Anime , although many of you already know it, is the term with which we know all those animation series from Japan, the country where everything is possible (at least that is what it seems to us when we see the technology they are capable of develop or the strange television shows that arise from some Japanese minds).
We also use it to refer to certain products or items related to the series themselves. In Japan, the meaning of the word anime differs a bit from ours, since in principle it is used when talking about animation in its broadest concept and not only about its own animation series.
In any case, the world of videogames, as with cinema, for example, is not at all alien to everything related to anime. Not only can we find many titles based directly on Japanese animation series, but there are also a multitude of games that, based on original ideas, have an aesthetic identical to what we can find in this type of series.
With this post, a brief walk through the universe of video games mixed with anime begins, in which we are going to fly over some of the most traditional Japanese productions.
Dragon Ball
I think it is fair to start this video game and anime special talking about ‘Dragon Ball’ , a series created by the great Akira Toriyama that had its beginnings in manga format (first within the weekly magazine Shonen Jump and later with its own volumes) and that later was brought to television thanks to the production company Toei Animation.
The main character in the story is, as you already know, our beloved Son Goku, a kid with a monkey tail from whom little by little we will learn his true story as he embarks on the search for some mysterious Dragon Balls that, when gathered , they summon a dragon capable of granting wishes. As a note I will tell you that Toriyama was inspired by one of the four great classical novels of Chinese literature called ‘Journey to the West’ when creating his story.
Its translation to the world of videogames is reflected in more than 20 different titles basically belonging to two genres: fighting and RPG. Most of them belong to the first group, where we can find well-known games such as ‘Dragon Ball Z: Budokai’ or the most recent ‘Dragon Ball Z: Infinite World’ , both appeared on PS2.
Knights of the Zodiac
‘Saint Seiya’ , a series known in our country as ‘The Knights of the Zodiac’ , has a birth practically traced to that of ‘Dragon Ball’. Masami Kurumada, its creator, was able to initially release it as a manga published in Shonen Jump magazine to later have its own volumes and finally become an anime. Arguably, yes, the stories of Toriyama and Kurumada have little or nothing to do with it.
‘The Knights of the Zodiac’ presents us with a series of warriors under the orders of the Greek goddess Athena known as Santos (here knights), although the role of protagonist is taken by a certain Seiya (and hence the original name of the series ) whose main objective is to find his missing sister.
The series has been taken to the world of video games on several occasions, with most of the titles belonging to the genre of the most adventurous RPG. It also has a couple of fighting titles for PS2 titled ‘Saint Seiya: The Sanctuary’ and ‘Saint Seiya: The Hades’ . Some titles that, like all the previous ones for NES, GameBoy or PC, have been launched mainly in Japan and Europe, leaving the United States aside due to the little interest that anime managed to arouse among North Americans.
Ranma 1/2
‘Ranma 1/2’ , like the other two series that we have seen a little above, was born in the form of a manga from the hand of Rumiko Takahashi. Yes, unlike Toriyama or Kurumada, Rumiko Takahashi is a woman. And she is the creator of another good pile of series, among which we find ‘InuYasha’.
Initially the series was published in Shonen Sunday magazine to later become one of the funniest animes I remember, in addition to containing certain risque scenes that perhaps we were not used to seeing in animated series. The main protagonist, Ranma Saotome, turns into a red-haired girl when he is drenched with cold water due to having fallen into the ‘Drowned Girl’s Pit’, located in the enchanted lakes of Jusenkyo, during a martial arts training. His father and coach also falls into the water, specifically in the ‘Panda Bear Trench’, so when he gets wet with cold water he turns into a panda bear. A little hot water is enough to get them back to normal. School stories, affairs and various ravings are the order of the day in ‘Ranma 1/2’ .
Video games of ‘Ranma 1/2’ are a handful. The first of these was released for the PC Engine in Japan in the late 1990s and was simply called ‘Ranma 1/2’ . Later titles came out for Playstation (‘Ranma ½: Battle Renaissance’), SNES (‘Ranma ½: Super Battle’ or ‘Ranma ½: Hidden Treasure of the Crimson Cats’, for example) or GameBoy (‘ Ranma ½: Kakuren Bodesu Match ‘or’ Ranma ½: Kakugeki Mondou !! ‘, to say a couple), although the vast majority of them did not officially leave the Japanese market. ‘Ranma ½: Hard Battle’ , from SNES, did make it to Europe. Practically all of them belong to the fighting genre, although there are some RPGs and a couple of puzzle titles.
Naruto
History repeats itself and ‘Naruto’ , born as a manga by Masashi Kishimoto and initially published in Shonen Jump magazine, will have its own volumes and, of course, with its own anime (directed by Hayato Date), perhaps one of the most loved by the public along with ‘Dragon Ball’ (at least that’s the feeling I have).
Naruto Uzumaki is a young ninja determined to become the head (Hokage) of his village, thus managing to be someone important. Inside, in addition, is the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, a demon that years before attacked his village and was sealed within it by the Fourth Hokage after sacrificing his own life. During the course of history, then, we will witness the evolution of Naruto and his environment.
‘Naruto’ has a really impressive number of video games that, in turn, we can divide into several lines. For example, the ‘Naruto: Clash of Ninja’ series currently has nine titles on the market (all for GameCube or Wii, such as ‘Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution’) and a few others planned for a not very future far. On GameBoy and Nintendo DS we can find six different titles from the ‘Naruto: Ninja Council’ series and on Sony platforms (PS2, PS3 and PSP) there are eight titles from the ‘Naruto: Ultimate Ninja’ series. In XBox 360 we have ‘Naruto: Rise of a Ninja’ and ‘Naruto: The Broken Bond’.
The most recent titles, as we have seen, have a graphic section based on cel-shade that in some cases make us believe that we are truly controlling the character within one of the anime’s chapters.
I close this first post dedicated to video games and anime . In the next installment of this special, which will not be the last, we will see another four or five anime with a presence in the world of video games.
