Over 400 Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of 13 Anime Movies That Deserve Their Own TV Series
Anime movies based on popular TV shows are far from uncommon. Just take a look at all the awesome movies spawned from One Piece, My Hero Academia, and Dragon Ball Z. However, there are a lot of fantastic anime movies that would work as TV shows; allowing them to tell their stories unabridged.
Movies like Akira - which wowed audiences worldwide when originally released - had to sacrifice so much of its source material, just to fit within the limited runtime of the silver screen. Even original anime movies like Promare could use more time to play around in the wonderful world they just created. There's also the matter of fan-favorite manga series that surprisingly only received an Original Video Animation episode or two, instead of getting the traditional TV season they deserved, such as the cult classic Battle Angel Alita. These series and more deserve more time to shine on the smaller, but still prestigious, TV screen.
Before it was a live-action Hollywood movie, Battle Angle Alita was a two-episode OVA that was released in 1993. The story follows a female cyborg named Gally living in a dangerous post-apocalyptic world known as the Scrapyard. After being rebuilt by a Cyberphysician named Doc Ido, Gally searches for her memories as a bounty hunter. Despite being a critically-acclaimed manga, Battle Angel Alita only had a short-lived run in animation. While two of its manga volumes were adapted into an anime, there were seven volumes of Battle Angel Alita still left to tell.
Black Fox is an original anime movie about a 16-year-old girl and her superheroic alter ego. Rikka Isurugi was a somewhat ordinary girl who was following in the footsteps of her scientific father and ninjitsu grandfather, until a paramilitary group raided Rikka's home and murdered her family over her father's research in drone technology. Months after the massacre, Rikka is now a private detective who dons her grandfather's fox mask at night to hunt the killers behind the attack. There's a Marvel superhero aura over Black Fox; opening itself up for more stories about its ninja-esque heroine and its equally entertaining cast of characters.
From the people that brought you Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann and Kill la Kill comes Promare, a 2019 anime movie about a rag-tag team of firefighters going up against a terrorist group of mutated arsonists. The post-apocalyptic city of Promepolis is protected by a team of mecha firefighters known as the Burning Rescue. When Galo Thymos, an energetic rookie of Burning Rescue, goes up against Lio Fotia, the alleged terrorist leader of the Mad Burnish, their chance encounter will lead them to uncover the dark truth of Promepolis. As entertaining as Promare was, the 111-minute movie barely scratched the surface of all the cool ideas and characters within it, such as the minimal screen time given to the Burning Rescue team. An anime TV series of Promare would provide a more fully-fleshed out world and also strengthen the relationship between Galo and Lio.
Photo: Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind / Toei Company
Written and directed by legendary filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind is a theatrical adaptation of the 1982 manga series. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind is set in a post-apocalyptic world where humanity was nearly wiped out by nuclear warfare dubbed the "Seven Days of Fire." The remnants of humanity now live peacefully in a farming kingdom known as the "Valley of the Wind," but an invasion by the Tolmekian military reveals a dangerous plot to reactivate a nuclear weapon from the Seven Days of Fire. Nausicaa, the Princess of the Valley of Wind, must venture into the dangerous unknown to save her kingdom. While the 1984 animated movie is a marvel, 12 years of storytelling from the manga had to be condensed into a 117-minute movie. An anime TV show of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind would allow for more room to breathe.
Often considered one of the greatest animated movies of the 1980s, Akira is a cyberpunk anime about a troubled teen possessing dangerous god-like powers in a post-apocolyptic world. The movie takes place in the gang-infested streets of Neo Tokyo, where Kaneda Shoutarou leads "the Capsules" against an attack from their rivals "the Clowns." In the midst of battle, Kaneda's best friend, Tetsuo Shima, is taken in by the government after encountering a rogue esper on the streets and soon develops psychic powers of his own. Despite being directed by its original creator, Katsuhiro Otomo, the 1988 Akira movie left a lot of things out from its six-volume manga to fit a two-hour runtime. While both versions of Akira reach the same conclusion, the movie leaves out so many characters, backstories, and storylines behind.
Redline is a 2009 anime movie that puts a deadly twist on the Wacky Races formula. Old-school racer, JP, has qualified for the greatest and most dangerous racing competition in the universe: Redline. While he's thrilled to be competing with the galaxy's best racers, such as the alluring Sonoshee McLaren, this year's Redline will be even deadlier thanks to its latest setting in Robworld: a militarized planet filled with criminals eager to use the competition to their advantage. Redline is an imaginative and visually-thrilling movie that deserves to have more of its fascinating universe revealed. It would fit in beautifully with other racing greats like Initial D or IGPX: Immortal Grand Prix.
