Ask John: Why Was Witchblade Turned Into An Anime?

Question:
My question concerns the recent Witchblade anime. I’m aware of Japanese companies acquiring American comic characters for series or projects, like the Spider-man manga and live action TV series or Batman projects. But they have always stayed with more internationally known characters from the two major publishers, D.C. and Marvel. I find it odd that they would acquire a series from a small publisher like Top Cow. I mean, incredibly popular at one time, the comic is not considered popular at all now. Are Top Cow and the Witchblade series known quantities in Japan? I guess my question boils down to this: Why would a Japanese company invest in a foreign property that is not all that popular in its home country?

Answer:
Independent American comics becoming anime aren’t entirely unheard of, but in most cases the productions were American commissions. For example, the Satanika and Warrior Nun Areala anime pilots were produced as commissions, and although Japanese exclusive episodes of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animation were produced and released, they wouldn’t have been made if the preceding series hadn’t been an American commission. The Witchblade anime is a bit unusual because it represents a case in which a Japanese studio licensed an American character and concept rather than a case of an American producer paying a Japanese studio to produce a particular animation.

I don’t know very much about Top Cow Productions. I don’t know if the company has close, personal ties with Japan’s anime industry or community. However, Top Cow is co-producing an anime adaptation of its Aphrodite IX comic with Madhouse Studios, and has partnered with Kodansha to produce an original Japanese Witchblade manga. I’m not familiar with the original American Witchblade comic, but apparently Gonzo’s Witchblade anime TV series is not a direct adaptation. Instead, Gonzo seems to have licensed only the name, concept, and basic Witchblade visual design and produced its own, original story with its own setting and cast. It seems quite possible that Gonzo Studios became aware of the American Witchblade comics, liked the concept, and pursued rights to create its own Japanese version of the original American concept. If that’s the case, the relative popularity of Witchblade in America is irrelevant. Since the Witchblade anime has no direct connection to the American comics beside the name and general concept, and considering that average Japanese viewers probably have very little idea of the exact degree of American interest in the franchise, the relative American popularity of the franchise has very little affect on its Japanese potential. The fact that Gonzo was interested in the Witchblade concept and thought that it would appeal to anime fans in Japan is adequate reason and justification to license adaptation rights.