If you could create an idea for an Anime series...

[AGXStarseed]

From the various threads I've read regarding anime on the forum, I can see that a lot of us are at the very least familiar with different anime while some of us can go into detail about why we like it, how they make us feel, our favourite genres/songs/characters/etc.
Also, while a lot of anime is adapted from Manga, there are those that are either completely original or based off other stories (the first one I can think of been the British fantasy book "Howl's Moving Castle" by the late Diana Wynne Jones been adapted by Studio Ghibli).

As such, if you could come up with an idea for an anime series - be it completely original or based off something else, what ideas would you come up with.
There's no right or wrong answers; it's just a bit of brainstorming and sharing of thoughts, from which you can be as brief or detailed as you like.
To get us started, I'll give one example of both an anime idea that is (kind-of) original and an anime idea that is based off something else.

1. Original Idea:
Name/Working Title: "Angels and Aliens"
The anime begins in modern-day Northern England with an Autistic boy called Michael. The political climate has deteriorated rapidly and nuclear war once again looks like it will be on the horizon. Sure enough, tensions boil over and the bombs begin to drop Threads-style while Michael is at school - although Michael (among with several other young people from around the world) are suddenly transported away before their homes are destroyed by the nukes.

Their rescuers are revealed to be aliens and who inform them that what has happened was not supposed to; vaguely explaining that both them and humanity in general will be important in the future but not fully divulging why. In order to prevent this present and future from occurring, the aliens state they will send the consciousness of Michael and the others back two years; both to try and find out why the present has been changed and to find others to assist them (although they are warned about involving the governments/military as they will likely be more of a hindrance than a help - especially as something within the governments caused the nuclear war). To aid them in this task, they are given some alien technology that can work with the internet and all digital devices, while a trio of other extraterrestrials will be accompanying them to the past in human guise; one to train them how to use the alien technology, one to assist them in learning how to use humanity's latent psychic abilities and the third to assist them both in uncovering what changed the present and to be the selector for those who will aid the group.

The series then follows on from when Michael and the others awake two years earlier - discovering the plot behind the temporal changes, learning how to use their new powers and technology (been referred to by the aliens training them as "Angels") and finding friends who will also become Angels. The series would also explore the motivations of the characters - including the idea of them potentially altering their mistakes/missed opportunities (and the consequences of such), dealing with issues of the past and future they cannot avoid, overcoming tensions with each other, dealing with the various obstacles presented in their age groups/countries and discovering why they and humanity will be so important in the future.

I'm not 100% on all details here, but I can say that alongside Michael there would be an 'Angel' from Japan, another from Russia and a third from North America; not sure about the others or how many there would be in total. As I've said though, this is just an idea and has pretty much zero chance of being made so I'm not going to over-analyze.


2. Follow-On Idea:
Name/Working Title: "Gorgo: The Return"
Taking place in the same continuity as the 1961 movie of the same name and with inspiration from the 1960's comic series by Charlton Comics, the backstory is established in flashback.

Spoiler: Gorgo (1961 Film)

In 1961 a monster was captured off the coast of Ireland and sold to a circus in London under the name "Gorgo". However, the monster turned out to only be a juvenile, with its kaiju-sized mother (Ogra) defying the combined might of Britain's Army, Navy and Air Force as she tore through London before successfully retrieving her offspring. (You can view a spoiler-filled review of the film by clicking here: Gorgo)

Now nearly 60 years on in 2019, there have been no official reports of Gorgo outside of numerous unconfirmed sightings.

The story then moves onto a Japanese university student living in Bangor, Wales, and who is rescued by Gorgo when she encounters difficulties while diving off the coast of Anglesey (although no-one else sees the monster). Following this, the girl begins to have visions of Gorgo imprisoned by mysterious individuals and been subjected to various experiments. When the situation gets more complicated as a result of new monster sightings and lights in the skies, she decides to try and find out what is going on and discover both what has happened to Gorgo's mother and what the mysterious individuals have done to Gorgo, who begins to display new abilities neither he or his mother had before.

Again, not 100% on this one but I felt there were some possibilities. Japan and Wales have good relations in business, education and culture among others that goes way back, so having a Japanese girl living/studying in Wales isn't that unusual. As for Gorgo himself, the comics expanded on his character and showed that he was not only intelligent, but could be friendly towards humans and was frequently curious about us as long as we didn't attack him - otherwise he would retaliate with ferocity. In this case, something has happened to Gorgo and his parent - with Gorgo managing to somehow escape his captors but been unable to save his parent; ultimately drawing him back towards humanity (similar to how some animals actively seek out humans for help depending on the situation). Furthermore, what has been done to Gorgo has caused him to develop psychic powers (hence why the girl starts to see visions from Gorgo's point of view) - which will help him with the monster battles that will occur and help him and the girl to bond - while hopefully helping him stand as his own monster instead of just been called a Godzilla rip-off.
Finally, I would like to see Sean from the original film come back. Granted someone else would have to voice him as an old man since Vincent Winter (who played him in the film) passed away back in 1998, but it would still be a nice throwback to see the character return.
Here's an image from the comic series that show's Gorgo being friendlier towards humans: Image


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Anywho, what ideas do you guys have?

 

[Tom]

I'm all for Gorgo!

Oh wait... you meant the 'other' Gorgo. The clock repairman. That'll be good too!

 

[AGXStarseed]

I'm all for Gorgo!

View attachment 45358

Oh wait... you meant the 'other' Gorgo. The clock repairman. That'll be good too!

View attachment 45359

The "clock repairman".
You did get a good laugh out of me with that.

It took me a while to see what you meant by the first image. Although, that has given me another idea for an anime series.

3. Adaptation
Name: God of War
Have the original God of War Trilogy along with the spin-off games (Ascension, Chains of Olympus and Ghost of Sparta) along with the comic books adapted into a single chronological storyline; showing Kratos from his birth up to when he sets out to kill Zeus and bring the destruction of Olympus.
There's plenty of material to use (if you watch the cutscenes from each of the games alone and in order you get over 6 hours worth) and there's more time for character development in the series.
Plus, with how violent and gory the games were (not to mention the nudity), anime would be pretty much a perfect fit for it.

 

[Mr Allen]

A reboot of the 80's franchise Battle of the Planets, which apparently started out as a Japanese series called Gatchaman back in the late 70's.

 

[AGXStarseed]

A few more ideas from me:

4. Adaptation
Name: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
After a god-awful train wreck of a live action film, anime would be an art form that I think would be much better for a future adaptation (and this deserves a better adaptation).
The 1999 graphic novel by Alan Moore (Watchmen, V for Vendetta) riffs on the tropes of the superhero genre; taking the band of superheroes concept - popularized by DC and Marvel - but moving it back in time to make a superhero league out of characters from popular Victorian literature; these heroes including (but not being limited to) Alan Quartermaine from King Solomon's Mines, Mina Harker from Dracula, Captain Nemo from 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea and Griffin from The Invisible Man to name a few.
The novel itself follows Moore's usual road of taking a subject matter and expanding it beyond its Victorian setting to the most insane yet strangely logical conclusions; examples including Charlie Chaplin been responsible for the outbreak of WWII, Toad of Toad Hall (Wind in the Willows) been a creation of Doctor Moreau (The Island of Doctor Moreau) and Mr Hyde (The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde) successfully bringing down a Martian Tripod (The War of the Worlds).
If done right, this could be good or even brilliant. Getting the copyrights might be an issue, but if Steven Spielberg can get so many characters from different companies to appear (or at the very least cameo) in his live action adaptation of the book Ready Player One, I'd say it's possible.

5. Adaptation
Name: A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
While this has had a few adaptations and 'inspirations' (a lot of which are hard to sit through), seeing a serious adaptation of the Mark Twain novel would be welcome in my opinion.
The story is about an engineer from 20th century Connecticut called Hank Morgan who, after receiving a severe blow to his head, somehow is transported back in time to England during the reign of King Arthur. Using his knowledge from over 1300 years in the future, Hank becomes King Arthur's chief minister and begins to modernize, Americanize, and improve the lives of the people with 19th Century infrastructure as he takes on the problems of that era (which had covered in a romanticized ideal of chivalry in Hank's time) - but ultimately faces problems both from Merlin (whose reputation is ruined and his position taken by Hank) and from the Catholic Church (who fear Hank's power and seek to remove him).
I think this could an interesting one to do and, while some elements might be somewhat controversial (such as medieval slavery and Hank's denunciation of the Catholic Church as he feels it not only stifles science but teaches meekness to the peasantry so they won't oppose the Church's taxation and rule), I do feel it's worth a shot.

 

[Metalhead]

I would make hardcore bara anime. I would make a hardcore bara 3D IMAX epic where a nonstop barrage of pixelated appendages pop right out of the screen. I will call it My Bear Totoro - and like most films with porn parody titles, it will have absolutely nothing in common with the original.

 

[AGXStarseed]

6. Original Idea
Name: Pantheon - Dawn of a New World
In this series, Earth comes under attack from an alien army - led by a powerful primordial entity the aliens refer to as their God. As humanity watches and prays, however, God and his angels do appear and wage a war throughout the solar system. At the end of the battle, the majority of both armies are devastated and both Gods have received serious injuries. While the attacking entity retreats to heal, God's injuries are too great and he begins to die. Before doing so, he gazes into the future to look for the best way to ensure humanity's survival and - upon doing so - shares the energies of his primordial core with several newborns around the world; his last instructions been for his surviving angels to watch over and teach them how to become the next pantheon of Gods and telling humanity that time is over but there will be others to assume the position he has left.
Throughout the series, we see the development of the children as they are taught their newfound powers and how to control them as they form their new pantheon. They also learn how the universe works (going into detail about how Gods and other primordial entities are born), how the old Pantheons worked; both learning their strengths and learning from their mistakes.
They will also see off threats from humanity (both from extremist versions of the old religious orders and a new science-based order that rejects the existence of any Gods/Deities) and other supernatural entities that will either learn to respect the new Pantheon (such as fairies, elves, etc) or be defeated by it. For some of the new Pantheon's obstacles, it will also involve them looking at old problems with new perspectives and vice-versa to find out the best solution for everyone; an example been with the Devil - whom begins to fall into a dark depression as a result of the death of his father, whom he both loved and hated, while some of the new Pantheon try to pull him out of it and try to steer him back towards the light (with the devil eventually becoming an anti-hero and finding a new place among the Pantheon).
Finally, they are preparing for the day when they will have to face off against the primordial entity who cost the previous God his life.
(This may cause issues with some people and it is similar to my first idea in some ways, but I think the idea is interesting enough to contemplate at the very least).

7. Adaptation
Name: The War of the Worlds
I know this classic H. G. Wells story of Earth been invaded by Martians has been adapted a good number of times (heck, it was adapted three times in 2005!) and will definitely receive more adaptations in the future (the BBC have a TV version due for release later this year), but while the original story focused on an attack in Britain during the mid 1890s and the majority of the remakes have mainly focused on an attack on America in the contemporary periods they were made, I think it would be interesting to see a new adaptation of the Martians invading Earth in the mid 1890s but this time with Japan as the invasion site.
Japan at the time was going through a large shift in attitudes as the isolationist and conservative policies in the Edo Period were slowly been replaced during the Meiji Restoration by a widespread and fast drive to engage with the rest of the world and modernize Japan - with a lot of internal conflict resulting in protests and riots, especially as this modernization included the establishment of an army - resulting in the dissolution of the Samurai (you can learn more about the Samurai here).
As such, seeing the Martians invade Japan at this point in time would be interesting to see, not to mention how the Tripods would look in an anime. I say this because the pictures of Daleks drawn by Michiaki Sato for the Japanese translations of the Target novelizations of 'The Daleks' and 'Day of the Daleks', produced by Hayakawa Books, were presumably done just from description alone. The result of which is...unique to say the least: Hayakawa Dalek
All in all, I think it could be interesting and wouldn't mind seeing it - so far, the only thing close to an anime adaptation of the book was an animated film from Malaysia in 2012 which served as a steampunk-style sequel to the original story; the film been called "War of the Worlds: Goliath".