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







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.





:eyebrow:

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

Jam it back in, in the dark.

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.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

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!

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

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).

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

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. )

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).

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Summonmaster

Games -> Anime
---
Fate Stay Night
Tsukihime (I think)
Utawarerumono

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.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Quote:

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.

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.

FELIPE NO

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

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Qwarky

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.

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!

Most amazing jew boots

Originally Posted by RockgamerXIII

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

There's nowhere I can't reach.

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.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

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).

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

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.

I was speaking idiomatically.

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.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

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

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by eriol

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.

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.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

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:

Originally Posted by JazzFlight

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

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... =\

Jam it back in, in the dark.

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's nowhere I can't reach.

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.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by eriol

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?)

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?

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

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 was speaking idiomatically.

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.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Jonathan Ingram

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?

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.

I almost died in laughter looking that crap.

How ya doing, buddy?

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.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by eriol

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.

I almost died in laughter looking that crap.

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.

Jam it back in, in the dark.