV format, and with the recent disappointment from Dark Fate, perhaps it’s time the series headed back in that direction.
With the exaggeration of detail and the grand scale of the medium in general, an anime series based around the Terminator and or John Conner could be the most exciting thing to happen to the franchise in years. To see the biggest tropes of the Terminator films carried over to an anime style, would be something that die-hard fans would absolutely go crazy for.
RoboCop (1987)
RoboCop is another film that briefly lived an animated life on TV in the ’80s. Unlike the film, however, the show seemed to be geared more towards children, and it never managed to capture the more mature things about RoboCop that still hold up and that initially formed its identity as a subversive and violent sci-fi film.
There have been other attempts to revive the franchise before, even with a 2014 PG-13 remake that underperformed both critically and financially. With TV animation being more evolved in both its budget and what it’s allowed to get away with, a more adult anime take on the film could be exactly what the series needs to be revived.
The Adventures Of Buckaroo Banzai Across The 8th Dimension (1984)
Another ’80s sci-fi classic starring Peter Weller, Buckaroo Banzai was far from a financial success when it first premiered, failing to make even half of its budget back at the box office. Over the years, it’s developed a massive cult following, and its fans have been wanting and begging to see the character return in some capacity.
Perhaps the most appealing thing about Buckaroo Banzai isn’t just how unique he is, but also just how absolutely bonkers the world he inhabits is. Both Banzai and his band, “The Hong Kong Cavaliers,” are a group of characters who open the door for many more wild adventures to come. Besides, who wouldn’t want to watch the continuing adventures of a physicist/neuroscientist/test pilot/rock star who fights off inter-denominational aliens?
The Fifth Element (1997)
If there’s one thing that Star Wars: Visions has taught its viewers, it’s that a fictional world with a vast and well-crafted mythology can be carried into any medium if it’s strong enough to do so. With its highly entertaining take on the future, fascinating environments, and highly entertaining characters, the mythology of Luc Besson’s The Fifth Element is certainly strong enough, and the film itself has all the right qualities to potentially make a fantastic anime.
Even if fans aren’t able to see any more adventures of Leeloo and Corbin Dallas, the world of The Fifth Element has so many different locations to further explore and creatures to further understand. Not only that but just to see the stunning visuals of Besson’s film transferred to hand-drawn animation style would be an incredibly satisfying and pleasing eye candy experience.
