Ask John: Why Isn’t There Anime Based on Most Major Nintendo Franchises?

Question:
I can’t believe that the Mario Bros. and crew, Link & Zelda, Samus Aran, or some version of Castlevania never made it to the small screen. I thought these characters, especially Nintendo’s, were huge in Japan. How can MegaMan warrant a tv show compared to the adventure in Legend of Zelda or the gothic action in Castlevania? Am I mistaken? Why haven’t these properties been liscensed? And what is stopping these properties from becoming shows today?

Answer:
In the absence of any other explanations, all I can say is that Japanese viewers seem to prefer that some franchises stay within their original medium. For example, although there have been over 20 Godzilla films in the past fifty years, along with Japanese created Godzilla manga, there has never been any Godzilla anime (cameo appearances don’t count). As far as I can tell, there have never been any original Japanese anime productions of Legend of Zelda, Konami’s Castlevania series, or Metroid. Mario Brothers, however, actually has been turned into anime several times. An hour long movie titled “Super Mario Brothers – Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach” (Super Mario Brothers: Peach Hime Kyushutsu Daisakusen) was released on July 20, 1986. Lesser known is the fact that a 21 minute long “Super Mario Brothers 2: Kouryakuhou” movie was also released the same day. And according to this Japanese chronology of anime, apparently a 3 episode OAV series titled simply “Super Mario” was released in 1989.

As far as I can tell, Nintendo has always been hesitant to produce anime adaptations of its highest profile titles. That may change, however, since Nintendo’s board of directors voted in November 2004 to begin financing anime productions with tie-ins to Nintendo game franchises beginning in 2006.

Readers interested in the Super Mario Brothers anime movie can find more specific information about the film from this extensive fan page.