T5W#268-Top 5 Anime You’ll Like if You Like Dune

Ever since Director Dennis Villenuve was attached to direct it, I’ve been mega hyped for the forthcoming adaptation of Frank Herbet’s Dune.  Dune is probably my favorite novel of all time.  It’s a sprawling scifi saga of action, romance, mysticism, intricate plots (putting that lightly) and scale the likes of which I still think haven’t been topped in Science Fiction.  While there’s still plenty of time to find a copy of the book and read it before the movie comes out, I come to offer an alternate solution (besides tracking down the 1984 David Lynch Movie (a guilty pleasure of mine) or the 2000 SciFi Channel Miniseries).  Of course if I have a movie that I like, I can think of several Anime that would be good watches to follow them up with.  Finding Anime like Dune isn’t an easy task…and that’s something I say way too often about these Top 5 lists, but here we go again.  Probs should do this closer to its release at Christmas (hopefully).  But since it’s been on my mind and I just watched one of the shows on this list for the first time and it kind of inspired this idea, lets check out the Top 5 Anime You’ll Like if You Like Dune. 

 

#5-Trigun

Water might be the most precious source of commerce on planet Gunsmoke but some would have you think that it’s actually Vash the Stampede.  Considering the $$60 Billion price tag on his head, it could net any bounty hunter a nice life, even in this hellhole.  Trigun’s desert setting is perfect for both a scifi epic and an old school western.  Vash himself is a likeable goofball with a jaded past and a dark destiny lying before him.  Filled with guns, cute girls and tons of super powered assassins and megalomaniacs, Trigun remains a firm favorite for old school Anime fans.  Paul Atredies wishes he could shoot like Vash.

 

#4-Neon Genesis Evangelion

I feel like Evangelion is an Anime that every movie could some how associate itself with.  In this instance with Dune, I’m going with the young protagonist angle.  Shinji Ikari and Paul Atredies might have a bit more in common than you think.  Both Paul and Shinji find themselves the pawns of fate, albeit Shinji’s is more manipulated by his father, and are both headed for destinies that will change Humanitys future.  Whether its for the better or worse…well you know how that song and dance goes for Evangelion.  Still, Eva also goes deep into its philosophies and existential subplots same as Dune…just, you know, one has Giant Robots, the other has giant desert worms…tomato, tomato.

 

#3-Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind

It really doesn’t scream Dune more in Anime than when you combine a post apocalyptic desert setting, nearly unliveable conditions and massive insects riding across the sands causing havoc unexpectedly.  Nausicaa, the first film by the group that would one day become Studio Ghibli (the movie was even retroactively included under their banner), sees the titular heroine hoping to restore her world and help the survivors of the past make peace with the mammoth Ohm, those aforementioned insects.  Nausicaa holds all of Hayao Miyazaki’s usual traits in his films from environmental messages to sweeping set pieces.  And you’ve got a cute girl who becomes humanities savoir.  What more do you need?

 

#2-Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam

I just saw this for the first time and man, it kind of lives up to the hype.  How this fits in with Dune is from the more metaphysical debate around the Newtype theory.  Kamille Bidan is as close to a Paul Atredies/Muad’dib character as anyone gets in the Gundam franchise, even Amuro Ray.  With the possibility of tapping into his Newtype powers greater than anyone else, Kamille changes the way battles are fought in space forever.  There’s also a power struggle between rebels and a totalitarian regime hellbent on making everyone in space (and Earth) bow before them.  Sounds like the Fremen vs. House Harkkonen to me.

 

#1-Legend of the Galactic Heroes

Much like Gundam, there are no deserts in this entry.  However, Legend of the Galactic Heroes matches the scale of Dune…if the rumors are true.  Personally I’ve never seen this one, though I have glimpsed the ongoing remake: Legend of the Galactic Heroes-Die Neue These.  The battle of Dune, both in space and on the surface of the planet, are some of the biggest ever committed to the Anime medium.  I think this actually goes beyond the first Dune and more into the later novels of the series where the action grows even bigger than you could imagine.  Galactic Heroes features fleets of tens of thousands locked in a centuries long war of attrition.  And you’ve got the on going chess match between the two most promising new commanders on both sides of the battle.  If Dune ever was to be made into an Anime, Legend of the Galactic Heroes could be all the proof of how it could be done.