This has been on my mind lately. I am only counting onward from Mugen Train so no Digimon Adventures tri here as it ended the pre-release of the anime film that kicked off the trend.
This is specifically about arcs adapted into films, not canon-adjacent films like One Piece Red and MHA Two Heroes though the cameos I have seen in the latest chapter as of writing all the movies are basically canon now while characters are canon less so the timelines. While MHA World Heroes’ Mission was released after Mugen Train, that MHA is the very last MHA film at this point so honestly I don’t count it any more than a side adventure that featured Rody, a movie-only character that prove so popular to the point of ranking in the popularity polls that his fellow movie-only characters never had a scratch of. There is a difference between making cameos from movie-created characters and making them relevant after all. Detective Conan is notorious for taking movie characters and making them canon like Shiratori no ever which way. MHA just confirmed those movie events as canon whereas DC/CC made them plot-relevant but in no way have I heard the movies are canon as I heard from many including official sources and fans these are canon; I think I heard Rody became so true to Horikoshi that he wanted him plot-relevant but I don’t know about that honestly. I mean Takagi was just some background character until the voice actors improvised that using the seiyuu’s name is a must now albeit Gosho Aoyama changed the meaning of the names with some character changes to best for the detective theme. The whole police force with the exception of a few were created first for the anime or the movie and is now used to tell stories. I don’t think we would’ve gotten the Sato x Takagi love story if it weren’t for the improv and Gosho even liking the character to the point Takagi had a connection with a guy who got a connection to a very plot-important Amuro Ray reference character. Hey when Shuichi is the Char Aznable reference, I can like all the Gundam references I want.
I’m digressing but arc films, prequels, finales, and entire canon arcs squeezed into a one to a nearly two-hour film. Mugen Train was nearly two with an hour and 57 minutes of runtime to be exact. And even then Mugen Train was adapted into episodes including a deeper look into the events including Rengoku, acting as a bridge to the future arc and complimenting the film.
Mugen Train’s method of using the film is totally new. Usually, anime films are compilations (by the by, I don’t recommend watching the Code Geass compilation films because outside of some good scenes, the way it made Lelouch be the fanon version rather than the canon is horrid and it’s better to watch the series than the movies), anime originals, adaptations, or non-canon. Sure there might be references or just taking the characters from there and then utterly ignoring the events or canon-adjacent because of mangaka’s involvement or liking the films or characters so much they made it canon.
And I can’t stress this enough: They still made it into episodes and used it as a bridge point for a future arc and complimenting the film version.
Haikyuu is essentially making the films the finale, with over 100 chapters compressed and even cut less than important scenes to fit two two-hour films.
Jujutsu Kaisen made a film based on the prequel and for all intent and purposes, it was a success though criticized for the underdevelopment of some characters.
Just to be clear, there is a difference between this and YOI Adolescence. YOI is an anime original and thus follows different rules than a straight-up adaptation.
Since Haikyuu had announced the finales to be movies as previous seasons had been impacted by the pandemic, are other studios watching? Are Bones watching Haikyuu to see if they could make the final arc of MHA movies too, considering they said S7 but not the final season? Attack on Titan made the final season into batches of parts rather than movies. Would Bones take that route instead?
Haikyuu split up the first movie as the Garbage Dump match while the second movie will cover the entire time skip. Just why? Make it three films because covering over a hundred chapters for a barely two-hour movie would not cut it. I know Haikyuu anime while still loved had been in a spiral since the pandemic that hit its quality.
I mean the P3 movies were exactly three parts but split into four. Even then, they made the social links background while concentrating on the development of SEES and the other plot and character development stuff. P3 movies are decent according to the fanbase.
I haven't even mentioned the Kaguya-sama movie and the SAO Progressive movies. I heard good reviews for the latter, particularly in the West, when the anime itself is so notorious for just bad storytelling. Both are canon although SAO Progressive was more of a retelling.
It’s more in line with the EVA movies where it’s a new timeline where we see Hideaki Anno’s process from his depression that still occurred to the happiness he has for himself at a better place.
However, EVA is entirely dependent on Hideaki Anno’s mindset rather than a new retelling. It’s still the same story but much happier. For the most part.
Just of note, SAO is immensely popular. I don't think Trash Taste realized just how popular SAO is in Japan because their hatred of it clouded why a salaryman can just buy a bulk of Kirito figures.
I have mixed feelings about entire arcs adapted into films when it’s still so new. Batch releases kind of make sense but with the whole Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures and Attack on Titan, that is still new.
Everything about this whole thing is new, canon-adjacent, and canonical arcs, are primarily the targets here. Apparently, as long as it’s canon, adaptation into a film is a must when it has lots of material to work with.
Non-canon films to big IPs can and will happen. Sure the characters are canon but less so are the timelines. Detective Conan isn’t bothering with the trend as I heard nothing about the upcoming film even being canon in any capacity. Yeah, the characters are canon but you can watch or read the original without ever knowing those characters were movie originals. Shiratori was a movie original yet here he was playing a role in the Sato x Takagi love triangle and the blossoming relationship with Kobayashi. I haven’t heard any of the BO members' movie originals were ever remotely hinted as canon or even adjacent like a name drop.
Even Pokémon didn’t bother. We haven’t gotten a side adventure movie featuring a legendary and/or a popular Pokémon since Kalos. Yeah, there’s a Galar one but it was after years of a remake of an alternate timeline and CG of the first movie. Even then in the miniseries finale where Ash didn’t seem to have fond memories of his dad or any memory of him but was still excited to meet him especially juxtaposed by a father who dearly loved his deceased son whereas the Galar movie had that fond memory. Really after the finale miniseries, Ash fans were decidedly not happy with Ash’s dad as they had mixed feelings about him beforehand even after the seeming retcon of Ash’s memory of his dad in the movie.
The movies are canon as that's not disputed. The Lucario Aura references had been made canon since Sinnoh and especially Journeys. Drew was from LaRousse City thus Destiny Deoxys is canon.
Hey, unlike Gon with Ging and Usopp with Yasopp, Ash wanted to meet his dad after so long and was disappointed by him. Ash just wanted to meet his dad and experience the fatherly care Haruto had. At least the anime knew that Ash’s dad had never been great, effectively leaving Delia to run the restaurant and raise Ash alone. They just continued on that instead of that seeming movie retcon.
I know fans were disappointed there was no SuMo movie. Instead, legendaries were involved since the beginning of the series so yeah… I don’t think anyone expected a Galar movie after so long with the soft remake films.
Hell, the Legends Arceus specials are just specials, not a movie. Yet it was Zarude who got the movie. By the by, released two months after Mugen Train and we don’t know if Liko and Roy will star in their own movie.
So even with the release of the new series of Pokémon with our new leads, we don’t know the movie future of Pokémon. The miniseries finale ended and now the start of a new series and chapter in Pokémon anime history.
So I don’t this counts. The Galar movie and the miniseries finale contradict each other just by the mere mention of Ash’s dad in its context. We just haven’t had a Pokémon movie that was something we would see usually that isn’t a soft remake.
Anyways, canon films.
One Piece Red got into the trend by essentially making it canon. That means it’s not just a side adventure in the creative world but a genuine canonical event that happened at the very least. Unlike the other Oda-involved movies, this is close to the canon you can get. The others have canon characters but the timelines are off. Yeah, Red couldn’t possibly be taken after Wano due to events but it’s still the closest thing we got, more so than Strong World, Z, Gold, and Stampede.
I don’t know about any other IPs getting into the action of adapting entire arcs yet. It’s still too new when popular IPs are more outliers.
Given the popularity of the films adapted, it’s more outliers that they even achieved the box office they have, much less the limited theaters.
Of course, it’s gonna be released in the United States here because the market here is large. Anime demand had increased after all.
For what it’s worth, while the anime community is divided about the batches release and the arc movies, all people see is money from up top.
Would it last or it’s just a phase?
Anime is changing for better or worse. This new change would go on for so long and not just the streaming services and all their ways even though we are still getting simulcasting and simul dubbing. The entire issue of Union voice actors and the whole live-action anime push is another thing. I’ll rather watch any of the anime musicals than any Netflix live-action anime. You know it’s bad they’re using animation for a live-action adapted from animation in just the opening alone of Cowboy Bebop the live action. There’s the live-action of Your Name in development apparently and I have so many mixed feelings.
Yeah, we’re getting live actions from Attack on Titan to FMA. This is utterly hilarious now that we have the live-action Moana to deal with as those live actions are in the span of two decades. The Disney Renaissance remakes were made in the late 2010s which is an obvious close.
Seriously, all the advertisements that anime and celebrities have in East Asia are seen as good. BTS’ faces are literally everywhere in Seoul which fills me with glee knowing B-free will see them no matter what. It’s why I wasn’t surprised to see the collaborations with BTS at all.
We have anime reboots with FMAB kickstarting them. Don’t watch the first episode of FMAB, just go to the second or watch FMA 2003 the canonical expansion but not when it departs from the manga canon. I seriously don’t want people watching the basic foreshadowing and it’s a weak episode too even though at first glance it’s an action to have the foreshadowing pieces. Also, listen to FMA 2003 anime OST over FMAB OST because even to this day, nothing from the latter’s soundtrack stuck with me. It was just so common rather than the emotional pieces that provided more iconic music.
There had been great ones (Fruits Basket, Trigun Stampede) and not-so-good ones (Sailor Moon Crystal, Tokyo Mew Mew). It’s still a mixed bag.
Not to mention Bleach returning where it left off, showing canceled shows can make a comeback. This is still too new. While KHR is at the forefront of speculation, we don’t know. Black Butler is continuing with the school arc after so long.
I would have to mention a movie-like premiere of the first episode of the series. Yeah, I’m talking about Oshi no Ko. ONK had been anticipated for an anime adaptation with the prologue being the main point of interest for the manga even reaching the status it has.
Whether or not studios want to follow especially when the premieres of longer episodes of 50-70 or so minutes felt more like two or more episodes mashed together. A starting premiere of the first episode of a highly anticipated series might set the fires off for similar projects of that caliber.
This one is still new and whether or not it will kick off a new trend or just a fad or for special occasions we just don’t know yet.
CGI anime is still new. All of Studio Orange’s works so far are a labor of love but it’s hard enough to make it work to expand more than just openings, scenes, and objects. Notice I just say Studio Orange and not other studios that use CGI animation extensively. Demon Slayer uses CGI a lot of the time. When anime uses CG, it’s incredibly obvious so when these guys praise Demon Slayer yet criticize Studio Orange and other CG-focused anime studios for doing something even though they have their own creative visions that allowed the CG to work. These guys have no grounds to stand on and it’s laughable for them to think so. Anime and any East Asian studios for that matter still haven’t reached the levels of Western 3D animation or even the levels of the animation revolution we’re having with many different styles and frame rates and all that jazz. Spiderverse didn’t invent as much as they innovate (nobody thought making a comic book movie in all its glory was possible as now we got TMNT Mutant Mayhem as taking the comic art into the film) and make people aware of the techniques of animation. I love Spiderverse but I’m fully aware that it was mainstream enough outside of a growing niche and a medium often derided as for kids even if it’s an animated movie that is aimed at kids yet is simply it’s derided as not being this or that when the medium doesn’t have to be all serious to be accepted. Sometimes it can be a fun ride but in others, it can be a serious exploration. Seriously, does anyone expect the same thing out of the comedy genre? There are dramedy and tragicomedy for a reason. Why is Western animation have moving goalposts when animation is a medium that deserves respect?
Seriously, Promare has quieter and slower moments to show character moments and progression but at the end of the day, the plot is very simple albeit convoluted. It’s not the best but it’s not the worse.
Why is the Mario movie suddenly the breaking point? Sure criticize the thin plot and characters as they don’t create the cinematic experience but sometimes thinness can be worked with if shown just enough sincerity. At the same time, white knighting a movie simply because the critics hate it and aggregate sites ranks it as mediocre at best with bizarre rants that hit the score, not the least RT is not trustworthy. As a film with a story, it’s minimal but as a Mario movie, it’s a fun flick. Why is it so hard to understand? The entire mess was just eye-rolling to sit through before and after release as if a singular movie will make or break something. Seriously, why people are trusting RT scores when it’s manipulated? Letterboxd is far more accurate in audience rating.
I don’t count sequels such as CCS Clear Card but honestly, I don’t count those.
Hunter x Hunter is finally returning, not in anime obviously but the continuation at last for an arc at least.
The anime competition has been changing. Some things are still way too new while others had been going on for years.
