Ask John: What are Some Sadly Unproduced Anime?

Question:
Recently I saw a blog which mentioned that Alive – Saishū Shinka teki Shōnen was supposed to be animated by Gonzo in 2008 but was canceled. After reading the synopsis it sounded like a show which could have had a lot of potential. What other anime series, movies, or OAVs have been canceled which also held may have held a lot of potential? Have any of these canceled shows been resuscitated by different animation studios?

Answer:
Possibly coincidentally, just as I received this question, Anime News Network published a list of “Anime Projects That Never Took Off.” I object to the inclusion of Mardock Scramble on the list, as it did get produced, simply in a different format than originally envisioned. I also debate the inclusiong of Imagi’s Gatchaman movie on the list as the production was entirely Chinese, not Japanese. Regardless, the list does cite a few of the countless anime that have been tentatively announced but never fully produced.

A number of non-starter projects are fairly well known. To great regret and bitter disappointment, Madhouse studio founder Masao Maruyama has confirmed that as of August 2011 600 of 1500 planned shots for the late Satoshi Kon’s family film Yume Miru Kikai had been produced, but the studio had been unable to secure funding to finish the production. At present, the film’s development remains on indefinite hiatus.

In April 2009 character designer Yoshitoshi ABe announced that he would re-team with Serial Experiments Lain writer Chiaki J. Konaka and director Ryutaro Nakamura to produce an anime based on Japanese Dadaist poet Jun Tsuji’s poem “Despera.” Unfortunately, due to Nakamura’s poor health, the project was placed on “indefinite hiatus” in 2011.

Long-time fans will certainly recall that Gainax has two now legendary unproduced anime. In 1991 character designer Yoshiyuki Sadamoto created a pilot anime for a sci-fi romance film titled R20: Galatic Airport. The film was intended to be Gainax’s follow-up production to Wings of Honneamise, but the production was never funded and thus never produced. The following year Gainax began planning Aoki Uru (“Blue Uru”), a sequel to Wings of Honneamise that would be directed by Hideaki Anno. However, as reported in Yasuhiro Takeda’s history of the Gainax studio, Notenki Memoirs, development of the sequel film was canceled in July 1993 because the studio was financially unable to continue developing the production.

In February 2001 the AIC anime studio revealed character designs for Gunsmith Cats & Riding Bean creator Kenichi Sonoda’s new anime project Wrestloid Baby. The project appeared to be a new take on Jiro Gyu’s 1982 Plawres Sanshiro manga that got a popular anime adaptation in 1983 and later inspired CLAMP’s 1999 remake Angelic Layer. The Wrestloid Baby anime was never produced.

In 2002 Satoshi Urushihara’s EarthWork art studio announced tentative plans for a Femme Femme Buccaneer anime. Unfortunately, the female space pirates story was never animated.

I think it was actually me in 2006 that broke the English language news of rumor in Japan that Gonzo was considering an anime based on Italian director Dario Argento’s acclaimed 1977 suspense horror film Susperia. The possibility enflamed a tremendous amount of trepidation and hesitant hopeful curiosity. But since Gonzo encountered debilitating financial difficulties shortly later, the production never happened.

In 2010 Hobby Japan released a series of short Rokujoma no Shinryakusha!? anime clips online as a part of its so far fruitless “We Want to Adapt Rokujoma no Shinryakusha!? Into Anime!” campaign.

On the American front, Gonzo & FUNimation’s original action anime TV series The Five Killers looked quite promising in its 2007 pilot video.

Siwa Production and Studio 4°C’s tentative three-short film trilogy Project:13 became a non-starter when the project failed to reach its moderately unrealistic initial funding goal of $390,000 or, regrettably, even its moderate $60,000 second funding target.