Today in Unexpected Anime Adaptations: The CW’s Supernatural

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Here are the three things I know about Supernatural: There are two brothers who have some supernatural powers and have to fight some bad guys who also have supernatural powers, Mark Pellegrino, who played Jacob on LOST, plays Lucifer on Supernatural, and some people are obsessed beyond belief with this show. It’s the biggest phenomenon show The CW has had in recent memory, possibly ever. It is, basically, a more fangirl-oriented LOST in that regard.

Here’s the fourth thing I learned today: There will soon be a full anime series adapted from the CW hit. According to the Anime News Network, the show is being produced by Madhouse Studios, and according to their site (if you can get a readable translation of it) they say this is the first time a Japanese anime studio has adapted a western drama series into another full series. Now that’s a somewhat specific statistic, reminiscent of what I’ve heard of baseball commentary (“This is the first time a left-handed batter has hit a ball between 380 and 390 feet in this park on a Tuesday when it rained the previous day, John.” “Really, Tim? Fascinating.”).

What I admittedly do find remarkable is that the anime adaptation is a full series, not just a hastily made feature film or a short web show. It’s still direct-to-DVD, though, and will be a combination of remakes of the series’s best episodes and some original, never-before-seen stories. The first half of the series will go on sale February 2 in one box and the second half on April 6 in another.

This is a surprising step for Supernatural, or any show for that matter, and it paves the way for similar projects. Personally, I would like to see something like this actually make it into a primetime schedule one time, just to see how it fares. Showing people anime of what they already love and watch just might attract a new generation of anime fans.

(Via Anime News Network via Topless Robot, image via Topless Robot)


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