The Games-To-Anime Database
 

It should be common knowledge to most anime viewers that there tend to be anime adaptions of popular games from time to time. I've always enjoyed them myself, especially if done well. The first Street Fighter II animated movie still remains my favorite anime adaption (plus it even outdoes Advent Children in terms of fanservice. not counting chun-li's shower scene).

But it's hard to keep track of all the game-to-anime adaptions out there, especially the ones that haven't been released outside of Japan. That's why I've decided to make this topic. Post any or all of the game-to-anime adaptions you can find. That includes manga, too. Give any thoughts you might have, whether the anime remained faithful to the source material, but even more importantly, provide a torrent link if you can find one.

I'll get the ball rolling. Here's the details of a Super Mario Bros. anime.

http://smbis.nescentral.com/commentary/marioanime.htm

http://smbis.nescentral.com/images/m...marioanime.jpg

http://smbis.nescentral.com/images/m...me-random1.jpg

http://smbis.nescentral.com/images/m...koopapeach.jpg

Right off the bat you can tell there are some changes. Luigi has blue colors instead of green, and Bowser is the size of a T-Rex (but then again, he always has been shifting sizes each game).

There's also a few Mario OVAs.

http://smbis.nescentral.com/commentary/marioanime2.htm

The art style is a lot closer to the games, although there's a few scenes that I'm sure Nintendo wouldn't approve of.

http://smbis.nescentral.com/images/m...a_mario_07.jpg

http://smbis.nescentral.com/images/m...a_mario_29.jpg

:eyebrow:

Regardless, I'd love to watch these episodes. Anyone who has a torrent handy, do share.

I'm gonna go ahead and mention Gungrave. This anime adaptation of what is probably considered an average action game turned out to be way better than the game it was adapted from. Not only did it manage to give the game a backstory that it never had (that was more interesting than anything in the game), but it also managed to tell the game's story better than the game did. Also of note, the anime had a different ending than the game, and while both endings complete the story in a satisfying way, I found the anime's ending to be the better of the two.

The anime was also good enough to influence the game's sequel, which not only took on an animaton style more similar to the anime, but also used some of its music as well. Overall, I would definitely say this one of the best anime adaptations of a video game out there. For a full review of the anime, check out my review in the anime and manga recommendations thread, and to download the series, get the torrent here.

Isn't the overall majority of game-related anime the source/reason why certain video games exist? Sure some anime came from games, but I thought anime held a higher hand in dominance of influence in going from anime to game rather than game to anime.

The only game to anime/cartoon I can think of are those nintendo related ones. Back in the early 1990s when you could see The Super Mario Brothers, The Legend of Zelda, Captain N The Game Master(?), etc, etc, Megaman, etc.

But from anime to game, this comes to mind:
Inuyasha
Gundam
Robotech
Yu Gi Oh
And pretty much everything else. There'll be some simple made game for it. Whether it'd be a fighter to a puzzle or an rpg.

Okay, so some of the earlier listed ones are majorly used in USA like toilet paper. But now that I think about it, I don't own alot of games that became anime or anime that became games. But the stores hide nothing from the truth!

I know that there was a Fire Embelem OVA that was in fact licenced by ADV (though on VHS only, shit, they mistranslated it so the guy's name is prince Mars, ughhh).

They have that tape for rent at my local Blockbuster, but I heard it was pretty boring.

For the manga side, here are two notable game-to-manga adaptions.

1. Rival Schools

This is the only site where I've managed to find scans.

http://www.rivalschoolsnetwork.com/

And sadly, most of them are in french. But the art in this book is fantastic (especially compared to the awful art found in U-Don's latest series. God, what happened?). The stories also make me pine for an RS anime. Nothing beats a bunch of punky high school students beating the crap out of each other.

Also, it gives lots of exposure to the already awesome Akira. If anyone finds english scans please post them here.

2. Street Fighter: Sakura Ganbare

Another manga series I've been interested in. I remember finding some english scans of the first chapter off some fansite, but I've long lost the address. The only pics I can find now are from cammyfan.com.

http://www.cammyfan.com/Cammy/comic2...am-comic17.gif

http://www.cammyfan.com/Cammy/comic2...m-comic17b.gif

http://www.cammyfan.com/Cammy/comic2...m-comic17c.gif (I don't know what's more disturbing; Sakura thinking she could actually take Zangief on, or Zangief having no scruples about bodyslamming a teenage girl mercilessly. :edgartpg: )

http://www.cammyfan.com/Cammy/comic2...m-comic17d.gif

http://www.cammyfan.com/Cammy/comic2...m-comic17e.gif

http://www.cammyfan.com/Cammy/comic2...m-comic17f.gif

Even though the U-Don series does a great job with the SF universe, I still want to check this series out, solely for the fact that it features a full fledged fight between Sakura and Karin (this manga is where she made her first appearance, predating SFA 3).

Any more shit like this will be deleted on sight, without warning. This is a database, not a listing thread.

I think Rockgamer is a tad harsh on Gungrave, I thought it was an awesome game and the backstory was very much there, the anime simply illustrated it in larger detail.
And Gungrave OD was an awful game compared to the original, so any influence the anime series had on the sequal can't all be positive.


Should we list Disgaea right away as an example of how NOT to do a game to anime adaptation? Not only were the character designs horrible, the animation saturday morning cartoon quality, but the series also did away with pretty much every story detail that was so appealing in the game and I gave up after the first two episodes. I'm guessing if I had not enjoyed the game so much the anime might have been slightly more entertaining.

Another example of a not so succesful adaptation would be Viewtiful Joe. The visual design was transferred more of less instact, and the introduction of new characters was extremely entertaining, but the animation was way too poor to capture the magnificent look and atmosphere of the games. Since the active participation was removed as well as the visual appeal, the anime didn't have enough going for me.

I've been wanting to ask about that. Is the series even still going? I wouldn't know based on how no one is talking about it? How many episodes have been shown so far, and has the series improved at all?

I'm too depressed to even think about this show. I honestly cannot believe they could screw up something like Disgaea. The game is so deeply rooted in anime rules and style that it should've been a perfect fit.

I probably wouldn't have remembered the series myself had I not seen this in #animespot today:

[18:21:58] <WorldCup> WOw
[18:22:12] <WorldCup> Makai Senki Disgaea already at episode 100
[18:22:15] <WorldCup> *10
[18:22:21] <WorldCup> ::no one cares::

Even the typo holds so much truth :tpg:

:(

I love both Gungrave games alot, and I have played through both of them multiple times and have unlocked everything, but I prefer the anime over them since it has the best and most complete story of the three.

The only backstory that the game gave was that Grave used to be friends with Harry, but that he betrayed him by killing him, along with some minor stuff about Mika, Maria, and Big Daddy. It was nowhere near as detailed as the backstory offered by the anime (most of the stuff in episodes 2-14 of the anime is hardly even touched on in the game, if at all), which makes you care about the characters and understand the relationships between them better. Using Bunji as an example, yeah, the whole teacher-student relationship thing is present in the game, but it's so much better in the anime because you get to see how they met, what they went through together, how Bunji felt when he found out that Brandon "betrayed" Millennion, and all that kind of stuff.

I may be a little biased since I watched the anime before playing the game, but I really do feel that ot presented the story better than the game did. It managed to do more than just flesh it out, as it practically rebuilt it in a better way. The story in the game was already good, but comparing it to the anime is almost like reading a summary instead of the full novel.

Also, I didn't think that Gungrave OD was that bad a game. Granted, the storyline wasn't that great, but I would say it's about on par with the first game in terms of everything else. Also, Billy was fucking awesome!

Just as I may be biased because I played the game way before there was any sign of an anime. That's what I liked about the game, as there was the backstory, but the game left it open instead of patronizing us with hour long flashbacks and "YOU SEE WHAT HE DID TO HIM THERE" expositions. The brief snippets you got of their pasts only hinted at what happened, which made it far more effective (for me).

That's just me, I like subtlety over overelaboration. And subtlety in such a rapid-fire action game is a rare beast indeed.

And the biggest reason I dislike OD was because Rocketbilly Redcadillac makes me cry. And the game just didn't feel as fun to me, not to mention being dub only

Oh come on guys, there are a ton of game-to-anime shows.

You have all those "started as hentai game" ones. I think Kanon was one, and there are quite a few others.

Then there's Zone of the Enders I, dolo (OAV) and Dolores (TV). I love the TV series, it's a really refreshing show, since the main character is anti-cliche (he's a gruff father who rides a robot with a ditzy woman's voice) and the English dub is great.

There's Wild Arms TV, which I own but never really got into. It seems to lack most of the charm of the games.

I guess you could consider Final Fantasy Unlimited one of these series, but it had HORRIBLE animation quality and way too many stock footage repeat scenes.

You can't forget the Tales of Phantasia Adaption. They cut out a lot of the story, but in return we got a lot more background on everyone's favourite Tales' villain Dhaos. He really had some wonderful scenes, and I only wished that they were included in the game (Keep in mind that I haven't seen the fourth ova yet though).

Oh, right, speaking of RPG animes, they also had:

Tales of Eternia- Kind of a "in the middle of the game, here's a sidestory" anime, nothing really big, but a good compliment to the RPG if you're playing it at the same time.

Star Ocean EX- a retelling of the first half of the game, but pretty damn accurate at it. It was a little boring, but that's what the RPG was as well.

The Shin Megami Tensei series also has a bunch of spin offs:

SMT: Devil Children (2000 - 50 Episodes)
At the end of the 20th Century, the world is facing destruction from massive earthquakes, bad weather and other abnormal phenomena. In Tokyo, Setsuna Kai, a young boy who lost his mother when he was very small, practices Kendo every day because his goal in life is to become strong. As always, his rival Mirai Kaname defeats him and Setsuna feels sad. On his way home, a messenger from the Devil's World appears before him. This messenger proclaims that the various abnormal changes in the world are the work of the Devil. The world will come to an end unless the Devil is conquered. The only ones who can save the world are the "Devil Children." Thus begins Setsuna's adventure in the Devil's World.

This is basically the only decent info that I could find on it, since it doesn't appear to be fansubbed by anyone (If I'm wrong on this, feel free to correct me).

Shin Megami Tensei Tokyo Revelation (1995 - 2 Episodes)
A satanic program is activated aboard a crowded commercial flight headed for Tokyo. It releases a swarm of invisible demons that send the aircraft plunging to a fiery doom. Everyone aboard is killed instantly – except Akito Kobayashi – owner of the devilish program and sworn ally of hell itself!

Kojiro Soma, an old elementary school friend of Akito’s, is surprised to see him enroll back in school. Kojiro notices how this once lonely boy has grown into a suave and arrogant teenager. Later, when his classmates are attacked and the legendary demons return to stalk the streets of Tokyo, Kojiro begins to truly understand what his old friend has become.

Akito has plants for the human race. The plans revolve around magnetite, the mysterious element that forms the living essence of every living human soul. Combined with his demonic software, a strong enough source of magnetite would release a plague of devils upon the Earth. That source exits in Kojiro’s class, but when the evil plan expands beyond even Akito’s grasp, it is Kojiro who must find the ultimate power within himself, and go head-to-head with the greatest demon of all!

This has apparently be released in the US, although I can't understand why since it really is bloody awful. This is just milking the SMT franchise, and I really wouldn't recommend it.

Persona (manga - 3 volumes)
Now this is one that I like quite a bit, since it manages to catch the essence of the Persona universe. Kazumi is living a carefree life, when suddenly his best friend disappears. He goes on a search for him, finds him, but this so-called best friend tries to kill him with a Persona (some sort of manifestation of your soul), so Kazumi wants to find out the truth behind this behaviour, all while attempting to halt the destruction of Tokyo.

I don't really know if this is based on the JP-only PS game, but I don't really care. You have everything you'd expect from Persona, the velvet room, Philemon, the red and black books, and even fusion spells. I found this rather enjoyable to read, although it's not that great if you're not that into SMT stuff.

Physic Force OVA
A very shonen-ai-sh adaptation of Physic force, the fighting game that was developed by Bandai (I think). There are 2 episode and I must say the artwork is nice despite the short episode and lack of dynamic in battle. I've got a iit messed subtitles. Some characters name made like western (such as Burn> Bob, and some other names but I forgot)

Zelda anime
Cursed. A very bad adaptation of Legend of Zelda franchise. The artwork looks very western-like. I think the DVD has been re-released.

Zelda Manga
Currently there are LoZ: Ocarina of Time, LoZ: Majora Mask, LoZ: the Minish Cap, LoZ: Oracle of Time, and some more. You could get good scanlations at www.zelda-infinite.com

Sorry, no torrents found for these two anime.

Fate/Stay Night
This story revolving around the battle of Holy Grail which suppose could fulfill any wish. This series is quite popular, I dont think I need to give further description. Very good adaptation of Fate/Stay Night H-Game which supposed to end today. You could get it at www.mrpc.us.

Rockman EXE
Adaptation of Rockman EXE game, in the state it is knwon as Megaman NT warrior. You could got the direct links at www.exehq.com

The only Zelda animation I know about is that cartoon that used to come on every week back in the early 90s. If that's what you're referring to, then it's not really an anime, which explains why the animation looks very western-like. And yes, it has been released on DVD.

I dont think I want to watch it ever. ><
many Zelda fans said the 'anime' ruins the zelda itself. It's totally crap compared to super mario bros super show (my favorite cartoon back then) :(

Oh yeah, if you purchased megaman 8 for PSX, I'm sure that you watched the anime clip included in the cd. Does that mean megaman have anime version on its own? (the original megaman, including forte?)

Double Post:
Is that anime worth to be watched? I actually plan to watch it soon, but since you said it lacked the charm from the game... =\

Pokemon:
Probaly the most well know and overrated Game to anime series to date. It started to go down hill once it hit the orange islands though. I would like to add that the game outranks the anime by far.

Sakura Taisen
To tell you the truth, I only saw one episode and read one volume of the manga. It seemed like a good series from what I saw/read....

There are a couple pretty impressive mangas that have not been mentioned:

Valkyrie Profile

Although I've only read a couple chapters, it seems like a direct copy of the game. The art, though, is just stunning. I wouldn't expect less from Valkyrie Profile.

Suikoden III

I actually own a couple volumes of this, one in Japanese and the other Taiwanese. It actually goes much more in depth than the game, giving more attention and drama to many important scenes of the game. I recommend this if you really like the game or would like to see more characters drawn in precise detail! It's gorgeous.

Not quite. There was a Japanese game by the name of "Superadventure Rockman", which was a choose-your-own adventure type of FMV game that was about 97% anime. Unfortunately, there's no English version available (or any other language than Japanese, for that matter)

The "American Mega Man" cartoon series was apparently a joint-venture between Ruby Spears and a couple of Japanese companies, so I guess if you were to stretch the definition of "Japanese anime" you could count it as one.

But you already knew about that one, didn't you?

The Suikoden III manga is a mixed bag for me. The story is pretty solid, cant go wrong with that, and it's nice to get some background, but as for the art, sometimes it looks simply godly, but there are also pictures that look way to amateurish. Maybe it's just the french edition that I collect though, since the publisher's reputation's not that great.

As for Valkyrie Profile, get it asap. The story is as good as expected to those knowing the game, and the art is simply divine.

I think ADV also licensed a Panzer Dragoon name but alas, it's still only on VHS.

Wild Arms TV I thought was enjoyable, mainly because I got the whole set for just $30. It starts out in a prison where two treasure hunter girls, a crest sorceress and a crimson noble, try to break in to naturally steal something and an imprisoned doctor tries to break out. Before they break out they try to get the treasure that turns out to just be a 5 year old kid who says he's 25 and reincarnation of the Evil Race. After that each episode is it's own contained story with one common goal in mind, to find the kids real body and for the treasure hunters to just find treasure. The last ten episodes is where the real story shapes up and does it reasonbly well. Not really predictable so it's entertaining. My only real problems with were some of ADV's translations. In the first episode they say Crimson Noble but later they say Noble Red, They also call the planet Filgaia in the first few episodes but then call it Falgaia and in the subs they call the healberries hielberries. Not that big of a concern but it just irks me a bit.

Another interesting bit of trivia I learned is that the GaterKeepers anime was actually predated by a video game of the same name and used most the same characters and was a strategy RPG with Dating sim elements as well.

Err no, that explains why the anime was made so western-like. My friend, a rockman hardcore fan almost cried when he was watching the clip from rockman X collection.:edgartpg:

I almost died in laughter looking that crap.

Lets not forget our little friend Xenosaga : The Animation.

Gotta tell you...with some of the story elements being changed and all, I wasn't all that satisfied with it. The animation could've been a bit better. You would obviously guess that it was changed just so they can link that with Xenosaga episode 2's story and of course 3. We dont see much of Albedo.. This anime only made awesome characters look like shit. I guess many true fans of the original storywriter would agree with me cause when i saw episode 2's story.. there was a small touch of the original but then the rest just went down and with the release of the Anime. They couldn't make it like game . I bet if Takahashi was around, he'd make the anime look good >.>.. And maybe Yasunori Mitsuda could've done something about it.

Overall..I can't really say XS2 blew,I did like some stuff. The battle system was too different and the main characters weren't that stiff and boring like in part 1. The Animation proved to be just Xenosaga episode 1 but just a few major "corrections" to blend in with XS2 and 3's story..(k, i'll stop with the game topic)

If they ever plan to make a XG's anime. I want it by Takashi and not anyone else that has shit to do with it.

At least the Tales Animes were a bit decent.

The worst part is, when I was young, I used to like the cartoon :ashamed:.

Wait, that reminds me, there IS a Classic Mega Man anime! It was an OVA that apparently Capcom managed to forget about for approximately ten years before releasing it. I believe it got an American release (strangely enough, it was in English to begin with), but I'm not sure.

You're reffering to that Wishing Upon a Star OVA. The one with the little kid playing the game then ending up in it, right? I kinda liked the anime ^^:. Though im still hoping for good megaman animes in the future. the recent BEAST+ for EXE is going decent.

Other way around, Mega Man ends up in the kid's world, and starts learning about Japanese culture. It's half educational and half anime action, but it's all fun.

Here's the intro to the OVA series.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=b9nn1UO0-...%20man%20anime

Now for the tragic story behind the US cartoon. The OVA was originally a test of sorts to see if the same animation would work for the cartoon series. Unfortunately, Capcom USA rejected it, saying that Mega Man didn't look "cool enough". So they ditch the beautiful (and may I remind you, accurate) animation in favor of an american company, and you know how the end result turned out.

The worst part is that the commercials preceding the premiere of the US cartoon gave you the illusion that the series was anime-drawn. I have found the misleading commercial here.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=NsjkfYWqw...%20man%20anime

You'll notice it features some gorgeous looking footage that never made it to the finished series (namely the army of Robot Masters, shoving each other just to get a shot at MM). Well the same company behind the OVA was hired to produce the stock animation that would repeat during the US cartoon. In other words, all the good looking parts, including the kickass intro.

When I first saw this intro, I was hopping up and down my bed, proclaiming this as the best cartoon ever.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=VISRMhodb...%20man%20intro

But then the actual show started, and I was instead treated to a lame rehash of James Bond Jr, complete with a Rush that talked like Scooby Doo. :edgartpg:

It's also sad to note that Mega Man X has never had an anime series, although it's enjoyed some awesome anime-made footage for the games. Here's the original Japanese intro for X4.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=zExPsHLvz...%20man%20anime

I'll admit though that I prefer the USA opening, as the music meshes better with the footage.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Cns4ybFpC...%20man%20intro

And just for amusement, here's a well made fan commercial showing X4 as a series for Toonami.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=8ScVyO5RQ...%20man%20anime

To complete the package, here are the commercials for the Mega Man Zero series. Beautiful animation that complements the beautiful character designs (and I still don't know who was in charge of the designs).

http://youtube.com/watch?v=I56JrVvNM...o%20commercial

http://youtube.com/watch?v=FhYodn6Ko...o%20commercial

http://youtube.com/watch?v=TOxJu-34k...o%20commercial

http://youtube.com/watch?v=M4I5JX21M...o%20commercial

And that's all for now.

http://www.studiomagi.com/temp/stree...collection.jpg

Note: Chinese tranlated version.

Street Fighter Zero and Sakura Ganbare by Masahiko Nakahira. His version of the Street Fighter event is light years ahead of Udon in my opinion, and he has the best looking fight scene I have seem for the longest time.

I bought Street Fighter Zero around 1997, which is falling apart by this time, prime for scnalation. >w< I just wish my scanner isn't dying on me. I am missing two other books that aren't connected in each other from this author, one is focuse on Cammy, and the other focuse on Ryu's encounter (revenge) with Akuma (Gouki).

http://www.studiomagi.com/temp/ryu_vs_ken.jpg
http://www.studiomagi.com/temp/ryu_vs_ken2.jpg
http://www.studiomagi.com/temp/ryu_vs_ken3.jpg

Those are some nice books there (even if the Sakura covers sort of make it look like a hentai doujin), and the art definetely delivers, but don't sell U-DON's series so short. Even though the writing is a bit on the stale side, the artwork in the US comic series is fantastic, perfectly emulating the best of Street Fighter's official artwork. I still haven't checked out their Darkstalkers series, so I'm not sure if delivers the same kind of quality (I'm also curious if they've kept any of Morrigan and Lilith's raunchier innuendos).

But in this entry, I want to talk about the newest release of the first SF Anime movie.

http://dvd.ign.com/articles/716/716256p1.html

I purchased this from Best Buy the other day (a steal at 12 bucks), and gave the original Japanese version a look (having seen the english dub countless times).

First, the packaging. The outer box is alright, although I don't know why they put Ken on the front, as if he was the main lead. The inner cover also puts him on the front, but is a bit better since it tosses everyone else in for a group shot. However, the top left and right has uh, young Ryu and Chun-Li facing one another. Okay...:edgartpg:

There's a short U-DON comic included, involving a quick story with Chun-Li and the Monitor Cyborgs that serves as a prequel to the movie. It creates a bit of a continuity error though, as it implies that Bison knew about Chun-Li's involvement early on, while the movie shows him being somewhat surprised later on.

Well despite the photoshopped cover and mildly interesting comic, the slick menu makes up for the packaging; a recreation of a classic player select screen, complete with an INSERT COIN message. Very slick, and it makes me smile every time it starts up.

The english and japanese versions of the movie are on seperate sides of the disc. While I normally prefer two discs rather than a flipside disc, it doesn't bother me too much. So I gave the Japanese version a look, to see if the original soundtrack and voices were better than the dub. While the voice acting is no better nor worse than the steallar english dub, two things stood out; Fei Long's Bruce Lee inpersonation was more convincing in the japanese version, and Blanka is played by a VA that does his own growls. This isn't a good thing, as it makes Blanka appear more as a wild monkey man than...well okay, that's techincally what he is, but it just made him less fearsome as a result.

The music definetely changed the feel of the movie, sounding more like music from the game (and some of it is, including Chun-Li's theme, Zangief's, the ending credits, and probably some more that I missed), and it made some of the quieter moments more poignant (the Ryu/Ken flashbacks). Still, there were some instances where I preferred the english soundtrack over the japanese one, namely the Chun-Li/Vega fight. The original music felt more like a thriller where the psycho killer tries to eviscerate the half-naked chick, but the KMFDM version made the whole fight kick more ass. Also, some of the vocal songs were typical J-Pop cheesiness, but the final song played during Ryu and Ken's fight with Bison definetely rocked.

Also, as promised, the Japanese version is indeed 100% uncut. Yes, you finally see Chun-Li's sexy (albeit muscular) rack and caboose, which is pretty surprising, as I thought Capcom USA was completely against the NA distribution of the complete shower scene. But it's here, and the anime sure did a good job in building up the moment. Also, oddly enough, the US side of the disc also keeps Chun-Li's boobs, but not her butt. I don't get it. But forget about the nudity, Ryu actually drops an F-bomb in the japanese dub! :edgarrock:

Speaking of the dialogue, Manga keeps the original names for Vega, Bison and Balrog. Some of the original dialogue also puts more things in perspective and makes some scenes less cheesy (they cut down on Guile's patrionism, and Ken's line in the first flashback leans more towards him and Ryu having a real battle, rather than the dub where he urges Ryu that they'll one day have to use their skills to defend themsevles). The plot to use Ken to assasinate the US president is also made much clearer in the original dialogue, although you still don't know who Jaha is (was he the martial artist brainwashed to kill the old guy, or was he the target?). Another interesting change in dialogue is Vega/Balrog's fate; in the english dub, they made his fate after the Chun-Li battle uncertain, while the japanese dub confirms that he was put in custody, and facing the death penalty. I do wish there was an option to watch the movie with text subtitles but not the song subtitles. The combination of the two takes up a bit of the action.

The Japanese version also has a few extra frames that were cut from the US version, for reasons unknown (small bits like Bison and Balrog entering the plane for the final battle, etc), but both are presented in widescreen, making it that much easier to spot Akuma in Calcutta.

So while all is said and done, does the movie still hold up? Absolutely. I don't think there has been a single anime that I have watched more times than the original Street Fighter 2 movie. The movie has been one of the most influential properties for both the anime (a host of videogame knockoffs following it) and videogame medium (Street Fighter Alpha would've never existed without this movie). It has succeeded where other adaptions (including recent disappointments like the latest Alpha OVA) failed; it doesn't try to get too preachy or pull off any original bullshit; it gets right to the point and unloads all the SF characters available and puts them in one kickass fight after another.

It's almost impossible to pick a favorite moment; the bloody Shoryuken, the recreation of Super SF2's opening, the badass debut of all 4 Shadowloo masters at once, Ryu catching Fei Long's foot with his elbow and knee, Ryu then breaking Fei Long's arm, Honda's sumownage, the origin of Ryu's headband, the buckles in Bison's fancy shoes, Ken's ridiculously hot fiance, Ryu kicking (barefoot!) through a car windshield, Zangief pointing (wreslter style) to Balrog, Balrog's reaction, Dee Jay's '90s gangsta attitude, Chun-Li hitting Vega with a lamp AND a couch, Chun-Li messing up Vega's face, Chun-Li's lightning kicking Vega right through a wall, Bison's anime-overlord moves, Balrog's cross eyes, Bison's enormous grin, Ryu landing (in slick slow motion) a series of punishing blows on Bison, and the final Double Hadoken that finally closes the movie. Oh, and the utterly ridiculous scene that shortly follows the credits (even funnier in the Japanese version. "Teaser!").

In short, the SF anime movie isn't just the best videogame-to-anime there is, it's one of the best martial arts movies of all time.

Oh, and make sure you watch the original japanese credits all the way to the end. The final message will either crack you up or horrify you with as a message of impeding doom. I can't imagine how the Japanese felt after experiencing such an awesome movie, than being subjected to that atrocity the following Spring.

Hooray, Hooray for the Street Fighter.

Well, I didn't say the Udon's artwork isn't nice. Is just that, they don't dealt into the characterization and development very much, and instead trying to get as many character tie into the story as possible. I personally think Nakahira has much deeper understanding of the character and their motivations, and knows what he wanted to do with them to accomplish a dramatic narrative (although taking a lot of artistic licence in the process, Krin is one example).

Also, is it just me, or did they totally butchered Rival School? ;_;

does anyone know what happend to rivalschoolsnetwork , becasue i want to see this manga , or you have any pics about this manga (rival school) it hard to find.

I'm amazed no one's brought up Dragon Quest yet.

The manga series is this one (I apologize, I did have a hard time finding it as the series has ended quite a while ago). ドラゴンクエスト・ダイの大冒険 (Dragonquest; Dai's Great Adventure)

I don't quite remember if there were anime renditions of the manga (which is based heavily off of the mechanics of the original DragonQuest game), but I'm pretty sure the manga at least came after the game did.

It's one of my favorite game>manga renditions I remember.

(Do I need to do a review on the manga series here? If so please advise and I will do one this weekend)

I believe a Sengoku Basara anime is in the works (by Production I.G.? Not sure). I think all the game to anime adaptations I know has already been mentioned here and that Basara bit was the only other thing I can think of at the moment.

I was able to watch one of the Street Fighter movies--it was the third I think? It was among the first anime that lead me to like anime.:3: Ah! Which reminds me of.. a Fatal Fury movie I also watched around that time.:D

Hey, what about game to live-action adaptations? *recalls SF movie* Um. Okay, nevermind. But the DOA movie seemed nice.. I wonder if someone will make a Tekken or KOF one..