Game of Thrones is a phenomenon that hasn’t quite grabbed Japan the way it has the rest of the world. This might be a big step in the right direction though.

A french animator that goes by the name Malec on YouTube has created a near perfect anime version of the Game of Thrones opening title sequence. It really has it all; from the character stills to the lightning bolt transitions and, of course, the new version of the theme song. I mean no other genre does an opening sequence quite like anime does.

Even the new theme song is incredible. One intrepid commenter did their best to translate the lyrics into English and the rough translation goes like this:

Between us, there is something warm Burning LOVE or HATE, I don’t know, I don’t know TAKE MY HAND I said something I didn’t know well, but WINTER HATING LOVE Winter is coming, but I’m not afraid Singing, burning, becoming FIRE I don’t feel the cold WINTER HATING LOVE Blood will be linked but SEX IS FREE Singing, burning, becoming fire, Tiring, ending GAME OF GAME OF GAME OF THRONES!!!!!

One nice thing about anime over live-action is the budget. I mean if the series was animated I believe we would get even more dragons and Jon Snow’s direwolf, Ghost, might actually show up once in awhile.

That is a rant for another day though. Instead, let’s ask why Game of Thrones isn’t so popular in Japan. So many other countries are crazy about the show and it apparently does alright in Japan, but many people have said that Japanese fans just don’t like medieval themes since it is very European.

If the people behind Game of Thrones want to reach out to Japan and their people with their next project then videos like this should give them some inspiration. I mean, if you want an example of how cool that could be then look no further than the Japanese covers of the original Game of Thrones novels.

They bring a whole new look to the characters that varies pretty wildly from all of the uber-attractive and European looking people of the HBO version.

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Source, top image: YouTube/Malec