Ask John: What Should FUNi Do to Make a Good Dragon Age Anime?

Question:
So it’s recently been announced that Funimation is teaming up with Bioware to help produce a Dragon Age anime film. I’m a little worried though because the entirety of Dragon Age easily goes over 150 hours of gameplay, yet they seem to want to tell the story in the course of a single movie. I think an OVA series would make more sense – rather then betting the “free holder” farm (heh) on one big movie, they could slowly develop and expand it as an anime series bit by bit seeing what they do right and wrong. So if they make a mistake they can correct it and improve on it, rather than having one large expensive production be a mistake.

Record of Lodoss War remains, in my opinion, the single greatest OVA series of all time and the best fantasy anime of all time as well. It seems like it’d make sense for the producers of the Dragon Age anime to try to see what made Record of Lodoss War OVA work. In your opinion, John, what would be the best path to making an excellent and successful Dragon Age anime? A movie, TV show, OVA series? And what shows would you recommend the creators of the Dragon Age anime look to for guidance?

Answer:
One of the problems that face film adaptations of popular franchises is the fact that producers and fans nearly always have differing perspectives and goals. Franchise fans want to see a satisfying adaptation that respects and adheres to the qualities that made the original material appealing. Producers realize that they’re obligated to create a successful commercial product, and doing so may not necessarily correspond to the attributes which fans may consider ideal. For an adaptation of an especially lengthy story, a multi-episode adaptation would probably be ideal. However, FUNimation and Bioware probably don’t have the luxury of anticipating multiple episodes. Planning, possibly. Expecting, not necessarily. If an initial Dragon Age animation isn’t successful, the probability of funding further episodes drops precipitously. So the ideal option from a production perspective is to make a big, encompassing, high-profile adaptation in the first place. There are two justifications for such a decision. A feature length initial production may generate more viewer interest than a pilot, and if its producers know that one episode may be all they’ll get, better to go for broke with that one episode rather than hold back with the expectation of subsequent episodes that might never get made.

The vast story of the Dragon Age game poses both risk and possibility. Condensing the entire game narrative into a single 90 minute animated film is certainly possible, although probably not wise. Alternately, a single feature could allow for a thrilling illustration of a single episode or adventure culled from the more expansive story, or focus on a single or small number of characters from within the game’s larger cast. At this early point, fans don’t know any details about this planned production. There’s been no word on story or production details. We don’t even know if this animated film will be animated by a Japanese studio or if it’ll be Korean or even American animation in “anime-style.” Given the source material, a multi-episode adaptation would allow for the most flexibility, creativity, and expansive adaptation. But considering that this production will be FUNimation and Bioware’s first collaborative film production, concentrating on making one, initial, successful feature length episode is the wisest professional course of action.

Since Bioware will be involved in the development of the Dragon Age anime, and the production is presumably being made primarily for an American audience, I think – and hope – that we won’t need to worry too much about its animators employing an appropriate tone and style in the animation. Given that Dragon Age is a serious and straightforward sword & sorcery fantasy, I’ll hope that we won’t need to worry about the animation taking inspiration from cute, bishoujo fantasy anime like Prism Ark, Villgust, and Luna Varga, or from comedy/parody fantasies including Master and Epic and Tower of Druaga. Fairly straightforward high fantasy anime like Ragnarok the Animation, Bouken Ou Beet, Grandeek, and the “Tales Of” series may be too Japanese in tone, too mild mannered, to do justice to the darker, grim tone of Dragon Age. The original Lodoss War OVA series and Legend of Crystania, although not necessarily the Lodoss War television series, seem like moderately suitable inspiration. Particularly sword swinging anime including Guin Saga, Berserk, Wizardry, and the 1992 Dragon Slayer Eiyu Densetsu Ouji no Tabidachi OVA may be even more useful examples of anime that approximate the Western style of barbaric high fantasy more closely than the more frequently seen lighter toned Japanese interpretation of swords & sorcery.