Wait, hear me out before you close the tab! I may be an old bloke, but even I'm not old enough to have been into Minky Momo in real time - and yet, there's something about this story and the...
Wait, hear me out before you close the tab!
I may be an old bloke, but even I'm not old enough to have been into Minky Momo in real time - and yet, there's something about this story and the recent trend of anime necromancy which fascinates me (see also High School! Kimengumi, originally from 1985, Samurai Troopers Yoroiden, originally from 1992 and Jigoku Sensei Nube, originally from 1996).
Let's imagine that you've been put into the shoes of the producer tasked with making this OAV:
On one hand, it's been 31 years since the last OAV. The original TV series aired in 1982. An enormous portion of your addressable audience (presumably pretty large if it's releasing via streaming and not coming out on VHS like a real OAV) has either never heard of your show or only knows about it from parodies or by hearing about it from grandma. Magical girls as a genre has moved on from this show (which was one of its original progenitors, predating the Sailor Moon anime in 1992 by a long shot) and been expanded upon (Card Captor Sakura / Lyrical Nanoha / Prisma Illya), subverted (Madoka Magica) and polished to a knife's edge of marketability (Pretty Cure) in the subsequent decades.
On the other hand, the actual fans of the franchise, few as they may be in comparison, will have very specific memories and expectations about what the show should be like - i.e. like an 80s anime, tone, story, art and all. They may well not have watched any other anime since they were kids!
Faced with this scenario, what kind of show do you make?
What new technology from the last few decades do you use, if any (e.g. CG)?
Do you try and incorporate elements which made later shows hits, or keep it to the sort of story that would have fit right in with the original series? Would making something that feels like it came straight out of the 80s actually feel fresh nowadays, given how common polished remakes / reboots have now become?
Do you try and weave in themes that adults (which your original audience have now become) can appreciate, or keep it pitched at a new generation of children and hope that the original themes land with them despite the generation gap?
This article doesn't answer any of those questions, but I'll be curious to see how it (and all the other recent remakes) turn out.
Hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday season!
Old Tilders unite! I'm on board for the Samurai Troopers—which I know as Ronin Warriors—reboot, with tempered expectations of course. Loved that show back then. Never saw Minky Momo either, but...
Old Tilders unite! I'm on board for the Samurai Troopers—which I know as Ronin Warriors—reboot, with tempered expectations of course. Loved that show back then. Never saw Minky Momo either, but pretty sure I've heard plenty of "Love Love Minky Momo" (Eurobeat?) covers. Good times.
I mainly know about Minky Momo because there's an urban legend that it's cursed. Basic gist is that an episode meant to end the series in a dark way coincided with a bjg earthquake. Apparently...
I mainly know about Minky Momo because there's an urban legend that it's cursed. Basic gist is that an episode meant to end the series in a dark way coincided with a bjg earthquake. Apparently another earthquake coincided with the actual finale, and years later a rerun of it...
Well, I guess I hope they put a lot of effort and care into this OAV to appease her spirit xD
Wait, hear me out before you close the tab!
I may be an old bloke, but even I'm not old enough to have been into Minky Momo in real time - and yet, there's something about this story and the recent trend of anime necromancy which fascinates me (see also High School! Kimengumi, originally from 1985, Samurai Troopers Yoroiden, originally from 1992 and Jigoku Sensei Nube, originally from 1996).
Let's imagine that you've been put into the shoes of the producer tasked with making this OAV:
On one hand, it's been 31 years since the last OAV. The original TV series aired in 1982. An enormous portion of your addressable audience (presumably pretty large if it's releasing via streaming and not coming out on VHS like a real OAV) has either never heard of your show or only knows about it from parodies or by hearing about it from grandma. Magical girls as a genre has moved on from this show (which was one of its original progenitors, predating the Sailor Moon anime in 1992 by a long shot) and been expanded upon (Card Captor Sakura / Lyrical Nanoha / Prisma Illya), subverted (Madoka Magica) and polished to a knife's edge of marketability (Pretty Cure) in the subsequent decades.
On the other hand, the actual fans of the franchise, few as they may be in comparison, will have very specific memories and expectations about what the show should be like - i.e. like an 80s anime, tone, story, art and all. They may well not have watched any other anime since they were kids!
Faced with this scenario, what kind of show do you make?
What new technology from the last few decades do you use, if any (e.g. CG)?
Do you try and incorporate elements which made later shows hits, or keep it to the sort of story that would have fit right in with the original series? Would making something that feels like it came straight out of the 80s actually feel fresh nowadays, given how common polished remakes / reboots have now become?
Do you try and weave in themes that adults (which your original audience have now become) can appreciate, or keep it pitched at a new generation of children and hope that the original themes land with them despite the generation gap?
This article doesn't answer any of those questions, but I'll be curious to see how it (and all the other recent remakes) turn out.
Hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday season!
Old Tilders unite! I'm on board for the Samurai Troopers—which I know as Ronin Warriors—reboot, with tempered expectations of course. Loved that show back then. Never saw Minky Momo either, but pretty sure I've heard plenty of "Love Love Minky Momo" (Eurobeat?) covers. Good times.
I mainly know about Minky Momo because there's an urban legend that it's cursed. Basic gist is that an episode meant to end the series in a dark way coincided with a bjg earthquake. Apparently another earthquake coincided with the actual finale, and years later a rerun of it...
Well, I guess I hope they put a lot of effort and care into this OAV to appease her spirit xD