Ask John: Could the Witchblade Anime Start a Trend?

Question:
Hope they would make a Movie of Purgatori like they did Lady Death and a TV series of both titles. What do you think of the possibilities of that happening?

Answer:
To put it bluntly, I’m not holding my breath in anticipation of Japanese animated Purgatori or Lady Death anime. The Witchblade anime has been internationally successful, and there are plans for the production of additional anime based on American comic properties. But the success of Witchblade doesn’t ensure that other similar “bad girl” American comic characters will get the anime treatment. In fact, the Witchblade anime ended in Japan over two years ago, and no similar follow-up has been announced.

While Japanese comics are tremendously popular in America, American comics are not especially popular in Japan. The Witchblade anime, I believe, was an isolated, unique situation. The creative artists of Gonzo saw something within creator Marc Silvestri’s Witchblade comic franchise that they liked, and they developed that into an original Japanese production not directly based on any existing American Witchblade story. A Lady Death animated feature does exist, but despite being sometimes classified as anime, the Lady Death feature is not Japanese animation, nor has it been released in Japan. In 2005 Madhouse produced a short pilot video for an anime adaptation of Top Cow’s “bad girl” comic Aphrodite IX, but further development never happened. Going farther back, in 1998 Madhouse produced a pilot video based on American comic anti-heroine Satanika, but that project likewise never progressed. Development of the Satanika anime was halted because American sponsor Verotik Comics ceased funding the production, but it’s also notable that Madhouse didn’t choose to continue the production independently.

Batman was recently adapted into anime by Madhouse, Production IG, Bones, and Studio 4C in the Gotham Knight anthology. And Madhouse has confirmed plans to develop anime television series revolving around Marvel characters including Iron Man and Wolverine. It’s telling that these productions feature representative American super heroes: heroic, iconic, male heroes that are polar opposites of demonic or supernatural female anti-hero characters like Lady Death and Purgatori. One may argue that the Jigoku Shoujo anime has been very successful in Japan. But Enma Ai, the titular “hell girl” is frequently a mere supporting character in the series named for her, and the Hell Girl anime primarily does not occur in hell, nor does much of the series even highlight the supernatural. Consider the most popular female anime characters among Japanese otaku. Consistently the most popular female characters among Japanese viewers are supportive, optimistic, energetic, cheerful girls. Even popular “tsundere” characters are still vivacious. When Witchblade was adapted into a Japanese series, protagonist Masane Amaha was created as a fundamentally kind and compassionate mother. In other words, the characteristics and personalities of American comic characters like Lady Death and Purgatori are the opposite of what Japanese anime viewers enjoy watching.