What's with all the remakes?

[Nightengale]

Originally Posted by Streetor

Just my theory but people are spoiled on newer animation. Perhaps, if they reanimate a classic, it'll reinject some vitality in it.

For example in America at least, the original MSG got very low ratings. I have a feeling it had to do with the animation. If it was animated like for example Gundam Wing (which did very well) I think it would have done better.

But then again, a lot of us Americans get drawn in by eye-candy such as seen by the popularity of the PSP and XBox.

Bull. MSG was made in the late 70s/early 80s, where expectations of flashy animation was hardly valid. If that was indeed the case, animes like Getter Robo and Mazinger Z wouldn't go on to become mecha legends. It is indeed the case when older animes get sent over to the States, but how well the anime does over at the other side of the world rarely influences the market in Japan over remakes. The only case I could remember was probably M.U.S.C.L.E, The Kuniikukiman Legacy.

SEED didn't recieve the same level of popularity Wing had in the States as well.

[relentlessflame]

I think the "rise of the remake" was pretty much unavoidable. In an increasingly crowded anime market, producers and financiers are looking for things that are sure to stick out and sell. Over the last few years, they've been digging deeper and deeper for content - visual novels, light novels, spin-offs of past anime/source material, etc. What better way to appeal to people than through nostalgia? I basically see it as a sign that we're looking at a slightly more conservative anime market (probably partly in response to the realization that the overseas market is, in fact, finite). There'll continue to be a lot of cheaply-animated outsourced shows, but that rare and precious "homegrown" (Japanese) animation talent will be put to use on shows that are sure to sell (much in the same way that it is now being used to "fix up" animation on DVDs that sell well). I guess the key thing they'll be watching now is to see how the "re-sales" go. Fan reaction around here seems to be cautiously optimistic, but will that optimism carry all the way to the DVD store? We'll see...

[orion]

Originally Posted by Maximum Burst

The upcoming Negima season is not a remake at all. It's like an original story that uses the characters from the manga. It has pretty much nothing to do with the first series. The upcoming Negima OVAs also aren't remakes. They are just animated/expanded chapters from the manga (or at least the first OVA will be. I think I've heard that the second one will be some original story).

But, in a way, the OVA is a remake. The characters are getting closer to the manga in design and fanservice from what I've heard and hopefully plot too. So, some of the regrets get washed away and fans get separated from their money easier. True, the first series isn't being redone, but you can't have everything.

[DanielSong39]

Looks like many of you may have missed it, but Glass Mask (2005) was a fantastic remake. An anime of the highest quality, yet remained surprisingly below the radar.

Lack of fansubs may be the primary culprit... how did the show go over in Japan?

[orion]

Actually, I didn't last past the first episode of Glass Mask 2005. I thought that it was too cliched.

I don't know what how it did in Japan.

Couldn't one consider Gundam SEED as a remake of MS Gundam?

[The Avatar]

Originally Posted by relentlessflame

I think the "rise of the remake" was pretty much unavoidable. In an increasingly crowded anime market, producers and financiers are looking for things that are sure to stick out and sell. Over the last few years, they've been digging deeper and deeper for content - visual novels, light novels, spin-offs of past anime/source material, etc. What better way to appeal to people than through nostalgia? I basically see it as a sign that we're looking at a slightly more conservative anime market (probably partly in response to the realization that the overseas market is, in fact, finite). There'll continue to be a lot of cheaply-animated outsourced shows, but that rare and precious "homegrown" (Japanese) animation talent will be put to use on shows that are sure to sell (much in the same way that it is now being used to "fix up" animation on DVDs that sell well). I guess the key thing they'll be watching now is to see how the "re-sales" go. Fan reaction around here seems to be cautiously optimistic, but will that optimism carry all the way to the DVD store? We'll see...

Well how about instead of remaking anime they just continue some. One of the things that piss me off about anime companies is that they finish a series and then move on to the next one. This eventually uses up ideas and then what happens? uh remake! Why don't they just continue good shows like Full Metal Alchemist or Rec or The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya instead of rehashing the old stuff. It's like eating steak the new shows are like hot fresh steak while the remakes are like day old cold steak that was put in the microwave. Now the cold steak can be good reheated, but why not just give me more of the fresh stuff?

Ok I think I may have lost my original point