Supernatural: El anime

Most remakes are like big contradictions; they're made for fans of the original series looking for more, but as a fan you'll probably be expecting what's going to happen more often than not, and you'll inadvertently end up bummed out about it. A complete newcomer to the series on the other hand, unaware of the important events that shape the plot, may derive much greater pleasure from watching, but they are also much less likely to be drawn to the series since they haven't seen the original to begin with.

On comes Supernatural: The Animation, created by Madhouse Inc. animation studio, responsible for such fantastic animes as Death Note and Monster, with the likely intent to open the orient up to a great series that has garnered quite the cult following. By the time I'm reviewing this I have watched the entire first season of this anime, dubbed in English for the impending North American release and I have to say that I'm actually really impressed.

It should be understood that anime (and animation in general) is rather different from live action TV. Most western TV shows like Supernatural employ a 1-hour time slot, including commercial breaks, but a time slot for Japanese anime as well as most serialized western animation is 30 minutes. As a result, some of the episodes do seem rushed and incomplete. Certain plot points are glossed over to reach the conclusion more quickly. If you only watch the first few episodes you may feel that the series has been 'dumbed down', or a lot of detail and vibrancy has gone lost, and you'd be right. Part of what made the original Supernatural so effective and haunting is its firm foundation within reality. Special effects had always been subtle and elegantly simple, like the faint, static-like flicker of ghosts, the black smoke of demons against the darkness of night, or the way things always seem to appear or vanish just an inch off-screen, to the point that any phenomenon you see could be legitimately shrugged off as a play of light or an optical illusion. A lot of animation however goes in a different direction, where the artistic freedom bestowed by the animation genre allows for much more bombastic and impossible sights. Let it be clear that this is not the Supernatural you may know, but fortunately, the core of the original series - the relationship between the Winchester brothers - is also at the heart of the anime.

Contentwise, the first season of the anime (I'm not sure if further seasons are being planned or not) spans the main plot from the first two seasons of Supernatural. While some monster-of-the-week style Episodes that made up original Supernatural's first two seasons had been remade for the anime, there are also new and very entertaining ones that should drive even the most jaded fan to the edge of their seat, but where this anime really shines is the parts where it further expands the storyline of the main series, fleshing out events of the past and further exploring the history of the Winchesters. Some of it is a bit different, and some of it is new entirely, but if Kripke would declare it all canon I wouldn't have a single problem with it. Like the original series, it took me about a third of a season to really get hooked, but once you're hooked, you won't get unhooked.

Visually and aurally, this anime is artful and well-animated, but then again studio Madhouse has always had a thing for 'realistic' anime. The characters are drawn in authentic proportion, move well, and objects and people are animated with a proper sense of weight and mass. Character design is great for the most part, but Dean stands out in special. From the first time I saw him to the last time the credits rolled, I never once questioned that this was Dean, even though Jensen Ackles only got to voice him in the last two episodes, bummer. The shortcomings of the animation medium are visible still, but rarely detract from the overall experience. Most of the faults are the result of a lack of budget, as it is with most anime; eventually I got a little tired of hearing the two or three main tunes from the aggressively small soundtrack, and hearing that Kansas song at the conclusion of every episode felt rather indulgent, since in the original it was used to signal the penultimate episode of the season. There's also something surreal about still shots where only a character's lips are moving but well, that's animation for you. The fact that this anime is based on a live-action series probably highlights such shortcomings even further, especially in areas where the original excelled, and one of the most outstanding visual features from the original series were the fantastic locations. There simply weren't any utter scenery wow-moments as there were in the original, like the many gorgeous motel rooms or that incredibly creepy house full of redneck cannibals, or the ruined mental ward, or Bobby Singer's place...

If you're a fan, check it out! If you're not, but like animation or horror genre anyway, definitely check it out. 3 stars

Enjoyed immensely all 22 episodes of the 2011 "Supernatural" anime DVD, which is based on Seasons 1 and 2 of the live action series shown on The CW Network (USA). Not only is the animation superb, but it goes beyond the usual Japanese anime conventions into some really cool and gorgeous visual effects. Episodes are introduced by Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki, as a team or separately, depending on the episode. Jared does the voice of "Sam Winchester" for all 22 episodes; Jensen voices "Dean Winchester" in episodes 21 and 22 -- "All Hell Breaks Loose, Parts I and II." Although Andrew Farrar, who voices "Dean" in episodes 1 through 20, does a fine job (and on occasion does sound eerily like "Dean"), the episodes voiced by Jensen Ackles are "pure Dean" and superior because of his distinctive vocal gifts.

In addition the anime features a number of original-story episodes that fit well into the Season 1 and 2 canons. They are well written, absorbing, and really fun to watch. The graphics and animation are truly outstanding on two distinct levels: (1) a jaw-dropping feel of "bigness," complexity, angles of view, and scary gore; and (2) lyrically beautiful color/contrast, architecture, design, and appeal. Having a nightmarish monster lurking in front of a background as delicate as a Hiroshige drawing is breathtaking! The DVD also contains an extended interview with Eric Kripke as well as in-depth interviews with Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles (together and individually) that really explore how this unique "Supernatural" project developed, and what the principals think about it. Very interesting stuff, as is the back office look at the Mad House Team that put this wonderful project together and the diverse elements that went into it. The choice of a female director to do the emotional, sensitive story lines and a male director to do the gore-and-guts action sequences was quite interesting.

Buy the "Supernatural" anime DVD; as a fan of either live action or anime -- or both, you will love it!

Season 1 is a anime remix of the series one and two. The reviewer who complained about the exposition dumps apparently remembers season 1 of the live action differently than I do. They used to stop and tell each other things like this all the time.

The anime has the standards conventions - people change hair color to suit the environment (although I am saddened that Sam's hair never has the emotional acting that anime hair often does.) Dean is a horn-dog with an open face, Sam is obsessed with finding Dad and The Thing That Killed Mom and Jess. He gets the classical anime hero drawing. John is the gruff, tragic father - shadowed, square jawed and 20 feet tall. The true break is Bobby who seems to be older and much fatter than he should be. The English dub would also make him from New York. You either accept these things or you do not. Anime viewers are not thrown by these.

The actual supernatural elements are actually better than the series. The gore factor certainly gets a boost. The anime is the Winchesters driving into a different ghost story every week. It was a blast to visit and if you like season one and two, you should definitely watch.

If you like Japanese Anime like I do you will enjoy this series, now I never miss a beat when it comes to the original series so when I heard there was a animated one I jumped all over it. Now the person who wrote the other review didn't know what they were talking about this anime was very entertaining and at times veered away from the original series so you wont get that i know what happens next feeling also its well animated. Now the cons are Dean is defiantly not like his self in the series he's represented to be more of a klutz and not really a good hunter, also the demons were not creepy enough for me guess they were aiming for a younger audience (joke) and don't get me started on bobby ughh bad representation. All in all it was bland for lovers of the original series but a must watch for anime and supernatural lovers like myself . Enjoy

i have seen people saying watch this if you have not watched the live action i say it's the other way round due to all of the lore being there but it's not explained as much and relies on you watching the live action, the dub is okay like any dub it has it's problems but what makes supernatural great is there and it's one hell of a ride !

Sam and Dean look like they should and there are some really good re-imagining of some characters that i will not spoil here. I think it's a shame most people who reviewed this only watched the first episode as with most thing the quality increases drastically after the first episode especially the animation that was not bad to begin with.

the bottom line is if you like supernatural and wonder about if things happened a bit differently deferentially give it a watch just make sure you watch past the first episode before judging it i love it and i hope you do too