Ask John: Will There Ever Be A King Of Fighters Anime?

Question:
The series is pretty popular and well known, and over the years SNK has revised and retconned it enough for a cohesive story. Each character has been animated before, and I believe there is enough material for a fairly long series. I enjoyed the Fatal Fury Anime, and if they make the same effort, I don’t see why not.

Answer:
Considering the number of anime related questions I field it’s inevitable that I frequently come up against questions that I can’t answer. This is one such question, but since I know it’s a question that many anime fans have pondered, I’ll attempt to address it. Numerous “versus” fighting games have gotten anime adaptations. Just a few examples include Street Fighter, Garrou Densetsu, Tekken, Virtua Fighter, V.G., Gokaizer, Ryuko no Ken, Samurai Spirits, and Toshinden. However, the two most significant absences are probably King of Fighters and Guilty Gear.

To be precise, Production I.G did produce a short series of King of Fighters: Another Day anime episodes for internet broadcast in 2005. And Guilty Gear X got a short anime promotional video in 2003. But while Garrou Densetsu (Fatal Fury) and Ryuko no Ken (Art of Fighting) have gotten full length anime adaptations, and their characters feature prominently in King of Fighters, there isn’t any “full length” King of Fighters anime. Only Japanese anime producers know exactly what conditions determine anime adaptations. The King of Fighters game franchise does have an abundance of story and characters, but its appeal may be limited primarily only to Japanese game fans rather than anime viewers. Or perhaps the sheer amount of story and characters in the “KoF” series make it troublesome to effectively adapt into an anime series that will satisfy both producers and viewers. It’s also necessary to keep in mind that anime featuring extensive, intricate action scenes can be difficult, time-consuming, and expensive to animate.

The fact that the Street Fighter ~Aratanaru Kizuna~ OVA will be released soon demonstrates that the anime industry does still produce anime based on fighting games. The long running King of Fighters game series is still ongoing. So it would be premature to say that an extended King of Fighters anime production will never happen, but the possibility does seem remote. After all, if a King of Fighters anime was probable, it probably would have been already made and released by now. I’m aware that this answer may not be very satisfying or encouraging, but hopefully it will provide some commiseration, at least.