Five American TV Shows That Should Be Turned Into Anime
Over the last couple of years, the pop culture exchange between America and Japan has blended together more than any other time in recent memory. American studios have been more than happy to take anime to turn into terrible movies and in exchange we’ve begun to give them anime based on super heroes, video games and TV shows. Now that we seem firmly locked in this trade off though, I was left thinking about all of the great shows from American TV history that is being left completely untouched and as a favor to the American studios out there wondering what should be the next title to export east, here are a few suggestions:
The Pretender (1996-2000 – NBC)
A shadowy organization chasing after a hero who episodically turns into whatever type of crusader of good that he needs to. Even towards the end of the series the story lines towards the end felt like they could’ve been pulled right out of an anime: the secret brother with a fetish for Asian girls who is actually a cannibal (though they would have to change that into something else… Canadians perhaps?), secret romances, the search for the hero’s missing family and it’s hard to argue that Miss Parker was one of the first tsundere in the most traditional sense of the word.
Spin City (1996-2002 – ABC)
I’m an outsider without a particularly firm grasp of how the political system in Japan works. However as an outsider, watching them elect a new Prime Minister every year for the last decade reeks of the same satire that this political comedy was famous for. It seems easy enough; every season the series could feature a new cast of office staffers trying to figure out how to get things working just in time for their boss to be cast out of office.
Alf (1986-1990 – NBC)
Or does this concept only work if the alien has big breasts and is named Lala? Bonus OVA spinoff: Alf meets Asobi ni Iku Yo… furry alien moves in with and tries to find ways to cook and eat the chesty cat girl alien? I’d watch!
The Greatest American Hero (1981-1983 – ABC)
Another one that would have to be altered slightly but how about instead of an average middle aged white guy finding the power suit, it’s an average Japanese teenager that finds the suit? Hilarity ensues as he constantly tries to figure out how to work the damn thing while keeping his identity secret from the girl that he never found a way to confess to. It practically writes itself.
The X-Files (1993-2002 – Fox)
Warner Bros. is already doing Supernatural; is it really so much of a leap for them to animate Mulder and Scully as they track down supernatural cases in an unknown division of Japan’s intelligence agency?
Jersey Shore (2009-Present – MTV)
Doh! Just kidding…
L.B. Bryant is a freelance writer based out of Oregon specializing in posting amusing anime news and DVD reviews on his site, OtakuReview.net. He can found throughout the internet but usually can be found fastest via Twitter or more slowly by poking around anime conventions held in the Pacific Northwest.