Ask John: Is a Twilight Saga Anime Possible?

Question:
I was just wondering what you think about the possibility of a Twilight Saga anime. There are a lot of fan-made drawings elluding to an anime, but I’m not so sure if it would work. What do you think?

Answer:
I may be out of touch with certain aspects of contemporary popular culture. At possible personal peril I’ll also clarify that I’m not a young woman. I’ve not read any of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga novels nor watched either of the movies. In fact, prior to the first motion picture’s debut last year I’d never even heard of the “Twilight Saga.” I’m not entirely disinterested in emotionally tormented vampires. I was quite a fan of author Anne Rice’s vampires about a dozen years ago. But I don’t know very much about the Twilight saga franchise. So I can’t gauge how well the Twilight saga characters, story, and attitudes could transition into anime. But I presume that since the franchise is popular in Japan, it is material which Japanese readers and viewers can relate to and enjoy. Furthermore, I’m not exactly certain of the franchise’s popularity in Japan. However, I do feel confident in saying that regardless of its popularity, the development of an original Japanese anime series is a remote possibility. American written novels and fiction franchises have spawned Japanese animation, but especially popular American franchises, ironically, typically don’t get anime adaptations.

American franchises including The Nightmare Before Christmas, Pirates of the Caribbean, Harry Potter, Star Trek and Star Wars are very popular in Japan, yet none of them have original Japanese anime productions. Marvel and DC Comics characters have been recognized in Japan for decades, yet the first anime based on Marvel Comics characters won’t hit until next year. In June 2007 a Doraemon TV special featured a guest appearance by voice actor Johnny Depp playing pirate “Captain Johnny” but that’s only a veiled reference to the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, not a literal spin-off production. Anime is rife with references to Star Trek and Star Wars, but the only Star Trek and Star Wars animation series have been American. Sunrise produced a six episode “Space Soldier” OVA series adaptation of Robert A. Heinlein’s Starship Troopers novel in 1988, but that pre-dates both the American live action film series and the American CG animation series. The 2006 Witchblade anime television series did come after the American live action television series, proving that anime spin-offs from popular American franchises are possible, but the Witchblade franchise was not especially well known in Japan prior to its anime spin-off.

The Twilight Saga novels are available in Japanese translation in a variety of publications, and a brief look at Amazon Japan reveals that their sales ranking in Japan is relatively high. Both films appear to have received fairly heavy advertising in Japan. I don’t know exactly how well known and popular the Twilight franchise is in Japan, but it appears to be fairly well known and well received. That, in fact, may simultaneously work for and against the possibility of the franchise getting an anime adaptation. Japanese animators may be hesitant to approach such a major franchise because they may be forced to adhere to creative and editorial limitations imposed by the franchise’s American author, publisher, and representatives. A very well known franchise can attract a large audience, but adapting a property owned by American interests instead of a Japanese publisher may limit the profit that Japanese sponsors and investors can earn from an anime adaptation. Twilight motion picture director Catherine Hardwicke jokes in the first film’s DVD commentary, “I think there’s going to be an anime version of this in Japan.” She’s clarified that the statement was a spontaneous joke, not a formal announcement. While American publisher Yen Press has acquired the rights to produce an original manga-style comic adaptation drawn by Korean artist Young Kim, the Twilight franchise does not have a manga adaptation in Japan, which would almost certainly be a prerequisite to the development of an anime. I’m not aware of any announcements, or even rumors here in America or in Japan regarding any serious possibility of an animated adaptation of the Twilight saga.

Any time a franchise is tremendously popular and successful an anime adaptation has to be considered a possibility. However, precedent reveals that highly successful American franchises that are popular in Japan almost never get anime adaptations. The ones that do, including The Animatrix, Batman: Gotham Knight, and, to a lesser degree, Halo: Legends (because the Halo franchise isn’t nearly as successful in Japan as it is in America) have been produced because they were initiated by American investment and commission. I can’t say that a Twilight Saga anime won’t happen, but if the past is justification to predict the future, I don’t see any reason to anticipate that a Japanese studio or production committee will initiate the development of a Twilight anime. Japanese anime producers most often seem more eager to develop anime based on Japanese concepts and franchises, possibly because working with domestic source material may allow greater artistic flexibility and may keep a larger percentage of the generated revenue within Japan.