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Blade Runner's Unbelievable Influence On Anime


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Brack



Joined: 15 Oct 2005
Posts: 291
Location: UK
PostPosted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 9:57 am Reply with quote
Roy Batty is a recurring character in Heybot. From episode 37 (Do Cyber-Rats Dream of Loser VocaBots?) onwards.
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AnimeLordLuis



Joined: 27 Jan 2015
Posts: 1626
Location: The Borderlands of Pandora
PostPosted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 10:31 am Reply with quote
I haven't watched Blade Runner in a while but I did just recently watch Bubble Gum Crisis and I have to say that after all these years it's withstood the test of time. Cool
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MarshalBanana



Joined: 31 Aug 2014
Posts: 5505
PostPosted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 10:40 am Reply with quote
Do the creators of Blade Runner know about this?
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Codeanime93



Joined: 28 Jul 2017
Posts: 599
PostPosted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 11:50 am Reply with quote
There's also Anime Alien rip-offs too, so they love taking ideas from Ridley Scott movies apparently. Though AD Police Files turns into a Robocop influenced anime by the 3rd one with the whole Billy Fanword plot.
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Sakurafire_



Joined: 01 Jun 2015
Posts: 67
PostPosted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 11:56 am Reply with quote
The nostalgia factor of this article is over 9000. I watched the Director's Cut of Blade Runner earlier this year (for the first time in 20 years... since I was a kid who didn't know what a sex bot was). I had a talk with my wife about all the anime that Blade Runner influenced, because she said the movie seemed so familiar, despite her never seeing it before!

If you've seen Blade Runner, you've seen a ton of 80s anime. If you've seen a ton of 80s anime, you've seen Blade Runner. (Also works for Aliens!) Pretty amazing how that works out.
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LoriasGS



Joined: 24 Jan 2015
Posts: 91
PostPosted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 12:08 pm Reply with quote
There's one anime that comes to mind that is certainly not a gritty sci-fi but is definitely influenced by Blade Runner... Plastic Memories. I'm positive the pitch for Plastic Memories is "I want Blade Runner as a romantic melodrama"

The idea of humanoid androids giftia/replicants (Not particularly unique but there's more).

The androids have a limited lifespan, after which they will die. There is no way to extend the lifespan.

The company that makes the androids employs people to go out and collect them once they near the end of their lifespan.

When they near the end of their lifespan the androids start to become more unstable and violent demonstrating superhuman strength and agility.

The main character is one of the people who collects the androids and he starts to feel sympathy/love for an android that works for the company (at least one of the versions of Blade Runner has a similar story line)

Those are all the similarities I can think of off the top of my head I haven't seen plastic memories since it first aired or Blade Runner for even longer so there may well be even more but there are enough similarities that it can't just be a coincidence.
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Great Rumbler



Joined: 03 Oct 2006
Posts: 334
Location: Oklahoma
PostPosted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 12:26 pm Reply with quote
It's pretty incredible how much impact late-70s/early-80s Western scifi movies had on anime. Along with Blade Runner, you can also see pretty clear influence from Star Wars, Alien, and Road Warrior. Maybe throw in Robocop, too.
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Hiroki not Takuya



Joined: 17 Apr 2012
Posts: 2663
PostPosted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 10:47 pm Reply with quote
I find the article title fitting, especially the "unbelievable" part. Loved Blade Runner since I saw it in '82 but the reviewer seems to be stretching a long way to attempt to back up his premise. Other than a few intentional moments in three shows, LoriasGS brings up about the only solidly influenced show of the bunch. With the addition of the "short" Blade Runner Blackout 2022, 2+1/2 shows were demonstrably directly influenced. About the only thing the author succeeds in illustrating is that the Tyrell Pyramid and cityscape (to a lesser extent) influenced several background artists. Should have made the article about the unexpected influence of American comedy on comedic anime...
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penguintruth



Joined: 08 Dec 2004
Posts: 8501
Location: Penguinopolis
PostPosted: Sat Oct 07, 2017 12:25 am Reply with quote
My first reaction to "They've made a Blade Runner anime!" was, "Yeah, it's called nearly every 1980 to early 1990s sci-fi anime." I mean, when anime wasn't busy taking from Alien (or Aliens). Just look at Lily C.A.T. and Gal Force.

I don't own a copy of Blade Runner, but I did buy Bubblegum Crisis three times and even that 2040 TV series from the 90s.
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MajorZero



Joined: 29 Jul 2010
Posts: 359
PostPosted: Sat Oct 07, 2017 1:35 am Reply with quote
Quote:
No, what WAS surprising about it is that it was actually well-made.

On a technical level? Sure. WB and Sony clearly didn't think twice before throwing cash at Watanabe. Story-wise? It is the weakest among shorts. It's longer than 2036 and 2048 combined yet it somehow delivered less information about the setting than either of them. I sure as hell enjoyed watching Trixie kicking ass, but ass kicking is the last thing I will watch Blade Runner related material for. It should have been written by Fancher and Green, not Watanabe himself.
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CCTakato



Joined: 24 Jul 2015
Posts: 514
PostPosted: Sat Oct 07, 2017 3:29 am Reply with quote
The influence it had on anime has always been part of why I love Blade Runner so much and why it's one of my all time favorite sci-fi movies. I find it interesting that American sci-fi so heavily inspired anime like Ghost in the Shell but Ghost in the Shell in turn ended up inspiring American sci-fi. As for other anime inspired by Blade Runner, I wonder if Chobits drew any inspiration from it? It's more of a romantic drama comedy series with light sci-fi elements but it shares the same themes about androids falling in love with humans and the issues of treating androids and humans equally.
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Kadmos1



Joined: 08 May 2014
Posts: 13617
Location: In Phoenix but has an 85308 ZIP
PostPosted: Sat Oct 07, 2017 7:57 am Reply with quote
Unless the MonMusu manga-ka and anime staff confirm such scenes were inspired by "Blade Runner", I think those scenes are perhaps coincidentally similar.
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residentgrigo



Joined: 23 Dec 2007
Posts: 2583
Location: Germany
PostPosted: Sat Oct 07, 2017 8:49 am Reply with quote
Silent Möbius wasn´t mentioned despite the manga ripping off the film very directly in the manga. The (inferior) anime had to tone down the parallels but it´s still clear which movie story they "adapted" in that ep. They also borrowed the film´s visual wholesale too. Not the greatest franchise, despite some charming characters, but that goes for most who tried to bask in Blade´s greatness.

The original Philip K. Dick novel is another masterpiece and all of you who need pictures to go with your novel should check out the 24 part BOOM! Studios comic adaptation. Every word is featured, to the comic´s detriment.

@penguintruth There is a hentai "based" on Alien 1979 with Alien from the Darkness. Replaceable the Xenomorph with a green haired girl who goes all Tetsou, the grit with tentacle rape and the space truckers with an all women/mostly lesbian crew and the there you go. Another timeless masterpiece was born... not.
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GeorgeC



Joined: 22 Nov 2008
Posts: 795
PostPosted: Sat Oct 07, 2017 1:12 pm Reply with quote
penguintruth wrote:
My first reaction to "They've made a Blade Runner anime!" was, "Yeah, it's called nearly every 1980 to early 1990s sci-fi anime." I mean, when anime wasn't busy taking from Alien (or Aliens). Just look at Lily C.A.T. and Gal Force.

I don't own a copy of Blade Runner, but I did buy Bubblegum Crisis three times and even that 2040 TV series from the 90s.


Also add Terminator to the list of films that anime homages ALL the time! Black Magic M-66 is DEFINITELY a Terminator homage and the Boomers in Bubblegum Crisis owe a bit to The Terminator as well as Blade Runner.

FYI, I like Bubblegum Crisis better than Blade Runner. I've bought BGC on LD (AnimEigo subtitled), twice on DVD, and most recently on the AnimEigo Blu rays... It's one of the few series that I would do that for! At least it hasn't been Special Editioned like one more popular series I could mention, and the originals are STILL available...! The original BGC OVAs are far better than the 2040 remake.

Blade Runner I've bought on the first Blu ray release (unspecial edition without the extra trinkets; just ALL the cuts of the movie to watch and compare when I'm at Death's door) and that'll probably be it for me. Other than general themes and art style, I've never completely understood the enthusiasm for that film. It's bleak-bleak and I like film noir like many classic film fans but this is not a film I care to see more than once every 20 years maybe. B&W film noir is easier to stomach IMHO and a lot more rewatchable. There's some film noir movies I've seen at least 3-4 times but Blade Runner ain't one of them!

My prediction is that Blade Runner 2049 will come and go quickly. It's like Tron Legacy -- who really asked for a sequel to the original TRON or BR to begin with?
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Rob Krol



Joined: 07 Oct 2017
Posts: 2
PostPosted: Sat Oct 07, 2017 2:44 pm Reply with quote
hm but where is Armitage on this list im almost sure that is a lot of Blade Runner reference in this anime ?!
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