Remakes have been a trend for quite a while and have shown little signs of slowing down as nostalgia continues to grow. From recent anime examples like Fruits Basket, FullMetal Alchemist, and Sailor Moon, it’s clear it’s not just for western media. Many of these anime remakes are more faithful adaptations, while others update the material in a fresh way. With some surprise announcements like the upcoming Tokyo Mew Mew series, I decided to take a look at some of the animes that are most deserving of their own second chances.
Black Cat
The Black Cat anime isn’t quite as bad as some others on this list (looking at you, Rave Master), but it still deserves a hearty “yikes.” The manga, originally published from 2000 to 2004 is an absolute masterpiece by author Kentarou Yabuki. On the other foot, the anime, released from 2005 to 2006 is an unqualified disaster. Changing the story for no apparent reason – remember, the manga was completely finished by the time the anime was released – it lacks the heart, charm, warmth, and comedy of its source material.
Cut out the utterly bizarre last arc of the anime that was tacked on, don’t rush the character development and the plot, write it better, and hopefully animate it better too, and you’d have at the very least a cult classic if not a big enough hit to warrant a sequel to the manga. Besides, who doesn’t want to see more of Train and Creed?
Groove Adventure Rave
If you’ve never seen Groove Adventure Rave aka Rave Master, please don’t. I say this as someone who watched the dub on Toonami on Saturday nights, who then got into the manga because of it. Please don’t watch the anime.
With that out of the way, where to begin? The animation and the art is absolutely atrocious, the voice acting is poor at best, and the plot of the manga is butchered to try and fit more content into the episodes. There’s really nothing good I can say about it, except it thankfully ended earlier than the manga, and the English version had a catchy theme tune. By comparison, the manga is a pretty epic 35 volume journey of friendship and determination and is often considered a classic by shounen fans.
Redoing the anime would allow the entire story of Rave to pan out on the screen and correct the mistakes of the first series, which unfortunately is what a lot of people know Rave from, as the manga wasn’t a super hit at the time. Admittedly, 298 chapters is a lot of ground to cover, but they adapted all 549 of Fairy Tail and included filler arcs, so c’mon!
Ouran High School Host Club
Unlike our first two entries on this list, the original Ouran High School Host Club anime was excellent. It was funny and witty and brought the manga to the screen with fluidity and a clear understanding of the source material. However, like many shojo animes, it ended too soon. The manga was still in production at the time, so the anime ended after 26 episodes, rather than the 18 volumes or 87 chapters of the manga.
So, there’s a lot to catch up on! I see this as a very similar case to the recently redone Fruits Basket. Nothing wrong with the first go, but the number of characters missed and the plot development and arcs in the later volumes of the manga would be a delight to watch play out on the screen. Basically, there are only good things to be gained from redoing Ouran, and there’s still a number of fangirls ready and waiting in the wings to pounce on the Host Club again. If they can get the original Japanese voice actors to reprise their roles again, so much the better.
Air Gear
Air Gear is actually my favorite anime series ever (it’s on Hulu if you want to check it out). Something about a bunch of lunatics running around on flying rollerblades is really fun to watch and the animation of it is amazing. The soundtrack by Skankfunk as a backdrop to the entire series does not hurt either. Like Ouran, however, the Air Gear anime barely scratched the surface of what the manga covered. In 25 episodes they could never hope to cover 358 chapters worth of material, even if it had been fully released at the time.
That being said, Air Gear, both the manga and the anime, are much more niche than something like Ouran, so why the remake? Like I said, lunatics on flying rollerblades. While the manga goes through a lot of character and emotional arcs and there’s plenty of twists and turns, as well as fanservice, I don’t think that’s the mainstream appeal of it, as opposed to the insane action shots and the typical shounen practice of pulling power-ups out of (literally, sometimes) thin air. The bizarrely short OVA collection released in 2010 shows what it can look like with some really excellent animation quality as well. Still, I would absolutely picket protest to get Skankfunk back on the soundtrack again.
Ultra Maniac
From the creator of Marmalade Boy, Ultra Maniac is the story of a hilariously inept witch who goes to stay on Earth to study abroad and ends up causing a bunch of trouble in the process. Yes, this is absolutely a shojo series. It’s light, fluffy, and a lot of fun, capping out at 25 chapters. The original anime lasted for 26 episodes and while it was fine, and a bit of a cult classic, it was hindered by the fact that it was made in the middle of the manga’s run.
It should be noted that creator Wataru Yoshizumi did have input on the anime, the different changes they made, and she explicitly designed several of the new outfits, but it’s also very clear that the anime is trying to be something very different from the manga. Rather than a slice of life with light romance and comedy magic, it turned into a magical girl rivalry series with strange hats.
The biggest gripe to be had about Ultra Maniac’s anime is the ending, which totally missed out on the happy endings for everyone that are to be found in the manga. Not to say that it ended on a melancholic note, but Nina, Ayu, and the gang all deserved better like the characters in many anime remakes.
