EQUAL cartoon’Its popularity has grown worldwide, content creators have turned to exploit its commercial success by expanding the original boundaries of the story through focused spinoffs. into characters or issues that weren’t initially thought to be very interesting but later captured the hearts and minds of fans. base.
Naturally, lacking the original anime’s original influence and appeal, as well as the critical eye of a community of fans who have become experts in the style, feel, and history of the predecessor anime, it’s not easy. let a side story go beyond the anime framework. shadow of the original series. However, that does not mean that this is an impossible feat. Here are ten great anime spinoff movies that have done just that.
10 Pluto
Naoki Urasawa and Takashi Nagaki’s manga series Pluto takes Astro Boy’s story “The Greatest Robot on Earth” and transforms it from a fun robot-robot challenge into a gripping crime drama when The same story is told through the eyes of Gesicht, one of the Greats. Robot is being hunted by unknown killer.
However, while the other robots have a chance to prepare for the challenge, the criminal police officer has to run into danger. Like all good spin-offs, Pluto keeps enough of the original series intact to deliver a series that feels familiar, while being different enough to stand on its own.
9 Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
Yu-Gi-Oh! by Hatsuki Tsuji GX is the perfect example of a themed spin–turn off. In addition to the temporary meeting at the beginning of the series between the original protagonist Yugi Muto and Jaden Yuki, the first part of GX, the series features a whole new cast of gladiators.
Even so, fans will easily recognize Yu-Gi-Oh! familiar. environments, including supernatural forces, Egyptian spirits, magic, and of course, duels. Although GX has a new cast, due to its storytelling, it doesn’t need to rely on the original anime, building its own reputation along with it by developing its own interesting storyline around the experience. experience of Jaden and his friends in Duel Academy.
8 Pokémon origins
With a franchise as popular as Pokémon, it’s nearly impossible to get over the legacy of the original series, but Pokémon Origins has done it by going back to the beginning. In doing so, it achieved something rare in the Pokémon franchise – a story where Ash is not central.
Specifically, Pokémon Origins focuses on Red, who trains the original Pokémon in the video game. While Red and Ash have many similarities, Pokémon Origins chooses to focus on the different circumstances they have both endured. This series continues the lore of video games, even featuring Red’s rival Blue. Ultimately, Pokémon Origins establishes Red’s adventures as a possible alternative to Ash’s story.
7 Yashahime: Half-demon princess
With an anime as beloved as Inuyasha, it would be surprising if it didn’t end up with a side story. Fans want it, and creators rarely pass up the opportunity to continue creating content. However, most appendages produced under these conditions are rarely noticeable.
Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon breaks the mold by crafting a solid standalone story that presents itself more than an origin story. While there are similarities between the two series, Yashahime made a new twist by focusing on the children of the original series’ heroes and their quest to find themselves. Its story is conveyed with the same energy as Inuyasha, but with a different plot.
Dragon Ball Z: The History of Trunks
If the spinoff is a way to add depth and context to characters, themes, and situations that the author couldn’t or didn’t want to address in the original series, few other anime are as ready for a spinoff as Dragon Ball . The variety of characters, worlds, and situations make it ripe for side story content, and Akira Toriyama has used this to various effects.
A side story that can match the main series is Dragon Ball Z: The History of Trunks. Although set in an alternate universe, this series provides the background, insight, and context needed for Future Trunks’ personal story, while also providing new information about the world of Dragon Ball. Trunks became the champion of Earth replacing the absent Goku, and it came naturally to make it an instant classic in a series filled with iconic events.
5 Attack on Titan: Middle School
The good thing about Attack on Titan: Junior High by Yoshihide Ibata and Midori Gotou is that it takes a heartbreakingly gritty story and makes it enjoyable. In doing so, it actually increases the viewer’s interest in the original story. The spin-off re-enacts Attack on Titan as if it took place within the less brutal walls of a middle school, with Eren Yeager, who clearly dislikes Titans because someone stole his lunch , and enlists the help of classmates Mikasa Ackerman and Armin Arlelt to stand up to the “Big Giants on Campus”.
Although the story is self-contained, viewers with a certain understanding of the original series will enjoy it most as most of the funniest situations take place with famous scenes, characters and themes from the original series. work.
4 Demon Slayer Academy
While Demon Slayer may not be a classic in the traditional sense, its massive popularity has made it a modern classic. The same can be said for the Demon Slayer Academy spin-off series, which borrows AOT Junior High’s approach to use the parody as a vector to recreate the centuries-old battle of the Demon Slayer Corps. against Muzan.
Parody itself is difficult, and this is even more true when parodying a story as serious as Demon Slayer. However, Demon Slayer Academy feels similar to the original series while creatively adapting the original art style and character attitudes, blending them seamlessly with a much more lighthearted setting. .
3 One Piece Movie: Red
Like Dragon Ball, the decades-worth of epic world-building that Oda Eiichiro has completed in One Piece over the past 25 years makes it an asset with multiple side stories. Goro Taniguchi’s One Piece: Red stands out as the best spinoff of the series – and possibly the best – as it combines the appeal of the original series with plenty of compelling new content.
First, it introduces a new character in Uta, which is related to the story of the main characters – specifically Luffy and Shanks, which is the first story to appear in the series. Second, it expands the story with the revelation of Uta’s Sing-Sing Fruit power and her desire to use it to end the Age of Pirates, a related and ongoing issue in the original series . Finally, it allows space for side characters to develop such as Robin, Usopp, and members of the World Government.
2 Boruto: Naruto Next Generation
Although often considered a sequel, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations is actually a spin-off in that it expands on characters or themes introduced in the original series while keeping everything within the original universe. Although Boruto received mixed reviews from critics, it still accomplished all of the goals of a successful spin-off, including cameos from the original series’ most important characters.
More importantly, it establishes the spin-off series as its own stand-alone aspect of the larger universe. When all was said and done in Boruto, no one would think twice about a crossover series featuring Naruto and Boruto going on a special mission.
1 Mobile SuitGundam: Witch from Mercury
As one of the most popular anime of last year, it can be said that Mobile Suit Gunma: The Witch of Mercury is no less good than the original Gunma animated series. In fact, like many of the greatest spin-offs of all time, protagonists Suletta Mercury, Miorine Rembran, and mobile suit Aerial are likely to go on to become the most popular Gundunda characters in the series’ history. While the story wouldn’t be as compelling without the background and setting of the original series, The Witch of Mercury has taken the franchise to a place it’s never been before.
While side stories are used for a variety of reasons in the anime, from discovering fan-favorite characters who won’t get the attention they deserve in the story. main to developing additional themes and themes that help build the underlying anime universe, but they are rarely as common or popular. are also considered originals. However, in rare cases, an anime spin-off can be as entertaining as the original or even more so.