Anime Remakes That The World Needs to Happen
Animation, in general, feels like one of the most finicky forms of media. Some anime age well, such as the case with Cowboy Bebop, while others lose their luster over time. Other anime look great but handle their pacing or source material, such as manga, with disappointing results.
As such, the community needs quite a few anime remakes or reboots to happen at some point in the near future. These anime remakes should happen, whether to give it a new lick of paint with a modern animation style or to fix some of the issues from the original, a la what Madhouse’s Hunter x Hunter did.
1. Claymore (2007)
This engrossing dark fantasy story follows Clare, a Claymore who uses her Yoma powers to battle evil demons on her island. The original anime from Madhouse looks great, but its problem comes from rushing its source material and creating its own original ideas. A fresh remake following the now-complete manga would be great.
2. Mobile Suit Gundam (1979)
The progenitor of the mech genre broke new ground when it first came out. However, it doesn't look good today as one of the worst-looking anime on this list. It needs a modern visual update more than any other anime here to give its vital story a second chance.
3. Dragon Ball (1986)
Goku’s first anime series suffers from simplistic and outdated animation. Dragon Ball Z got its update with the Kai version, but the original story of the young Goku and his friends needs a modern remake at some point for newer fans.
4. Berserk (1997)
The original Berserk anime from the 1990s looks pretty good, but it only covered so much of the series. It scored a follow-up in the 2010s, but it suffers from awful 3D animation. A proper reboot from the ground up of the entire story with only 2D animation would help it.
5. Death Note (2006)
Madhouse created one of the most popular anime of all time with its adaptation of Death Note. The anime has quite a few problems, though, such as its drawn-out pacing and forgettable final third of its 37 episodes.
A remake with modern animation and a much shorter story of around 24 episodes would give it the pacing it needs.
6. Monster (2004)
This Madhouse masterpiece has a whopping 74 episodes and follows a doctor who chooses to save a young boy who becomes the next Hitler-like figure. It has incredible writing, characterization, and story. However, its 74 episodes and dated animation needs some work to better pace it for about half as many episodes.
7. Pandora Hearts (2009)
This high fantasy anime series follows a boy named Oz, whose heir status puts him in the middle of a battle for the nobility-focused world's fate.
The original 25-episode series looks good, but it had very little of the manga source material to work with. This led to poor writing and shallow characters. A remake could work with the completed manga now.
8. Slam Dunk (1993)
The anime adaptation of this beloved basketball sports anime came out in the middle of the source manga’s creation. This led to a rushed and unfinished experience for fans. A modern remake with better animation and a closer adherence to the source material would work well.
9. Gantz (2004)
This anime feels like another one that could benefit from revisiting the manga source and recreating it more faithfully. The original anime has many issues with a low budget and horrible animation quality, even for 2004, and needs a serious rework.
10. Deadman Wonderland (2011)
This anime went off the rails from its manga. It took its own direction in terms of story and left viewers hanging with one of the worst cliffhanger endings in anime history. It needs a serious reboot from the ground up with a proper retelling of its manga.
11. Astro Boy (1963)
Astro Boy has several remakes, unlike most of the entries on this list. However, the most recent one in 2003 didn’t complete the story, much like all of them. This monumental early manga series deserves a faithful adaptation with high-quality animation.
12. Full Moon o Sagashite (2002)
This emotional story follows a girl who wants nothing more than to fulfill her wish to become a singer and find the boy she fell in love with as a child. The 52-episode anime came out at the start of the manga, so it went in its own direction. As such, this remarkable story deserves a second chance.
13. Battle Angel Alita (1993)
This renowned sci-fi cyberpunk manga series has a short two-part anime adaptation from the 1990s, but it remains unfinished, plus a complicated live-action version. It feels like this manga about an amnesiac cyborg never got the true anime it deserves, which should change.
14. Soul Eater (2008)
The Studio Bones adaptation of this beloved action manga series in 2008 came out in the middle of the source material’s creation. As such, it created its own ending and path for the remaining episodes, which diverges quite a lot from the manga. The manga’s completion after the fact means it deserves an anime recreation.
15. Saint Seiya (1986)
This property about five mystical Power Rangers-like warriors with special armor stands out as one of the most popular on this list. It has plenty of movies and one-off anime versions, but they all jump around in the story. A proper anime remake with the full story from start to finish feels necessary.
16. Tsukihime (2003)
This anime comes from a visual novel video game much in the same vein as the popular Fate/Stay Night series. The animation looked a bit disappointing in 2003, and with a remake of the original video game now here, an anime reboot feels like a great idea.
17. Skip Beat! (2008)
This classic series follows a girl who enters show business to get revenge against her ex, who mistreats her. The story feels fun and full of fantastic characters, but the original anime only covered a fraction of its manga inspiration. A proper remake covering the manga’s whopping 49 volumes should happen.
18. Fushigi Yugi (1995)
The original anime version of this underrated fantasy manga tells most of the story well. However, its outdated animation and its complicated themes need a proper remake at some point that handles its sensitive subject material with better care.
19. Outlaw Star (1998)
Outlaw Star feels like the awkward sibling to Cowboy Bebop in how it also features a sci-fi space story with memorable characters, but it lacks its competitor’s high-quality animation. As such, a remake with better visuals and perhaps a longer storyline would help it out a lot.
20. Umineko (2009)
Umineko feels like one of the biggest misses in the entire anime industry. It bases itself upon a video game similar to its predecessor Higurashi. The murder mystery horror series feels witty, and its writing feels more impressive than most anime on this list, but it stops just as the story gets good. Its sibling, Higurashi, enjoyed a remake and sequel in 2020, so Umineko should be next on the list of anime remakes.
21. Rosario+Vampire (2008)
This goofy comedy series follows a boy who finds himself enrolled in a secret high school for monsters. The original anime version mishandled its characters and created an entertaining mess. Its manga deserves a better-produced experience.
22. Alice in Borderland (2014)
This particular manga-turned-anime series finds itself in a unique spot. Netflix already has a renowned live-action version, but even it skipped over quite a bit of story. Alice in Borderland had a pitch-like anime with only three episodes in 2014, but it never continued. A more faithful remake needs to happen.
23. Ouran High School Host Club (2006)
This manga and anime series follows a girl who goes to an elite boarding school and joins a club full of guys who all fall in love with her. The anime stands out as one of the better on this list in terms of writing, but it only covered about half of the manga. A modern remake with a much better animation style more akin to Fruits Basket would make an excellent addition to anime remakes.
24. Darker than Black (2007)
Darker than Black has some of the best animations on this list. Its problem doesn’t come from the show's look but from its underrated and unfinished story. It skips over quite a bit, rushes too much in the second season, and leaves many unanswered questions.
Worse still, unlike most on this list, it started as an original anime, so its manga adaptation doesn’t address these issues. A proper, finished remake of this dystopian action series could rank as one of the greatest anime of all time if done right.
