One anime I haven’t been following terribly closely is Captain Tsubasa. It’s a remake of the influential 1983 soccer anime that’s famous all around the world. I watched a few episodes of season 2 last night, and it got me thinking about how anime never dies, it just fades into the background for a while until it gets remade for a new generation. Let’s take a look at the best anime remakes that prove that anime is timeless!
The Story of Captain Tsubasa
Captain Tsubasa is the story of Tsubasa Oozora, a Japanese youth who loves soccer more than anything. He is finally able to realize his dream of representing Japan in the FIFA World Cup. While it didn’t make much of a cultural splash in English-speaking countries, the show was a smash hit across Europe, South America, and the Middle East. Many soccer stars, including Japan’s Hidetoshi Nakata, Italy’s Alessandro Del Piero, and Spain’s Fernando Torres have mentioned Captain Tsubasa as one of the reasons they wanted to become world-famous footballers.
Naturally, I love any aspect of Japanese popular culture that can reach out to so many around the world and make them love manga and anime. But the remake of Captain Tsubasa teaches us something else: that anime never dies, it just goes into hibernation until it’s ready to be remade for a new generation. If we wait long enough, virtually everything will come back to us again. Anime is timeless!
The Best Remakes That Prove Anime is Timeless!
Let’s look at some of the most successful remakes of popular anime, which managed to introduce a new generation of fans to a classic work!
Dororo, Hi no Tori: Eden no Sora. The modern manga and anime industries owe their existence to the great Tezuka Osamu. His stories are wonderful to read even today. But the God of Manga’s classic art style might not be very accessible to modern audiences. One outstanding updated remake of his works is Phoenix: Eden17, currently streaming on Disney+ and Hulu (depending on your country), which is a great example of the hard SF ideas Tezuka was able to create. Then there was the excellent Dororo, the story of a baby who is sold to demons by his father. The demons steal Dororo’s body parts for themselves, and Dorara must hunt them down one by one to win his humanity back. The remake was deliciously dark and enjoyable.
The Laughing Salesman. When this dark anime suddenly got a new season in the form of Warau Salesman New in 2017, I was happy that at least some fans might get turned on to this classic series. Each episode is a morality play in which a strange salesman named Fukuzou Moguro makes an offer to a person, though the offer comes with various strings attached that can ruin the person’s life if they don’t follow Fukuzou’s instructions perfectly. The anime is based on a manga created by Fujiko A. Fujio, who also brought the world Doraemon.
Area 88. One of the first manga published in English was Area 88. It’s the story of a Japanese pilot who is kidnapped and brought to a fictional North African nation, where he’s forced to fly battles as a mercenary. The 1985 OAV series ended without a resolution, but there’s a one-cour remake of the classic that brings the story to an end. It’s really good!
What are the best anime games you could be playing right now in M.A.M.E. emulation (including the Area 88 shooting game)? Here’s a blog post!
Fate/stay night Unlimited Blade Works. If you want to experience the original Fate story you could watch the original 2004 series, which is a bit dated by modern standards or you could opt to check out the 2014 UBW remake. The series was nicknamed “Unlimited Budget Works,” thanks to the ton of money Aniplex and Ufotable had available to throw at the project.
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Rebuild of Evangelion. While I’ll always be a fan of the gritty 1995 original, it is nice that fans can watch an updated version of the story in the form of the four Rebuild of Evangelion films.
Mr. Osomatsu. Another ridiculously successful reboot of a classic anime — which is even older than me — was Osomatsu-san. The clever writing and updated humor made it a smash hit with fans inside and outside of Japan…although season 2 fell flat in comparison to the huge success of season 1.
Legend of Galactic Heroes. While I don’t think the new remake can match the charm of the original, it is nice that a new generation can get a chance to see the story.
Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam: A New Translation. One of the reasons Gundam is a thing today is the success of the three compilation films, which saved Sunrise from bankruptcy. In 2005 the company released three compilation movies for Zeta Gundam, with about 50% of the animation being updated, and they were glorious.
(Can we please get compilation movies for ZZ Gundam, Sunrise? Is it so much to ask for?)
Gegege no Kitaro. Another show that proves anime is timeless is Gegege no Kitaro. The 2018 reboot was a big hit, allowing millions of fans around the world to revisit Shigeru Mizuki’s world of folk ghosts and other youkai spirits that began in 1968.
Fruits Basket. The original version was great, but I found the remake, which started in 2019, to be nearly perfect. Did you watch this amazing gem?
Space Battleship Yamato 2199. Finally, the anime most responsible for me being in Japan today. In 2012, anime studios Xebec and AIC announced a remake of the classic 1974 sci-fi anime, called Space Battleship 2199. It was absolutely wonderful, as near a perfect remake as my 11-year-old self could have ever wanted. It’s probably on Crunchyroll.
Thanks for reading this blog post about the Captain Tsubasa anime remake, and how anime is timeless, always receiving new life if we’re patient enough. What anime remakes have you enjoyed?
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