Favorite video gaming series have just received the go-ahead for anime adaptations. Some of them have been huge successes because to their use of famous moments, magnificent combat scenes, and great personalities. Other series fall short, especially if anime producers concentrate on a less well-liked or perplexing plot. To honor the creators or fans, or to mark an anniversary, some developers may even pick an old game series.
Regardless, an anime that is based on a game might be a brilliant approach to attract new fans to the series. These kinds of anime may make or break people’s perceptions of the original material, provided their plots and characters are well-thought-out.
Updated on October 23rd, 2022 by Olivia Subero: A good deal of anime have manga origins, but there have been quite a few classics that actually originated from video games. Some fans have revisited these titles to introduce them to younger viewers, further expanding the fanbase.
12/12 Some Fans May Not Remember The Fruit Of Grisaia
Anime fans who love the occasional obscure title may remember The Fruit of Grisaia. The protagonist, Yuji Kazami, transfers to a new school and realizes he’s the only male among five other female students. While it seems like a typical harem romance on the surface, it’s more of a psychological drama with many disturbing themes, such as assault and cannibalism.
Three years prior, The Fruit of Grisaia released as a visual novel by Frontwing. Unlike the anime, the game contained multiple interactive narratives that wove into the overarching plot. Based on the player’s decisions, they could choose how Yuji interacted with each potential love interest, leading to a specific ending. The game could also end prematurely based on the player’s options, which could drive the story to an unexpected and possibly deadly conclusion.
11/12 More Fans Know Castlevania Through Its Netflix Anime
Older, seasoned gamers may recognize the gothic adventure series Castlevania. Created in 1986, it’s one of Konami’s most longstanding game franchises. However, younger generations are more familiar with the 2017 Netflix series.
Castlevania’s first two seasons adapted the third game, Dracula’s Curse, but its popularity quickly skyrocketed. The story followed Vlad Dracula Tepes, who swore to avenge his murdered wife. Vlad summoned a demon army to wreak havoc on the country, but a group of monster hunters set out to stop him.
10/12 Little Busters! Couldn’t Have Aired At A Better Time
Little Busters! is a 2007 school-based, slice-of-life visual novel created by Key. The series thrived thanks to Key’s growing popularity, reaching a second-place ranking in sales the following year. Animated by J.C.Staff, the anime debuted five years later. The timing was near perfect due to the moe boom of the early 2010s.
Little Busters! follows Riki Naoe, who lost his parents at a young age. He then befriends Kyousuke Natsume, and they create a group, “Little Busters,” dedicated to preserving justice. As time passes, the two grow apart but soon reunite after a few years. Kyosuke suggests reigniting the Little Busters by forming a baseball team. Riki agrees, and the duo recruits more players to join their childhood friend group.
9/12 Kemono Friends Combines Two Subgenres Into One Adorable Series
Kemono Friends was the perfect addition to the growing “kemonomimi” anime collection. Most of the cast is female, so it also fits into the “cute girls doing cute things” subgenre. Many anime fans familiar with this cutesy animal series may not realize that it used to be a mobile game. Before its manga and anime adaptations, it debuted on Android and iOS in 2015.
Japari Park houses a variety of exotic creatures, now anthropomorphized due to a strange substance called “Sandstar.” The humanoid animals are called “Friends” and live happily in their habitat. The Kemono Friends anime takes place sometime after the game’s events, following the Friends’ encounter with a girl who has no memory of entering the park.
8/12 .Hack//Sign, An Old-School Isekai, Walked So Sword Art Online Could Run
.hack — pronounced “dot hack” — is a 2002 RPG game created for the PlayStation 2. It expanded to multiple games and, by April 2004, sold around 1 million units in Japan. An anime version, known as .hack//Sign, made its way to TV screens thanks to anime studio Bee Train.
.hack//Sign follows Tsukasa as he’s transported to an MMORPG game called “The World.” However, he wakes up with no memory of how he got there and no way to log out. Despite his confusion, Tsukasa must avoid the Crimson Knights and find a way to return home. Tsukasa meets other players in the same situation, which motivates him to investigate the truth behind his new predicament.
7/12 Clannad Is Still Famous Despite Fans Not Knowing Its Game Origins
Many anime fans recognize the 2007 drama-comedy Clannad — one of Kyoto Animation’s earliest projects — but may not know its origins. Clannad started as a visual novel three years prior, gaining significant traction in Japan. After the anime’s success, the game had a 2015 release worldwide and has since retained a loyal fanbase.
Clannad’s story follows a high school delinquent, Tomoya Okazaki, struggling to bond with his father after his mother’s death. After an injury removing him from the basketball team, he loses interest in school, frequently skipping classes or arriving late. Tomoya doesn’t look forward to a new semester until he meets Nagisa Furukawa, who is repeating her last year because of an illness.
6/12 Fans May Remember Ufotable’s Touken Ranbu
Besides Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works or Demon Slayer, Touken Ranbu was some viewers’ first encounter with Ufotable. Like the previous two, it stood out with its stunning graphics and gorgeous fight sequences, quickly gaining hype around its 2016 debut.
Not many fans knew this when it first aired, but Touken Ranbu was based on a card-collecting game from 2015. It took six years before the game gained enough attention for its worldwide release in 2021. Each card character represented a legendary sword personified as an attractive young man. In the game, the player used a sage character tasked with wielding the “swords” to defeat any threats to Japan’s historical progression.
5/12 The Infamous School Days Has Video Game Origins
In 2005, 0verflow developed School Days, a harem-romance visual novel game for the PC and later PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable releases. Two years later, anime studio TNK adapted School Days into an anime, but it became famous for all the wrong reasons. The anime has a reputation for having one of the worst anime couples but also three of the most flawed characters.
First-year high schooler, Makoto Itou, has a crush on Kotonoha Katsura, a classmate he sees on his daily commute. Sekai Saionji, another classmate, offers to help him get closer to Kotonoha. Over time, she grows jealous of their relationship and begins her own quest for Makoto’s affection. While School Days’ premise seems like a typical love triangle, it delves into much darker territory.
4/12 Professor Layton Has Been Around For A While
Younger Professor Layton fans may not realize its longstanding history in the gaming community. Level-5’s puzzle-adventure game hit the market in 2007, releasing multiple spin-off games, a 2009 film, and the 50-episode anime from 2018. It’s a commercial success and is now one of the company’s best-selling games.
Professor Layton focuses on the titular detective, Hershel Layton, and his young assistant, Luke Triton. The two travel around 1960s London to investigate various mysteries and solve brain-busting puzzles. The Professor Layton franchise excels at stimulating the mind with exciting, episodic storytelling.
3/12 Shuffle! Is A Hidden Gem
Shuffle! is a fantasy-based romantic comedy developed by Navel, first released on PC in 2004 but later on the PlayStation 2. The game had some competition with the newly released Fate/Stay Night but still reached massive success in Japan. Then, in 2005, the anime studio Asread adapted the game into an anime. Despite Funimation doing the dubbing and distribution, Shuffle! remained relatively niche within the Western anime community.
The anime takes place in modern-day Japan, where gods and demons rule. The kings of both realms move to the human world and befriend Rin Tsuchimi, an ordinary student at Verbena Academy. They have a good reason for this sudden life change: their daughters are head over heels for Rin and will do what they can to win his affection, but the two princesses aren’t the only ones fighting over him. Rin’s childhood friend, Kaede, upperclassman Asa, and another quiet demon girl, Primula, also have their eyes on him.
2/12 Show By Rock!!’s Developers Collaborated With A Titan Of The Kawaii Community
In 2013, the mobile rhythm game Show By Rock!! made its debut. The developer, Geechs, collaborated with the kawaii giant Sanrio, creating the ultimate experience in cuteness. The anime — animated by Bones — aired just two years later and has been a massive success amongst the kawaii community, spanning four seasons.
First-year high school student, Cyan Hijirikawa, wants to join her school’s music club. She’s passionate but lacks the courage and confidence to assert herself. One night, she’s sucked into a rhythm game she’s playing, and she’s now granted a magical guitar known as “Strawberry Heart.” The unfamiliar world is Midi City, controlled by those who create the most powerful music. Before Cyan can adapt to her new life, she notices a dark force looming over the city and threatening to steal everyone’s musical talents. She joins a band tasked to protect the city and make a name for themselves.
1/12 Angels Of Death Is Perfectly Creepy For Any Horror Anime Fan
While Angels of Death may be a niche title, it deserves to stand with other prominent psychological horror anime. Before its 2018 debut, most anime fans were unaware of its source material. Its video game version came out in 2015, gaining a cult following in Japan before reaching a wider audience the following year. Four years later, Angels of Death had multiple manga, light novel spin-offs, and a following of dedicated fans.
13-year-old Rachel Gardener wakes up in an abandoned building, lost and without recollection of how she got there. An announcement reverberates through the building and deems her a “sacrifice.” Rachel soon encounters a serial killer, Isaac “Zack” Foster, who wishes to escape. The two decide to team up but must make their way through the building and the murderous individuals operating on each floor.
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