10 Beloved Anime That Desperately Need A Remake
For one reason or another, there are many different anime series that either missed the mark upon their initial release or haven’t aged well over the long years since they came out. A proper modern remake with the right amount of time and effort put into it would help these series reach a wider audience, and it opens up the opportunity to tell the story again, without the restrictions of the past.
With One Piece getting a remake in the near future, and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood‘s success, it’s easy to imagine that kind of process benefiting a wider variety of anime. Whether a remake helps the anime stay loyal to the source material, fixes pacing issues, or just adds improvement in the animation and voice acting departments, remakes serve to enhance a product that already exists.
Soul Eater Should Get the FMA: Brotherhood Treatment
Soul Eater is one of the most famous examples that fans will point to when the topic of an anime remake comes around. Soul Eater stands among many anime fans’ favorite anime of all time, and has held onto its fanbase for almost two decades. While the original release showcases a phenomenal story with interesting characters, power system, voice acting, and animation for the time, it unfortunately deviates from the manga during the climax of the series.
Like many series before it, the anime for Soul Eater caught up to the manga, and was forced to come up with an anime-only ending so that the series could continue releasing. A modern remake could emulate the approach of the Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood series, which similarly faced the same issue. With the fantastic story that Soul Eater has, it’s reasonable to believe that it could have the same success, if not even greater success.
Berserk Deserves a Complete Anime Adaptation
The story of Berserk has been adapted to animation a couple of times now, but the complete story has yet to be fully dedicated to any animation studio. Berserk (2016) was met with backlash from fans of the story, as the sound design, voice acting, and most importantly, the clunky computer-generated animation left a lot to be desired. The original series, which had been released nearly two decades earlier in 1997, was well received, but only covered the first couple of arcs.
A reboot of Berserk (1997) that continued through the Golden Age Arc and onto the subsequent arcs could amass a large following for modern-day audiences. With the increasing popularity of dark fantasy ever since shows like Attack on Titan began airing, Berserk would fit right in.
The One Piece Remake Proves That Naruto Could Find Success Too
As one of the shonen genre’s Big Three, there’s no question that a remake of Naruto would gather the following necessary to justify the effort. Like many other anime from the era, Naruto‘s story suffered (or, at the very least, slowed down) due to filler. A remake could address this issue, focus on retelling the source material, and give Naruto updated visuals and better animation.
Bleach and One Piece are enjoying success with their respective modern series, while Boruto has had a mixed reception since its release. A remake of the original Naruto could help breathe life back into the fanbase and flesh out the world of Naruto even more.
The Original Story of Dragon Ball Should Get Told to More People
Dragon Ball is no doubt one of the most influential media franchises of all time, so it’s honestly a bit surprising that a remake of the original Dragon Ball series hasn’t happened already. Though it isn’t a remake, Dragon Ball Z Kai cut down on filler, polished the visuals, and replaced the voice acting for Dragon Ball Z, but Dragon Ball hasn’t even gotten that much. There are many fans of the series that haven’t seen the story of Dragon Ball before the Saiyans, but a remake could remedy that.
Glimpses of Goku’s old adventures were showcased during the Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero movie, and the plot of that movie heavily references Goku’s childhood challenges. A reboot of the series would not only act to keep new fans up on the beginnings of Dragon Ball, but could also help guide the plot now that it’s known where the story is headed.
Modern Animation Would Work Wonders For Inuyasha
Inuyasha is an extremely successful shojo anime from the 2000s, and it would thrive just as much as it used to today with a proper reboot. Inuyasha helped kickstart the anime formula that shows like Demon Slayer and Jujutsu Kaisen showcase, where the main characters hunt down and destroy demons and other monsters. If Inuyasha were remade, it could utilize all the progress that other stories have made within the genre to help tell its own story better.
The fight scenes in Inuyasha were never the anime’s strong point, but with a reboot, those kinds of scenes could be given the attention they deserve, and it would be interesting to see how those scenes would get interpreted with a higher budget and better technology.
YuYu Hakusho’s Spirit Detectives Have More Mysteries to Solve
Yu Yu Hakusho is a series that is well-known among anime fans, but many people haven’t actually seen it all the way through. Released in the early 90s, Yu Yu Hakusho unfortunately suffers from its age when it comes to outreach. A modern remake would solve the series’ biggest hurdle and bring the story back into the mainstream. There’s a lot of potential with Yu Yu Hakusho, and an animation studio of today would have all the tools necessary to tap into that potential.
The anime industry always wants more fun and interesting shōnen battle series, and this would be the perfect opportunity to satisfy the almost insatiable masses. Yu Yu Hakusho is an incredibly influential anime, and it’s a shame that it’s fallen out of the public eye as much as it has. Yu Yu Hakusho is a story worth telling, and would certainly perform well with modern audiences.
Blue Lock Already Missed the Mark
Even though Blue Lock is an ongoing anime series, the best-selling manga of 2023 deserves more than the lackluster animation of its second season. Blue Lock‘s popularity is a testament to its great storytelling and its unique approach to the sports anime genre. The manga was incredibly well received, with many fans comparing it to another fantastic sports manga, Haikyu!!. Unfortunately, the positive reception of the manga was not replicated with the anime.
In this case, a remake of Blue Lock would simply serve to give the manga a proper adaptation into the medium of animation. The second season of the anime played out more like a slideshow than an actual anime, but the animation that was on display during the finale was genuinely impressive. If Blue Lock had been given the time it needed to deliver breathtaking animation like that finale, then it’s not too far of a stretch to say that it would have been in the conversation for anime-of-the-year.
Tokyo Ghoul Deviated Too Far From Its Source Material
A more faithful adaptation of the manga for Tokyo Ghoul is something that fans of the series have been asking for and speculating about ever since the original anime concluded. Overall, the anime wasn’t bad, but it did leave a lot to be desired when it came to adapting many of the most important storylines and scenes from the manga.
Tokyo Ghoul‘s brand has stagnated in recent years, but an announcement of a reboot could revitalize the franchise. A retelling of Tokyo Ghoul would enable the anime to cover the plotlines and characters that the original missed. It would also enable the series to take the time that it needed to, instead of rushing the story and making character arcs feel too condensed and unearned.
Claymore’s Story Doesn’t Deserve to be Left Unfinished
The Claymore anime released in 2007, and it was met with high praise from both audiences and critics alike. The animation was ahead of its time, and the musical score stood head-and-shoulders above its contemporaries. Sadly, this adaptation had to be cut to just 26 episodes due to the manga running out of source material as it was still coming out. The final two episodes of the anime diverged from that material and told an original story.
Remaking Claymore would give the manga a chance to be properly adapted in its entirety. Unfortunately, simply creating a second season is tricky because of the last two anime-original episodes, so a reboot from the beginning is most likely the easiest, and probably the most lucrative, option.
Gundam’s Massive Universe Needs a Better Entry Point
Gundam’s universe is one of the largest and most intricate of any animated series that exists today. Many different Gundam series have covered the different sides and various factions in the galactic war that serves as the main plot hook. Gundam does a fantastic job of exploring the horrors of war and isn’t afraid to contemplate the moral ambiguity of the separate groups. The only downside of Gundam as a franchise is that there’s so much lore and so many series that new fans looking to enter the fandom are overwhelmed by options.
Abundance isn’t an awful problem to have. In fact, it can be an upside for many, but a hard reboot or different universe may be able to bring in new fans by offering a clear starting point. It could also give the series an opportunity to tell some of its older stories with the context of later events in mind, thereby tying the whole universe together even more.
