It’s a bit of a sore spot for some anime fans when you’re discussing anime with them, and then you bring up something that would be very easy to confuse for an anime series, but is not, as if it were an anime. Further complicating things, there is an increasingly blurry line between what is and isn’t anime these days.
On one side, there is anime as an art style. In which you could say that many of these shows are indeed anime because they wield that same art style. On the other side, there are those who maintain that anime needs to come specifically from Japan. It makes the shows coming out of places like South Korea, China, and even the US put in front of a global audience very complicated to classify.
It has made for a battle with no clearly defined battle lines, really. And probably a battle not even worth fighting. The perfect venue to get overly passionate in defending something for no good reason. For the sake of this here article, let’s say it is the latter and anime is only classified as series that come from Japan. Here are some excellent series that are “anime-inspired” if you ask some, and “anime” if you ask others.
Shows That Look Like Anime But Aren’t
Castlevania
This is perhaps the most divisive of anime-inspired shows. It’s based on a Japanese game franchise, but it is very much animated by the US-based Frederator Studios, who have come a long way from their Nickelodeon roots. Because it is dark, violent, and visceral, it inspires envy that we can’t have a Berserk adaptation that looks like this bad boy.
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Avatar made waves by being a little better looking than your average child’s cartoon and having a little deeper plot than your standard Nick Toon back in the day. In fact, it probably introduced a lot of people to the anime style as well as Asia through it’s various Asian culture-inspired world and martial arts. However, while it was written by American creators, the animation was done by several different South Korean companies.
RWBY
There is a lot in RWBY that is hella anime, but for as much as American animation company Rooster Teeth tried, there will be many that will not accept it as such. That being said, everything from the character designs to the trope-laden plot of the series would be perfectly at home in Japanese anime.
Neo Yokio
Neo Yokio is one of the increasingly common “complicated ones” that are popping up for classification. The series was created by Erza Koenig, of Vampire Weekend fame, but it was produced by anime studio Production I.G. Further complicating things, much of the production was done in Japan, but the animation itself was outsourced to South Korea. It’s kind of a mess in many ways.
Oban Star Racers
I’ll admit. I was fooled, but the truth of it is that Oban Star Racers is a French and Japanese collaboration. A French producers set out to capture his own bit of anime like what he watched as a kid. What originally began as a movie ended up as a series where the French animation company collaborated with hereto unnamed Japanese animators for a global release.
The Boondocks
While no one can watch the Boondocks and mistake it for an anime, looking at it’s promotional material can make things a little more unclear. The style is distinctly anime, and good looking anime to boot. However, the story is still very much Aaron McGruder’s stereotype-prodding comic. The animation itself was outsourced to South Korean firms, interestingly enough some of the same ones that did Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Trese
We’ve gotten to the section where I start running through Netflix’s catalog in earnest, because they are spreading a lot of animation from other countries under their umbrella of anime (which isn’t a bad thing). Trese is one of their more recent introductions, which is based off a piece of Asia that we don’t see too many animated stories from – The Philippines. Based off a Filipino comic, Trese tells a very anime dark fantasy story based of Filipino folklore. As Netflix projects tend to be very multi-national, the animation was shared by South Korean animators and American animators.
Dota: Dragon’s Blood
Not to be confused with Dragon’s Dogma, a Netflix-produced Japanese anime, Dota: Dragon’s Blood takes the Western MOBA by Valve and leaves production of the anime series to a South Korean firm. Again, you will find some more Avatar in here, since as the story was written by one of the creators and the South Korea firm animated Legend of Korra.
Daily Life of the Immortal King
More and more Chinese animation is slipping out into the world, and I become more and more conflicted as to if I should do recommendations for it. If it weren’t for the notably Chinese character names, it would be very difficult to mistake this for anything other than anime.
Blood of Zeus
Blood of Zeus is really one of those series that takes heavy inspiration from anime styles, but really makes its their own visually. While the series is Greek mythology-inspired, it is American produced, but much of the animation was outsourced to South Korean animators.
Seis Manos
This time, an even more rare beast, a Mexican-inspired anime. Though the animation was done by an American studio in Texas, the story really pineapple-pen’s together anime martial arts fights with your unfortunately standard Mexican cartel-fighting story.
The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf
The newest to this confusing and conflicting collection, Nightmare of the Wolf captures a little bit of the same magic as Castlevania, but with the whole heap of Witcher lore behind it. While it looks good, it is yet another to add to South Korea’s credit.
Bonus Uno Reverse Card: Anime That Seems Western
Batman: Gotham Knight
If there is one superhero that could benefit from anime, it would always be dark, gritty, and violent Batman, and boy if Gotham Knight didn’t really do that brooding bad boy some justice. As it is an anthology, you will see not only different stories, but different styles of animation at work too by Japanese animators.
Highlander: The Search for Vengeance
While an aged series of movies, Highlander has always had one of those stories that could easily make the jump from live action to the freedom of animation. Although the anime is a bit old too now, it has some lovely classic Madhouse animation.
Powerpuff Girl Z
The original Powerpuff Girls, although very inspired by magical girl anime, was a completely western concoction. Powerpuff Girl Z is actually a Japanese remake of it by the director of Sailor Moon.
Supernatural: The Animation
Seeing as Supernatural was hugely popular in the west, it wouldn’t be so surprising to see an animated version of it. However, the anime came from Japan, utilizing the American actors (mostly) to voice it. It covers much of the first two seasons in the show, bringing about all the charm that Madhouse can muster with the visuals to boot.
Marvel Anime
While Batman did it first, and arguably a little better, you know Marvel was eventually going to get some anime treatment as well. Yet again, Madhouse was allowed to run rampant on this Western franchise and you get to see a whole slew of Western superheroes that were re-imagined in anime style.
Dragon’s Dogma
Unlike Castlevania that used an American company to create an anime about a Japanese video game, Dragon’s Dogma is 100% anime, but looks just as good as Castlevania. Produced by Capcom, since it is indeed their game, the series was animated by a lesser known company called Sublimation that often does CG work for other anime.
Panty and Stocking With Gaterbelt
It’s the animation style. This basic style with thick lines and sharp corners is a pretty standard thing in Western cartoons these days. The adult humor would be pretty at home in adult animation as well. However, this bad boy is 100% Japanese. Inspiration can be taken both ways, after all.
This is a divisive topic to a lot of people for whatever truly dumb reason. If you have opinions, you are entitled to them in the comments section below.
