The otaku Force is strong with this one.
Out of the major Western science fiction sagas, Star Wars feels the closest to anime. The currently seven-movie franchise consistently features hot-blooded youths, epic romances, tragic backstories, and all sorts of other emotional and storytelling beats that wouldn’t feel at all out of place in Japanese animation’s take on the sci-fi genre.
Barring a few exceptions, though, anime doesn’t really do movie franchises. No, if Star Wars was an anime, it’d be a long-running TV series, and The Force Awakens would be its recent batch of 13 new episodes. Of course, entering a new arc would mean it needs a new opener, and this video shows us what The Force Awakens might look like edited into an anime-style opening sequence.
Without question, the effect is enhanced by the use of “Colors,” the opening theme to 2006 anime Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion. But the choice of visuals also covers a lot of the bases for a traditional anime opening, with asymmetrical credits, dramatic pans, and screen time for the cute mascot character.
▼ Starring: Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac
▼ Director: J.J. Abrams
▼ “Waa, kawaii!”
It’s also cut to exactly one minute and 30 seconds, the standard amount of time given to weekly anime opening sequences.
But while the Japanese-text credits have been added in by the video’s creator, all of the footage is taken from The Force Awakens. As such, it can’t quite check off every single box in the anime opening cliche list, as there aren’t any zoom-outs from a character’s iris, flurries of black and white feathers, or girls running with a piece of toast hanging from their mouth. Nor do the actors and actresses look considerably more attractive, colorful, and detailed than they do in the feature itself, unlike many anime produced on a tight budget.
However, the video absolutely sticks the anime homage landing by ending with a smash cut to black as Kylo Ren swings his lightsaber down at the camera.
Now all someone has to do is edit the credits back out for a Blu-ray release “clean opening,” and we’ll be all set
Source: Culture Lab
Images: YouTube/Raymond Weil Ylagans