T5W#288-Top 5 Anime that borrow from or are inspired by other Anime

Now that we’ve watching the Kotetsujo ride off into the sunset, figured it was time to discuss a rather unique topic for todays Top 5 Wednesday.  I’ve written about this a little bit in other Top 5s but in going through Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress it really got me wondering: what other Anime are closely tied to one another through themes, stories or are outright clones of one another?  That’s not even to say that clones cant be original ideas, they just have a heavy hint of inspiration from a previously established work.  So, for today, I looked through several options and think I found a good 5 stack to work with.  These are my Top 5 Anime that borrow from or are inspired by other Anime 

#5-Sword Art Online (Borrowed from or inspired heavily by .hack//Sign)

When Kirito Kirigaya first found himself trapped in an online video game and had to fight for survival, growing more and more OP in the process, everyone lost their minds and Sword Art Online became a mega hit franchise seemingly overnight.  Many might not recall that this premise has been done before though.  The biggest example I could think of was the .hack franchise, specifically .hack//Sign.  While it is far, far slower story to plow through and heavy on the existential discussions, .hack//Sign is at its core about a young boy who cant log out of his digital playground and must find a way out with a team of other players.  Much like SAO, .hack tried its hand at the expanded franchise with video games, OVAs and TV sequels.  But let’s face it, with this one, only a few remember the perils of Tsukasa in The World.  That whole domain of storytelling belongs to Sword Art Online now.

 

#4-Samurai Champloo (Borrowed from or inspired heavily by Cowboy Bebop)

Samurai Champloo basically did for Feudal Japan what Cowboy Bebop did for the far future.  While Champloo has a more traditional plot and end goal, it does share the same three man action team of Bebop (minus the two adorable comic relief characters and seriously with that hair, Mugen could be Spike’s ancestor).  Samurai Champloo also continues to showcase Shinchiro Watanabe’s love of music in general, trading the blues and jazz of Bebop’s future for a sweet dose of Hip Hop for Champloo’s Feudal setting.  Both shows give their eras a modern kind of make over, to varied degrees of success.  Cowboy Bebop might be the more fondly remembered of the two though.  I hope to eventually review Samurai Champloo for the Anime Corner…but ive been saying that for years now.

 

#3-Summer Wars (Borrowed from or inspired heavily by Digimon Adventure: Children's War Game!)

If any part of Summer Wars’ plot seemed familiar to anyone…that’s because there’s a rare but very real chance you saw Digimon: The Movie and remembered the middle section was all about a Digimon Virus wrecking havoc on the internet and the Digidestined had to stop it.  Sure enough, Digimon Adventure: Children's War Game! and Summer Wars both shared the same director, Mamoru Hosoda, and it’s easy to think of the Digimon Movie as a rough draft of Summer Wars, also it’s a short movie rather than a feature length project.  I love Summer Wars very much but couldn’t help but chuckle at the odd feeling that id seen something like it before…and I just so happened to be one of those rare few kids who saw Digimon: The Movie in theaters with his friends.

 

#2-Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress (Borrowed from or inspired heavily by Attack on Titan)

Ah yes, the one that started this list.  Kabaneri shares the same studio, Studio Wit, and director, Tetsuro Araki, as the first three seasons of Attack on Titan and was released about a year before AoT’s second season after a four year wait for fans.  I wonder if Araki just needed a break from working on Aot Season Two and was given the go ahead by the studio to do whatever he wanted.  I think that because Kabaneri is initially extremely similar to AoT, trading in giant eating monster to iron skinned zombies and showing them overrun a doomed city, it’s why it never lasted longer than 13 episodes and 1 movie.  Attack on Titan is up there with Sword Art Online as one of the biggest Anime blockbusters of the last two decades and is still going strong in it’s 4^th and Final Season.  Perhaps Kabaneri was just an attempt at an AoT clone that was never meant to last as long.  Still, I kind of hope we see more Kabaneri down the line, or at least get something to give it a proper ending.

 

#1-RahXephon (Borrowed from or inspired heavily by Neon Genesis Evangelion)

And here we have the big one, the one the sparked debate from Day One. RahXephon vs. Neon Genesis Evangelion.  One is one of the greatest Anime of all time.  The other is a very well made Anime from the early 2000’s.  Both feature a plot revolving around preventing the apocalypse and battling giant monsters in giant robots that are Humanity’s last line of defense.  Both have a young man in the pilots seat who is both loved, hated and seen as a tool by most people he knows (though Ayato from Rahxephon has more spirit).  Both have a Rei Ayanami like enigmatic poster child and a tough chick with a close connection to the main hero (which is a little less gross in Rahxephon). The comparisons could go on and on but you know what?  These are both solid shows and a lot of fun to watch.  One could even say that RahXephon is a love letter to Evangelion, using several familiar elements but crafting its own world and brilliant story all on its own.  I’m surprised I’ve never done a Top 5 comparing and contrasting Eva and Rahxephon…might add that to the list one day.