Ask John: Which Anime Sequels Are Most Unlike Their Preceding Series?

Question:
This week I shall be watching the (judging from the summaries) hilarious spinoff of the SoulTaker series, Nurse Witch Komugi. Just curious, how many other anime properties come to mind where the sequel or spinoff is virtually 180 degrees different from the original feature?

Answer:
In order to compose a thorough answer to this question, I think one would need a literally encyclopedic knowledge of anime, or an extensive amount of research. I may know a lot about anime, but I can’t say that I’m familiar with every sequel and spin-off anime ever made. So my answer may overlook examples or simply forget obvious ones. But based entirely on my recollection, I can’t think of another spin-off that contrasts its source as much as the Nurse Witch Komugi-chan OAV series does. SoulTaker, which introduced Komugi Nakahara, was a literally and figuratively dark and gothic futuristic horror/sci-fi/action series. The spin-off Nurse Witch Komugi-chan series was a lighthearted comedy, set in present day Tokyo, parodying anime and Japanese otaku culture. SoulTaker and Nurse Witch Komugi-chan may be the most dissimilar familial series ever, but there are a few other examples that are also very divergent.

Reportedly the Saint Beast OAV series is a spin-off from Tenshi no Shippo. If that’s true, the progression from the comical and lighthearted harem anime Tenshi no Shippo to the moody bishonen Saint Beast is nearly as big as the stylistic jump from SoulTaker to Komugi-chan.

The SM Gals Saber Marionette R OAV series was a grim, sexual, bloody and violent series with occasional comedy. Its sequel, the Saber Marionette J television series, was a bright, playful, goofy comedy adventure. But the change in tone between the two series was done to indicate a passage of time and social upheaval between the events in the two series. Likewise, the Rurouni Kenshin television series had its dramatic and violent moments, but was primarily a brightly colored, highly stylized adventure drama. Its two OAV series, though, were drawn in a strikingly different realistic style and focused first on the bloody guilt ridden angst of a young killer tortured by his conscience, then on the final sorrowful days of a broken spirited man longing only for peace and redemption. But, once again, the thematic and stylistic difference between the RuroKen television series and following OAVs was designed to obviously depict different periods of Himura Kenshin’s life and personal perspective.

On the other hand, the slice of life drama OAV series Graduation spawned the totally unrealistic giant robot series Sailor Victory. The Sailor Victory series can be called a parody, but more accurately it’s an alternate continuity revision of Graduation. Likewise, the Tenchi Muyo spin-off series Magical Girl Sasami is a look at what Tenchi Muyo and its cast would be like if it wasn’t a sci-fi romantic comedy. Captain Harlock also gets a similar alternate continuity adaptation in Gun Frontier – a series that reverses Harlock and Tochiro’s roles and places them in a wild west setting instead of outer space.

Arguably also within the boundaries of the discussion are comical SD parodies of tragic, dramatic shows like Chibi Go Nagai World, Ten Little Gall Force, and the various SD Gundam series. Chibi Go Nagai World turns the violent and apocalyptic worlds of Devilman, Mazinger, and Violence Jack into a cute and funny super deformed universe. Gall Force and Gundam are serious sci-fi drama that kill many of their cast members, but their SD parodies are intentionally silly and poke fun at their source material.

Finally, although I don’t consider them as striking examples as those already mentioned, I think I’d be criticized if I didn’t mention at least Sorcerous Stabber Orphen and Full Metal Panic. The first Orphen series is a reasonably serious minded fantasy adventure, but Sorcerous Stabber Orphen Revenge is primarily a dimwitted slapstick comedy. Full Metal Panic undergoes relatively minor, but still noticeable changes through its first three series. Full Metal Panic was a military action drama with occasional diversions into slapstick comedy. Full Metal Panic! Fumoffu? discarded the hardboiled tension for exclusive slapstick and situation comedy. Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid, the third anime series, took the opposite route, dropping nearly all of the humor in favor of a serious and hardboiled action series.