The 1980s were a wild time for anime, with the medium producing series and films that would often explore some wildly mature subject matter. While several franchises are still willing to push the envelope in that department these days, the amount of blood, violence, and nudity in some of these ’80s offerings was often hard to believe. In reflecting on this unique time in anime history, now seemed like the right time to explore some classic anime movies that could work well with a fresh coat of paint and a remake to introduce old stories in brand new ways.
To start, let’s set up some ground rules. Some classic anime movies simply don’t need remakes, regardless of when they were released. This applies to the likes of Akira and the many movies that were released by Studio Ghibli during this decade. This means that you shouldn’t expect to see the likes of My Neighbor Totoro or Grave of the Fireflies on the list below. Keeping this in mind, let’s get into the movies that would work well if they were recreated in the 2020s.
Vampire Hunter D has been absolutely dying for an anime remake for years now, with the original novel series producing dozens of storylines for Dracula’s son, and no anime adaptations being received for the franchise in years. Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust hit theaters all the way back in the year 2000, giving D a new story to fight against the creatures of the night, thanks to Studio Madhouse. While there have been rumors that D would receive a new anime series over the years, nothing has materialized, and vampire enthusiasts remain disappointed.
As for a remake of the original film, it would work well as D’s battle against Count Lee has everything you would want from an action-packed, blood-soaked adventure. D doesn’t just fight vampires in this post-apocalyptic journey; he fights against mutants, supernatural monstrosities, and everything in between. As we witnessed in Bloodlust, D’s world and the vampire hunter himself work quite well with a modern aesthetic. Bringing the dhampir back to the forefront would be a welcome addition to the anime landscape.
While we don’t think that it would be necessary to revisit the story of Studio Ghibli’s Grave of the Fireflies, Barefoot Gen would make for a worthy remake. Releasing two films in this series, the anime is perhaps best known for giving anime viewers one of the most disturbing scenes in the medium’s history. The Madhouse production features a scene of the bombing of Hiroshima, gruesomely depicting the victims that both survived and those that didn’t in such a way that it remains disconcerting to this day.
Perhaps the best way to create a remake would be to take the two movies, Barefoot Gen and Barefoot Gen 2, and mash them together into one cinematic experience. With the sequel taking place years following the Hiroshima bombing during World War 2, the story is a disturbing, but sometimes necessary, one that would act as a history lesson for viewers. While anime will always have room for world-ending battles of strength and supernatural shenanigans, thought-provoking historical affairs could certainly use more examples in the anime world.
In the shonen franchise from creator Akira Toriyama, there is one time period that often gets overlooked when it comes to Son Goku’s life. The original Dragon Ball series is one that could desperately use a remake, with this fact proven in the latest anime film of the series, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero. In the recap segment that saw Toei Animation revisiting the history of the Red Ribbon Army, the anime studio proved that a fresh coat of paint applied to Goku’s earlier years would make for quite the eye-popping affair.
In the original Dragon Ball series, there were actually three movies that hit theaters in Japan in Dragon Ball: Mystical Adventure, Dragon Ball: Sleeping Princess in Devil’s Castle, and Dragon Ball: Curse of The Blood Rubies. The reason why we went with this movie in particular is both the fact that it was the very first of its kind, and also thanks to the fact that it presented a completely original story. Seeing the first gang that featured the likes of Goku, Yamcha, Bulma, Oolong, and Master Roshi together again would work for both its nostalgia factor as well as introducing a new element of the series that fans of Z and Super might have missed.
Wow, Studio Madhouse sure did make a lot of these movies on this list, huh? These days, fighting demons seems like a surefire way for an anime to hit it big at the box office, with Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle being a prime example, so why not revisit the events of Wicked City to add a brand new take on the supernatural? Like other anime films released in the 1980s, this supernatural adventure didn’t hold back when it came to its take on ultra-violence and gratuitous nudity, but it made for an interesting story that would offer a take that is rarely seen these days.
Wicked City kicks off by introducing a world that feels like a demonic version of Men in Black, wherein world governments attempt to hold the peace by keeping demons a secret and employing agents to fight against the supernatural threats. Released in 1987, the anime adaptation was actually based on a book series that could work well in introducing a brand new franchise for the anime medium after retelling the story that kicked it off. Wicked City is often thought of as a strong representation of the 1980s anime scene, and bringing it back to life using modern-day animation would work well at introducing the tale to a new generation.
Full transparency, in finding the options for this list, we were surprised to learn that the first Dragon Ball Z movie was made in 1989. Thanks to this fact, it was an easy decision to add the fight against Garlic Jr. to the ranking alongside the original Dragon Ball: Curse of The Blood Rubies. Often, Dead Zone is thought of as one of the best Dragon Ball Z films, and for good reason. This is, arguably, a storyline that could have been canon, with Garlic Jr. even making a later appearance in the anime series, albeit in a storyline not considered canon.
Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone has an easy enough story to understand, setting the stakes with Gohan’s kidnapping and never taking its foot off the gas once Garlic Jr. enters the frame. Taking place seemingly before the arrival of Raditz on Earth, the first film of the Z-series has a compact story that would work well with the animation style that Toei employs in its recent work.
What do you think of this list of ’80s anime that could use a remake? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
The post 5 ’80s Anime Movies That Absolutely Deserve Modern Reboots appeared first on ComicBook.com.
