Does anyone think an anime of Narnia would ever happen?

[rocklobster]

Just wondering, since quite a few anime do have Christian symbolism: Trigun, EVA, Gungrave, and Big O to name a few.

[taboo]

I don't know if I'd want an anime of Narnia unless it was done by Miyazaki. Because then it would be pretty awsome.

[Tommy]

Uh.........No.

I can see a crappy disney animated series.

[glitch1501]

I don't know if I'd want an anime of Narnia unless it was done by Miyazaki. Because then it would be pretty awsome.

whoa, that is an awesome thought...miyazaki could do the series justice

[Godly Paladin]

Trigun, EVA, Gungrave, and Big O to name a few.

Okay. To say those shows have Christian symbolism is a major exaggeration. Just because something has a cross in it means nothing, and you also have to look at whether or not the 'symbolism', if it exists, is even positive. None of those shows really back up a stance that would predict Christian animes in the future...look at Trigun, for instance. It's got a lot of profanity and more than a little sexual content, which kind of outweighs Wolfwood, if you know what I mean.

It seems to me that Christian anime fans often try to justify shows by searching for symbolism in them.

[Destroyer2000]

Yeah, well, Paladin, this isn't a debate on whether those shows are okay to watch or not. If ANYONE tried to make a Narnia anime, I would personally burn their studio to the ground. It's not possible to do it justice that way.

[Godly Paladin]

I'll admit I was off-topic, but I wasn't saying it was wrong to watch them.

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

I think an anime of Narnia would definetly work. On Narniaweb.com I talked on a thread, 'why didn't they do LWW in cartoon" and some people referenced the 1979 cartoon movie) and others said cartoons were cheaper to make and others replied it would look crap animated.

These are some of my posts in reply:


The Lion King cost about 70 million dollars I think it was. So cartoons aren't cheap. But anime movies are made for a fraction of the price and have better results. So I don't really know what would work. I like live action but an anime version of the LWW if done right would work really well also.

That's incredibly naive to say all anime are like is like Pokemon or porn. They aren't. What they do have superior to most Western cartoons are atomsphere and deep stories and characters you actually care about. Anime is taken as serious business in Japan and not all anime is big eyes and hair. Get past that and some of the best animation (anime) will blow you away with the imagination and ingeniousness of it all. I still think the Narnia books would work well as quality anime. Anything's got to be better than the horrible BBC version and the American cartoon movie of it. I mean, American accents for the Pevensies? Please! (Although I have to say the White Witch, Aslan and Maugrim were very well done in it).

Yes, Spirited Away is classed as anime. It originated in Japan and the movie was made in Japan by Hayayo Miyazaki - a legendary director.

Not all anime is like Pokemon, Yu Gi-oh etc - there's a lot of good movies/tv series out there also without the big hair and eyes, if that's not your thing.

Anyway don't judge anime by just one or two shows. And some of anime and manga art is an ugly style, but there are many different styles within anime and many of them are beautiful.
Much of Japan's anime is superior to any Western comic or animation (except maybe Tintin and Batman: The animated adventures - which I would put on par).

There are definetly higher quality anime out there. But less frames per second is a staple of anime. They may not move as fluidly but the Japanese have made an artform of it and made up for that in detail, atmosphere, mood, deep storylines and overall better drawn animation. Obviously if there was to be a Narnia anime it would have to be done right, maybe as fluid as Western animation (but realistic) with many of the awesome conventions of anime.

[Arnobius]

Referring to an anime version... it depends on the popularity in Japan. A LotR manga was launched in Japan because of the movie

[uc pseudonym]

I think AnimeHeretic's post captures my own thoughts close enough that I don't need to post much else on that subject.

However, I must say that I don't really want to see a Narnia anime. The medium really wouldn't be all that different than the movie (in that it would be visual, only lacking sound). If there was an anime set in Narnia but not merely revising the plot of one of the books, I would be more interested.

[Arnobius]

Also... would the religious symbolism be understood? Or would it be rewritten like too much anime does with these symbols.

[MasterDias]

The problem I can see is that there might well be a good chance that it will deviate from the original story... Even Miyazaki or whoever would likely not keep it completely accurate to the books.

I agree that an original Narnia story would be interesting.

[TrigunX89]

I don't have any particular desire to see a Narnia anime, but as long as they do a good job with it, fine with me. I agree - Miyazaki would do a great job.

[termyt]

I doubt the Christian allegory of Narnia would be understood by the majority of Japanese. Christianity its self is not well understood - although it is growing in Japan.

More likely, a Japanese director would react to the fantasy elements of the stories and build from there. That could end up being very disappointing to Western Christian viewers if subtle changes are made to enhance the story but harm the allegory. (For example, I believe Wolfwood in Trigun is meant to look very Christian, but he comes off with kind of a Buddhist slant in the end.)

Disney was very careful in maintaining the imagery so as not to torque the Christian audience that has been increasingly unhappy with Disney releases.

I doubt an anime studio would be that careful – out of ignorance, not malice – but changes would likely be made that would not be appreciated by us.