Supernatural (Anime)



"There is more to Supernatural than what is seen in the show. This is the birth of a new anime and you've never seen the characters like this before!"

- The Official Anime Website

A strange example of an Animated Adaptation being made in a different country than its source material, but still with input from people involved in the original (Namely, Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles).

Supernatural: The Animation retells the story of the main series' first two seasons, with some new stories thrown in for good measure for Adaptation Expansion. However, most of the series is at least somewhat based off episodes from the live action show.

Supernatural: The Animation provides examples of:

 * The Abridged Series: Right here
 * Adaptation Distillation
 * Adaptation Dye Job: Anime Dean has black hair. Fangirls have been known to argue over whether Live Action Dean's hair is brown or blond, but they can probably agree it's not black. For that matter, he has brown eyes instead of green.
 * Likewise, Jess's hair color went from blonde to a reddish-brown.
 * Mary Winchester now has brown hair, which makes Dean look more like their father and Sam look more like their mother, whereas in the live action show it's the other way around.
 * Lily now has short brown hair instead of long and blonde.
 * All Just a Dream: Jess's reaction to being attacked by a spirit trying to kill her.
 * Alternate Continuity: The series itself.
 * Black Girl Dies First: Averted in "3 Years Ago". She dies second. The Final Girl
 * BLAM Episode: "The Spirit of Las Vegas" has screwier and more Animesque humor than other episodes. Fitting, as the Monster of the Week is Japanese.
 * Camp Gay: There's a deputy chief in one episode who fits the trope to a T. He lets Sam and Dean out of jail for the reason that they "are so yummy!"
 * Composite Character: The Yellow-Eyed Demon, possibly, given that during his first appearance he is referred to explicitly and exclusively as "The Devil".
 * Everybody Lives: "What Lives in the Lake", where the brothers figure out the monster is actually a Kappa who is saving people's lives and convince the townspeople to let it be.
 * Evil Brit: Jason, the Knight Templar vampire hunter in "Savage Blood".
 * Eye Scream: In "3 Years Ago", Bloody Mary finds Sam's eyes sufficiently reflective to use as a portal. She doesn't damage them, though. He does bleed from them when she turns her power on him.
 * Max in episode 11, to his stepmother. Almost.
 * Ink Suit Actor: To varying degrees. Dean and Sam were modeled on their live action counterparts, though with more emphasis on capturing the character than the actor. Everyone else, no.
 * Kick the Dog: Max Miller's father is even more of a bastard in this version by virtue of killing Max's dog.
 * Missed Him By That Much: In a flashback episode where Sam is still at college, Dean and their father work a case revolving around Jess, his girlfriend. Rather than disrupt his life again, they decide to just proceed with the case. This involves a lot of Sam barely missing seeing his father or his brother, getting to a ridiculous level when they are one aisle over in the library, not talking quietly, and he doesn't notice a single thing.
 * Mythology Gag: In the anime version of "What Is and What Should Never Be", a photo shows that Dean is a fireman. He wasn't one in the live action version of that episode, but mentioned wanting to be one in the live action "Devil's Trap".
 * The Other Darrin: Jensen Ackles only dubs Dean in the final two episodes of the series (Jared Padalecki is Sam throughout). The change is barely noticeable, though.
 * Our Vampires Are Different: They even have one difference from the vampires in the original show, namely that they can have kids who become vampiric around puberty.
 * Pragmatic Adaptation: Most episodes that are taken whole cloth from the live action show, such as "The Alter Ego" ("Skin") and "Moonlight" ("Heart"), have at least one change to them to help maintain suspense and the plot twists.
 * Real Song Theme Tune: Naoki Takao's Cover Version of "Carry On Wayward Son" by Kansas is the credits theme.
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: As you can see from the page picture, the official website takes it literally. Their clothes (though not their skin and hair) also tend to show it off in the actual show.
 * Red Right Hand: Lily's "killing with a touch" power is in her right hand.
 * Rule of Cool: Due to the nature of adapting a live-action show into an anime, a lot more moments that simply physically can't be done on-screen, either for budget or safety reasons, are added in.
 * For example: Bobby rescuing the Winchesters with a helicopter(!) in "Devil's Trap".
 * The Stinger: One in each episode. Sometimes irrelevant (a funny moment or the scene where the townsfolk wave goodbye) and sometimes vital to the next episode (like the ends of "Devil's Trap" and "All Hell Breaks Loose, Part 1").
 * Whole-Episode Flashback: "3 Years Ago".