With anime fare like Witch Hunter Robin and Hellsing, it seemed only obvious and a no brainer that “Supernatural” would translate on to the anime format. It’s such an easy fit that you’d smack your head for not thinking about it. “Supernatural The Animation” is essentially like any other supernatural anime series. Two individuals with sordid pasts are hunting monsters for a living and along the way get themselves in to trouble. Except with this adaptation it’s so seamless it’s quite startling to behold.
“Supernatural” is a magnificent US television series that I’ve been a hardcore fan of since its premiere, now I’m finding a reason to love it more with the anime gloss added that gives it an extra menace and atmosphere to it. With animation there’s almost nothing you can’t do, and with this adaptation there is a trade off. The episodes are shorter format at only twenty two minutes, but we’re given so much more grue and disturbing violence while also being allowed a mood not even the best television directors can’t afford. “Supernatural The Animation” is excellence personified and one that will either migrate the anime buffs or divide the fan base who will want to watch the entire first season strictly within the confines of the startling animation from Mad House. “Supernatural The Animation” is a worthwhile experiment and that promises surprises for the Supernatural buffs of the series, including brand new episodes along with adaptations of the classic ones.
Episode One entitled “Skin” features Dean and Sam fighting dopplegangers posing as mates of women who murder them viciously, while episode two is a short form adaptation of the gripping episode “Road Kill” that ends in a heartbreaking send off for the brothers to a lost traveler who crashed her car with her husband. And of course there are the original episodes like “Ghost on the Highway” which feature the usual anime tropes including an androgynous young man who happens to harbor a crush on Sam and Dean and helps them escape jail to find a rogue Impalla roaming the highways and running people off the roads. “Supernatural The Animation” can be confusing at times with episodes that are so vastly different in tone that it’s tough to figure out which episodes are from the US series and which are the original ones for this anime, but it has its charms.
Aside from the original actors Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles voicing the two heroes for the English dub versions, “Supernatural The Animation” sticks fairly true to its premise. It’s anime first and foremost with its roots planted in the medium before paying tribute to the original source material. The animation gladly only serves as a function to tell more vivid monster stories while the original episodes are all fairly true to their Western roots. For fans of Supernatural wondering if this is even worth the investment, I’d say it is. While it does have a shorter format for its flagship episodes, it does provide more grue and gore to its adaptations and allows for a more vivid depiction of monsters that we normally can’t get with television special effects. Mad House’s animation is superb and they make this world seem so much more stark and surreal than the one on television. Beyond that they also supply some original episodes we’ve never seen before on the CW, and that’s worth the purchase for me. “Supernatural The Animation” thankfully lives up to its promise and potential it sold itself with in late 2010 and I want more in the future.