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science fiction stories that would ROCK as an anime

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datora:
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One recent topic I posted in:

> Recommendations, Suggestions & Identification > Looking for Anime dealing with far future galactic civilizations

And another from a few months back:

> General Discussions > What is the first book that you read?

got me to revisiting an old fantasy of mine that I've entertained for many, many years now.

Imagine that you had enough money to fund your own anime project(s).  Millions in your budget, you can pitch your project to any anime house you wish, the best artists from all over the world, try to hire the best soundtrack artists, licensing from the original author not an issue, you don't care if the anime is successful so long as it turns out the way you like it, can be done as a movie or series, etc.

What are your favorite hard science fiction stories that you would love to see turned into an anime ..?  Not interested in zombies or horror (although Alien or Predator might be fair game).  But, maybe focus on stuff with really unique story elements that are pretty uncommon in anime, or even Hollywood movies.

The story does not have to be a novel.  It can be a short, or a graphic novel/comic/webcomic, or a movie version you prefer over a written version, etc.  Even a video game (Halo comes to mind).


I could list 100 or more.  I'll skip over some obvious big titles (Dune, Brave New World, 1984, Blade Runner, The 5th Element, etc.) in favor of lessor known works that haven't been brought to the screen yet.

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Soundtrack:

I'd want to start with the artists that created the soundtracks for NOIR, Vexille, Fairy Tail, Cowboy Bebop, Earth Girl Arjuna.  In particular I'd want Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelts.  All incredible soundtracks, and I'd certainly add to the list .. but this would be a Good Start.

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Animation style:

I'd want to go with a more serious and semi-realistic style like in Ghost in the Shell, Wings of Honneamise, Wonderful Days, Paprika, Time of Eve, Pale Cocoon, Technotise, Mushishi, Texhnolyze etc.

The extra CGI in Ghost in the Shell 2.0 left me slightly cold, although it has potential if used properly.  Time of Eve & Technotise actually go a bit too far in some ways, but are still excellent possibilities.  Appleseed and Oblivion Island, for examples, just come off as a bit creepy, at least for what I want to do here.  Something that definitely has a cell animation feel, but with deep, rich detail.

I love the classic anime features, but want them toned down a bit ... eyes should come closer to normal size rather than giant dinner plates, breasts should be realistic, faces have a bit more detail than less, and fuck the insane hair styles that never change no matter how wet or sweaty a character gets.  Definitely want a solid touch of realism, including a ban on superdeformed and slapstick comedy.

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The stories:

1)
My top three start with David Brin's Uplift Universe.  If you've not read them, I suggest starting with either The Uplift War or Startide Rising.  They're the most digestible and, if you like them, there are half a dozen more titles to fill it out, some better than others (the Heaven's Reach trilogy in particular).

What I'd want to accomplish with these is to create a universe of characters that are, in large part, aliens with in-depth insight into alien culture & thinking.  I think that most sci fi anime does not do a very good job of depicting a wide variety of alien designs (bodies & technology) and cultures.  Ideally, I'd want to create an anime of at least 52 episodes plus half a dozen or so OVAs that tell the combined stories of The Uplift War and Startide Rising in parallel.

It's a big project, so it might even have to be expanded to 78 episodes to really take the time and tell it in full.  Each episode would focus on one of the stories, but switch over to the other for the last five minutes as a lead-in to the next episode and keep alternating.

As a bonus, there is an entire unwritten story that is implied in these books.  One of the human-colonized worlds being assaulted & held hostage is a water/ocean world where dolphins are being uplifted into sentience.  The majority culture on that planet is supposed to be Asian, and Japanese in particular.  I'd love to get part of that story included since some really juicy ideas are hinted at but never really discussed in these other two books.


2)
The next I'd like to take on would be at least one Frank Herbert story, and there are several to choose from that I think would be even better than the Dune universe.  The two that would be at the top of my cut are The Jesus Incident (written with Bill Ransom) and The Dosadi Experiment.  Both are heavily weird, hard-hitting and highly cerebral works.  Either of these could be a stand-alone series of maybe 26 or 48 episodes, but each is also the second book in their respective universes.  The others are not as good, but do have some critical points to make, so there's room to expand.

Beyond those, Herbert had a half-dozen more that would be mind-blowing anime.  The Dragon in the Sea (alt title Under Pressure), Soul Catcher, and The God makers would all be on my "to do" list.  Soul Catcher in particular would be really amazing, maybe a short 26 or 36 episode story, much more mystical and non-science fiction than any other title I've listed, mainly because I'm sneaking a plug in for one amazing story by an amazing author that doesn't fit into most categories easily.


3)
Then another author with an incredible list of top-level sci fi: C. J. Cherryh.  Her bibliography is overwhelming with potential titles.

For a huge, epic series that would also go about 52 or 78 episodes, the entire House Chanur series of five novels.  The first book is fairly short and might be done in 3 OVAs (or so).  It's followed by three books originally intended to be one long story, and it would be maybe a 48 or 52 episode series.  Following that is a longish, separate story that revisits some well-loved friends from the previous stories while adding some fantastic insight into the several alien cultures of this universe.

Fundamentally, these are action-packed, humorous and have great aliens, including a take on cat women that are anything but neko-chan fluffies.  You'd lose your ears to one of them in a heartbeat if you even had the thought ... they are some bad-ass, tough-chick spacer girls.  ;)

Beyond those, C. J. Cherryh has quite a number of obscure titles that really just need to see the light of day.  For anime adaptations, I think that Voyager in Night would make a stunning movie, something ground-breaking on the level of Ghost in the Shell.

But, her Era of Rapprochement novels (which are all great) include two gems in particular: Serpent's Reach and Cyteen.  This entire series would be nearly impossible to adapt to any movie format, anime included.  But, the sheer challenge of trying would yield some pretty amazing stuff.


4)
I give honorable mention to Larry Niven, whose entire Known Space universe is a rollicking joyride of fun and brain candy.  There is, of course, the Ringworld, which would be really amazing, especially if The Ringworld Engineers was included.  But, to go a bit non-mainstream, I have a particular love for Protector, several of his related short stories on Protectors and the Ringworld (especially Pierson's Puppeteers, FTW), and The Mote in God's Eye (written with Jerry Pournelle).

The Flying Sorcerers (written with David Gerrold) is a pretty hysterical novel filled with inside sci fi community jokes & bad puns.  There's a whole series of stories in his The Magic Goes Away universe, which would make an amazing series of (10 or 12?) OVAs on a sort of alternate / deep pre-history of our world.  Also humorous, but filled with cautionary tales on resource depletion.



OKay, so I could go on for about another 100 pages on this topic, but these are my offerings.  It's actually a bit of a sleazy way to see what recommendations anyone else might put forward for some exciting, hard core science fiction.

All of these stories are pretty essential reading to a serious science fiction fan, but these are the ones I'd love to be able to turn into top-quality anime.

Y'know ... if I should win the $200,000,000 lottery in my lifetime or something like.

surdumil:
I've read all of those except for Frank Herbert's stuff.  I've just got way too much other good stuff on my reading shelf.

I kinda preferred Niven's "Integral Trees" and "The Smoke Ring" over Ringworld, at least for fun action and adventure.

C.J.Cherryh's Faded Sun trilogy would be awesome as an anime.  The Mri would be very interesting.

Alan Dean Foster's works, mainly the Pip & Flinx novels and The Commonwealth stories would work very well, being very action oriented and not so cerebral.

Roger Zelazny's Amber Chronicals could be awesome as anime, depending on how imaginative the animators were to depict hell-riding and the infinite series of parallel realms.

Leo Saker's "The Leaves of October" could be an emotional rollercoaster kind of anime, very suspenseful at times.

C.J.Cherryh's Rusulka series would also be pretty cool, and very weird, as a moody, mystical anime.

Janet Kagan's Hellspark would be interesting and hilarious is treated well as an anime.

TMRNetShark:
Uhhh, this is shocking... neither of you mentioned two of the greatest sci-fi novels to date?



Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow. Nuff said.

flyawave:
Omg, ender's game was sooooooooooo depressing. it was a bunch of smartass kids being all emo,and somehow it's the greatest sci-fi novel evar :-\

personally "24 views of Mt Fuji By Hokusai" by Roger Zelazny (book i satrted reading yesterday) would kill it as an anime...
It's about a widow who... aww just wiki it

virionspiral:
1. Character Design - Yoshitoshi ABe (Welcome to the NHK, Lain, Texhnolyze)  I agree with datora in the animation style.
2. Background and Scene Art - Tsutomu Nihei (Blame!, Biomega, NOiSE)
3. Cover Art - Yoshitaka Amano (Final Fantasy, Vampire Hunter D)
4. Soundtrack - Yasunori Mitsuda (Chrono Cross)
5. Original Story - The Assassination Bureau Ltd. by Jack London. (The plot follows Ivan Dragomiloff, who, in a twist of fate, finds himself pitted against the secret assassination agency he founded.)
6. I would like Masamune Shirow of Ghost in the Shell to write it.
 

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