T5W#18-Top 5 Star Wars Themed Anime

I know I shouldn’t be that guy pushing more Star Wars at this point.  This is an Anime blog.  So why dip into the hype of one of the biggest movies of the year?  Because there’s a lot of Star Wars to find in many Anime titles.  So if you get to see The Force Awakens this opening weekend, good for you, I’ll be right there with you.  If you don’t or do, still keep an eye out for these titles to enrich your scifi/anime knowledge.  And May the Force be With You.

 

#5-Galaxy Express 999 and Adieu Galaxy Express 999

It’s kind of funny this starts the list as the original 999 came out only a couple of years after the first Star Wars. And the influences are EVERYWHERE!!! A Luke Skywalker type young hero on a quest.  A wise mentor figure, though Maetel is also the love interest.  A space battle against a doomsday machine the size of a planet.  Hell in Adieu we even got a Darth Vader type with a Darth Vader revelation in his back pocket (handled poorly btw).  To say 999 is the Millennium Falcon of Anime is a bit of a stretch.  Galaxy Express 999 was the first Anime to show signs of Star War inspiration and for one film it worked.  The other one…could have been done better.  But still theyre both worth a look.

 

#4-Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam and Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ

Normally Gundam is closely associated with Star Trek (given it’s history of cancellation, resurrection and continued legacy).  Zeta Gundam, however, I think has a very Star Wars feel to it.  A small rebellion is struggling against an world controlling Empire, er Federation.  The main hero is a boy who lost his mother and is a special kind of chosen one.  He’s got TWO Obi Wan type mentors in Char Aznable and Amuro Ray.  You’ve even got the R2 type with everyones favorite Gundam mascot, Haro.  Not to mention, Kamille’s X-Wing is basically a giant robot.  ZZ would continue this struggle but not as successfully as the dark and winding road Zeta Gundam went down.  This is what Star Wars could’ve been if Lucas didn’t hold back the dark turns that began in Empire Strikes Back.

 

#3-Outlaw Star

What if Star Wars was more Han Solo’s story than Luke and the Millennium Falcon could literally punch the crap out of people?  Boom you’ve got Outlaw Star.  There are rumors that a Han Solo film is in the works as part of the Star Wars Anthology series.  If it comes to fruition, it should be mapped out a lot like Outlaw Star: A treasure hunt with deadly assassins, beautiful women and kick ass action from beginning to end.  Gene is very much the Han type, a gun for hire full of charm and swag.  Oh and his Wookie is a female Cat Girl who could do worse than pull your arms from their socket.

 

#2-Star Wars: Tie Fighter

Yes this is a thing and I will link it below

This wasn’t done by an animation studio so much as an aspiring animator and man does it look INCREDIBLE.  The Imperial pilots are not to be messed with here.  In this short film, we get a savoring taste of a true Star Wars anime…and a sense of just how terrifying the Empire can be.  Don’t believe me, watch til the end.  I did not see that ending coming.

 

#1-Tenchi Muyo

Ok, why give my #1 pick to this series when there’s clearly something resembling an actual Star Wars Anime?  Because it’s Tenchi Muyo that’s why.  Swords of light, space pirates full of swag, a dark lord of evil, an old man mentor.  Everything that you’d recognize in Star Wars is here…and then some.  Yes it is full of beautiful women in various states of undress and one of them is the Han Solo of the series (here’s looking at you Ryoko).  But it’s still the same heroes journey with lots of space battles and sword duels to sate your intergalactic conflict needs. 

Plus come on, look at that pic above and tell me that’s not the poster for Return of the Jedi?

Nuff said.  Wait but does that mean Ryoko hooks up with Sasami? Not sure how I feel about that.