Western Japanese Anime

Batman: Gotham Knight

Something interesting is going on with anime.

There has been a trend slowly cropping up in the anime industry where american properties are being turned into anime. It started back in 2002 with the release of The Animatrix, a compilation of 9 short films taking place in the Matrix universe, each done different by a different Japanese director and animation studio. Since then, there have been many similar projects done, such as Batman: Gotham Knight, Dante's Inferno, and Halo Legends. Out of these four, I was most surprised by Microsoft when they announced their plans for Halo anime shorts.  Additionally, seasons 2 and 3 of The Boondocks featured segments animated by acclaimed Japanese animation studio Madhouse. 

X-Men

More recently, American companies have turned to Japan to make anime versions of some famous properties. Marvel is working with Madhouse to bring us anime based on X-Men, Blade, Wolverine, and Iron Man. The latter two premiere this Friday on G4. More and more american properties are being made into anime at the behest of their American owners. There has been quite a lot of interest following these anime adaptions of these traditionally American series, and they've been getting a lot of support from the anime community.  However the Marvel anime are not, in my opinion, the most interesting development in regards to western properties being turned into anime.

Supernatural: The Animation

Supernatural is a live-action television show on The CW (formerly The WB) that has just been renewed for it's seventh season. It follows the adventures of Sam and Dean Winchester, two brothers who spend their days fighting against the supernatural.  In June 2010, the Japanese Warner Brother's website announced the Supernatural the Animation project. The English release will feature Jared Padalecki, the actor for Sam Winchester in the original series, as the voice actor for his character for the animated series. 

This was the first time that an American, live-action television series was turned into an anime. I was personally ecstatic when I heard the news that Supernatural was getting an anime, partially because I am a fan of the series, but also be cause of what it means for other American properties. American properties, obviously, have a much bigger following in America than anime does. If anime can attach itself to American properties by making anime adaptions of them, it will have a much wider audience to sell to, which means more money for the anime industry. 

Plus I would not complain if there were to be an anime adaption of Harry Potter.