Could Katawa Shoujo ever be an anime?

[Ambezua]

I think that the use terms prevents anyone from making an anime of KS without their expressed consent. Also, as many others have said before myself, even creating a single OVA would require a vast amount of resources and time. Personally, I have some experience with animation (basic character and object animation without color) and even making a two-minute clip is a huge time investment if drawn out frame-by-frame.

Yes, it would requite a very skilled writer to be able to weave the five stories together into a single plot that gives each of the characters justice, but more than simply the writing (and voice acting, for that matter) it is a huge job for animators to accurately portray the girls and each of their disabilities. I can't claim to have much personal experience in the area, but I assume that the way that they move and interact with the world would be different (if even only slightly) than how people who do not have disabilities would approach it.

Every last movement in animation is intentional and must be scripted for a specific purpose, or at least to give a more real or deep portrayal of the character in question. Done properly, animation can be a very powerful medium, and might be able to add even MORE of an impact to each of these girl's stories.

I can say that these stories have had an impact on my own life in the very least, and I hope to someday complete a story, short animation, or VN of my own that can convey my own thoughts and feelings to others just as effectively and strongly as these stories have touched me. I don't know if my dream will ever come true, but I hope to someday at least help work on such a project in the future even if it is not my own.

It seems unlikely from where I stand that such will ever come to pass for KS, but we can always hope, right?

[Yuno]

As far as I know the Japanese are only interested in making anime about Japanese things

Eh, I wouldn't say so. I think it's just because there haven't really been many non-japanese things that have been popular in Japan.
Also, most anime is derived from Manga. The art of drawing in Manga "style" hasn't really been popular in the west until recently, and I don't think there are many manga or even US comic books that are popular in Japan just because they haven't been translated.

That aside, there have been several anime with very keen western influences (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Higurashi) and there have been many collaborations and projects made on western-based media in Japan. For example, Huckleberry Finn Monogatari, The Animatrix and Halo: Legends were Japan-produced anime adaptations based on western media.

[ElSuperNova]

I contemplated this too when I had seen a slew of the cut-scenes produced for the game, but the logistics, both practical and storywise leave my wishes in the dust.
KS is far too complicated for an Omnibus format like the Amagami SS anime (speaking of which, the first episode of the new season was aired recently) and a series dedicated to a particular girl without having 5 seasons for everyone would leave one with an unsatisfied note.

What of a 25 minute epilogue OVA? 5 minutes for everyone.
A man can dream...

[Ambezua]

Five minutes each would actually be manageable (someone with as little experience as I could probably draw up the black-and-white sketch animation for it in a bit over a month's time)... But, one would need to get voice actors (as well as official permission from the creators).

This discussion has me curious about how one would actually go about weaving all the stories together to form a single plot line... Without making Hisao look like a playboy, that is.

[Jojje]

What of a 25 minute epilogue OVA? 5 minutes for everyone.
A man can dream...

I wouldn't mind that. It might give me some peace of mind for certain paths anyway.

[reddrake56]

Well, not really I say.

In order to be an actual anime, it would have to balance out all the girls. It would probably make Hisao look like a real douche. Either he'd have to not go for any girls, or go for all of them at the same time, which would make him really gross and look like he's taking advantage over all of them. If anything, if there was an anime, it should be before Hisao's involvement, showing all the girls before he arrived.

I think they did a pretty good job with amagami SS. That route could be taken with an anime. Four or so episodes devoted to a single girl and then rotate back to the beginning of the story for the next one.

[techk8]

As repeated before, time and effort will be of much requirement.

In all honestly, I don't care if it's an OVA or a whole series; it needs to end with the Lilly Good End, damnit! IT'S FUCKING CANON AND I'LL TAKE THAT TRUTH TO THE GRAVE.

[Erybis]

As repeated before, time and effort will be of much requirement.

In all honestly, I don't care if it's an OVA or a whole series; it needs to end with the Lilly Good End, damnit! IT'S FUCKING CANON AND I'LL TAKE THAT TRUTH TO THE GRAVE.

Damn straight. Fucking up top, fellow lillyfag.

[Merlyn_LeRoy]

Five minutes each would actually be manageable (someone with as little experience as I could probably draw up the black-and-white sketch animation for it in a bit over a month's time)... But, one would need to get voice actors (as well as official permission from the creators).

Amateur writing/music/illustration/animation can be done very well, but really good amateur voice acting is much harder to find. I think just using subtitles would work fine.

This discussion has me curious about how one would actually go about weaving all the stories together to form a single plot line... Without making Hisao look like a playboy, that is.

Clones.

More seriously, why not just do them as five disconnected postscripts? Five 5-minute animes.

[BurningVigor]

Biggest problem I see, would be animating all the sign language motions from Misha & Shizune. Anime is really known for their smooth animation, and it'll be hard to budget all the hand motions required in sign language.

[Ambezua]

Five minutes each would actually be manageable (someone with as little experience as I could probably draw up the black-and-white sketch animation for it in a bit over a month's time)... But, one would need to get voice actors (as well as official permission from the creators).

Amateur writing/music/illustration/animation can be done very well, but really good amateur voice acting is much harder to find. I think just using subtitles would work fine.

This discussion has me curious about how one would actually go about weaving all the stories together to form a single plot line... Without making Hisao look like a playboy, that is.

Clones.

More seriously, why not just do them as five disconnected postscripts? Five 5-minute animes.

Well, the way I time the lip-synching is based on the audio. Doing it without actually having an audio file is like trying to stitch a shirt up without actually having the shirt in front of you

Five epilogue-like animation sequences would be good. The difficulty of each would depend on what it would actually include, and what sort of animation that is used (Hanako's for example, makes use of some 3D models).

[Kai]

I think it could...but it wouldn't be as good as the game. The whole game is well written and the characters don't feel as cliched as some other animes. You know, their responses feel more natural and well thought of. If it was an anime, I think it would a great challenge to present a drama that talks about disabilities in a very gentle way. I'm sure people could easily get into it.

However, the problem I see is the sex parts. How would you get into that? Would it be as graphic as the game? If so, then it would be just another hentai anime and that would suck. Why? Because those are not well know, and by that I mean not as well know as, let's say, Code Geiss or Bleach? You just can't make it well known because its softcore porn!
If they exclude those, then...sure, it would be good. But I feel like part of what made the game great is that they handle the sex scenes so well. It would still be a good anime, nonetheless, and that's because the hentai doesn't define the game...that much. It's about the life of people with disabilities and the way they struggle both physically and emotionally with their everyday lives.

Not only that, but how do you decide who Hisao ends up with? Because he HAS to end up with someone. The beauty of the game is that you can pursue whoever you want and you gotta deal with the consequences of your choice. So, how do you manage that? And how do you expose all of the girls' personalities without Hisao looking like a manwhore? So there's the real challenge.

[oldasdust]

Why does this possible anime have to follow the main five girls. Misha or Miki could be a good choice, maybe to go the extreme and having Hisao hooking up with Kenji. Or go with the easy way out and Hisao sucomb to his ailment.
However, if the anime cannot be as good as the VN. Just don't do it!!

[Sajomir]

I feel the game has "what it takes" to be a successful anime. The multiple stories could simply be trimmed a bit and each girl given a few episodes. Yosuga no Sora did this and I felt it did a fine job of telling short stories one after another. And really, KS's arcs aren't nearly as huge as other VNs, so trimming could be bearable.

That aside, I do not expect to see it happen.
Could it? yes
Should it? YES
Would Japan want it? dunno
Would 4LS even be cool with it? depending on the producer's plans, that could very well be "no"


If anything, the Japanese translated version would have the best chance, so we'd have to wait for that.

[Walpurgisnacht]

The openings/cinemas were well done and looked like they had really come straight out of an anime. It got me thinking about watching a real KS anime. Is that even possible? Because it would be incredible.

Katawa Shoujo would have to be a harem, or Hanako ends up winning in the end