Could Katawa Shoujo ever be an anime?

[PrinceOfTales]

Note: An anime need an obscene amount of money to make.
Just pulling numbers out of my ass here, but I would say an episode would cost no less than $200-300k, from what I have studied in the media business. And that's not even counting the cost for promotion something like an eroge game. Do the math.

Also, "Katawa" in japanese have a negative connotation to it, so it would be very difficult to appeal to investors when just the title could drop the popularity of the anime tremendously.

In any case, it seems like if Katawa Shoujo ever becomes an anime, it would be the 4leaves studio making the whole thing, and that doesn't seems possible (unless they got lots of investors pouring money to them).

[Rivan]

I am assuming we are only talking about the overall atmosphere and possibility of conversion theoretically rather than thinking about how much it would cost or how difficult it'd be to assemble a team to do it.

The answer is : Somewhat possible, but very problematic.

First of all, Hisao only has a limited amount of time to spend and yet, the anime would have to show more aspects of it than the visual novel did, which would sometimes have the possiblity of boring the viewer to death. Of course, overall, it'd still be interesting as a whole, just not as hooking as the game was.

Second of all, I share the feeling that it would lose a substantial amount of depth if just changed into an anime about a guy at school for the disabled.

Thrid of all... The route. Technically, none of the girls have more right to become the main love interest than the other. Rin can play the mysterious and aloof girl that he somehow falls in love with, Hanako is (initially, at least) White Knight Syndrome incarnate, Lilly is a perfect example of going from friends to lovers, while Shizune and Mischa would make a perfect dynamic for "I don't know which I prefer" kind of anime. Emi also has some claim to Hisao based entirely on the fact that she cares about his health.

If we go with "everyone can have a piece, let's do a harem" route, it only makes sense for the first two acts for Hisao to do everything with all options. Third act pretty much sets everything in stone regarding feelings, and I think more than 1-2 shifts from girl to girl would be annoying and impossible. Finally, he can only get an ending with one of the girls, choosing which is again, impossible without making the fanbase go rage (trust me, I've read enough manga and saw enough anime to know).


Last but not least, some paths portray same events in vastly different ways so it would be rather hard to be fair to everyone without modyfying them.

I think the only way to make an anime out of Katawa Shoujo would be a long and hard process with many episodes including internal monologues with normal anime only covering act I or act I and II, with two OVAs per girl later (which gives us a terryfying amount of OVAs). In case of a single anime with a single route ending, I find it quite outrageous that any one route would be favored. Mainly because it only creates problems : Hisao's certain personality aspects are more visible in certain routes and they would make it impossible for him to be part of a series with a vast cast. Also, I'm afraid Lilly which is my favorite would be the least likely to be chosen in such case, while choosing Shizune might turn the show into a weird series where he is pretty sure he wants to be with Shizune but somehow also likes Mischa or something stops him.

The more obvious choice, Hanako (though Rin would perhaps have some similar effects) have a disadvantage of neither exactly being able to capture anyone's love at first sight (and we're probably talking about a romance series here) and flauting either the care or the social awkwardness of the protagonist. Mostly, Hanako's Hisao could end up being antisocial or overly protective, which, again, doesn't serve an anime where he would have to socialize more with EVERYONE.

[Heartlesswithaheart]

It's very much possible if one assembles a team of fans to make it for no reason other than for the fans of the game. Not for money, not for fame, but for the fans to enjoy, just as Four Leaf Studios did. They would have a lot of pressure put on them, though. This game is by far one of the best games I've experienced, and I wouldn't want someone to create a huge screw-up of an anime out of such a beautiful game. I'm sure many of you would agree with me.

[Zerix]

In response to the concern about how they'll get all the paths in: Couldn't they just go the route (haha, see what I did there?) of Amagami SS and devote an arc of episodes to each path so that each arc is an alternate universe rather than trying to cram it all into one linear stream of episodes and run the risk of angering some fans with their choice of a "canon" girl.

[contown]

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.

Blatantly incorrect. Emi good end is canon, everyone knows that.

[Rivan]

I think it's obvious that "manly picnic" is canon because neither the devs nor the fanbase can decide what they REALLY want.

Kenji ending is canon. Period.

[Otakumon]

I'd love to see a KS anime, even if it's not hentai. A sex scene doesn't have to be graphic to get it's point across, you see it on TV all the time. But it's unlikely to happen in any official manner, just too expensive. But with all the buzz KS is already starting to generate globally and the desire of many folks to make money coupled with the widespread copycatting that can be seen in the industry, I wouldn't be surprised to see in the not too distant future an anime come out set in a school for the disabled with very familiar looking characters. Problem is it would likely be made by an outfit just out to grab some quick cash so it would likely be shoehorned into the typical schoolgirl harem mold and be generally poorly done.

[Deltamon]

Mainwhile, Rumbling Hearts (Kimi ga Nozomu Eien) is that way ->

[Grisly Bear]

I think Katawa Shoujo could be done well in a similar style to Yosuga no Sora, where every girl has an arc, but at the end of the arc the world seems to be reset or something, but the show would need to be longer then 13 episodes to get everything in. considering the most popular episode counts are 12, 13, 24-26, this could go well with 24.

[Getchman]

giving this topic a decent amount of thought, i've come up with this:
Make it 26 episodes in an omnibus format. Have the first episode set up the story: confession, heartattack, enter Yamaku, introduce each girl before the end of the episode. Maybe spend less time on Hisao moping in the hospital or lengthen the first episode to get the proper amount of moping and enough time to introduce Mutou and each girl. Then for the next 25 episodes, each girl gets a 5 episode arc, which seems like a decent amount of time to get the main point of a route across. However, instead of a complete reset after each arc like Amagami, set up a road cone similar to Yosuga no Sora, where you could easily replace something simple to get to a new girl. Maybe have Hisao learn sign language in each route, but only enough for a simple basic conversation in all non shiuzune arcs, simply to give her a voice, since Hisao clearly states that he starts to associate a voice with Shizune's signing.

Or

Combine all the routes and create a 24-26 episode anime. Join the student council, learn sign language, help Misha with her feelings toward Shizune, go to an occasional lunch with Lilly and Hanako, and help Hanako slowly come out of her shell, be Emi's running partner, try your best to understand Rin, and plenty of Kenji's rantings. You form simple, yet strong bonds with each other, and you get a balance harem with one one in the lead. Then one day, Iwanako shows up at the school. She wants to try and start over with Hisao, he accepts after a long discussion regarding hisao's stay at the hospital and their respective behaviors during that time. So she occasionally makes the trip to Yamaku, Hisao might go home to be with her on an occasional weekend, but his relationship with this new friends and the girls starts getting strained. So at some point someone has had enough, and perhaps out of jealously deliberately sabotages Hisao's relationship with Iwanako while she is at the school: maybe kissing him in a room, and she walks in at that exact moment, or something like that. She gets upset, becomes irrational, maybe he chases her a bit around the school. Point is, she gets the hint and breaks up with him and leaves for good. Hisao becomes enraged, maybe gets into an argument with some of the girls. He stops talking with everyone, becomes moody and unsociable, moves to a different part of the classroom away from Misha and Shizune. this last for a some time. then along comes Kenji and his manly picnic. But, instead of this killing Hisao, this is Kenji's way of trying to be good friend and help Hisao over come what has happened. It works, he sets off trying to slowly repair his relationships with the girls, and at the same time works towards his new found goal of becoming a science teacher after Yamaku. ( only played shizune and Lilly's route so far, not sure if that's in the other 3).

things get better, graduation comes, the end. No romantic resolution, but thats the only way i can think to keep it fair. Iwanako showing up is the only thing i can think of that would create a decent amount of conflict to keep the story going longer.

[scoopnokes]

Has anyone ever seen Amagami SS? They took a VN and created a pretty interesting and fun to watch anime series. They split the different girls paths into arcs starting form the beginning where the main character goes on and ends with the girl that arc is centered around. So each girl had 4 episodes. I think that's a bit rushed, so if Katawa did become an anime series then it should not rush the different paths but also make them separate arcs to show each girl's route.

[Aster Selene]

The way CLANNAD worked - which was what I judge all of my dating sim anime from - was that it made it so that the routes were not mutually exclusive. Of course that still left out Tomoyo and Kyou, so they put those in OVAs. But things like Kotomi's childhood, Yukine's gangs, etc. were pulled off without issue and without romance.

This might be possible I think with KS. I mean it's definitely harder than CLANNAD since half the routes in CLANNAD weren't romantic to begin with, but you could try something. By process of logical elimination Shizune's would be the one most lacking since the main conflict arises over Misha jealous of YOUR romance with Shizune and not much else happening or Lilly's otherwise what's the big deal over her moving away. And I think Shizune's would fit pretty well in an OVA due to the exclusiveness coming from Misha, that is, you could likely visit Shizune's family in the series proper and cut down the time he spends there to a day or so (so other routes get their share) since you're removing the sex. Shizune could just be demanding he visit "for the Council"...

You could start with Rin's mental breakdown, remove the romance part, it's gonna be strained and awkward but with a little work it could be done. Since you're removing the sex scenes, Emi's route would transition to "open up to your friends" a bit better, Hanako's problems will be almost the same except minus romantic attachment, etc.

Anything else can be explained via them still liking him secretly (like CLANNAD).

[duel91]

I think... Alot of what makes Katawa Shoujo so amazing and beautiful is the fact that is a Visual Novel. I can't quite explain it yet but I feel much of what I love about it, would probably be lost if it was adapted into an animation. Something with Katawa Shoujo's Depth and Complexity (And it's exorbant amount of routes) Is unsuited to conversion to an Animation I think.

Ofcourse there have been quite note worthy examples of succesful conversions by companies such as KEY, and their adaption/converstions of visual novels.

This is my personal opinion.

i agree with you...its similar to the visual novel of clannad and da capo, i played both of the visual novels and loved it but wasn't as awesome as it is in the anime, except for clannad though...still ok in my opinion

[LordMurdoc]

Why does everyone assume that all five routes need to be molded into one coherent story? Why just not make an anime for each route? I guess this idea of mine is coming from Higurashi since I'm a bit of a fan of the series. I mean one of the things that makes Higurashi great is how each new arc is set in a new universe. You don't need to see the previous arc to know what's going on in the current because each is set in it's own parallel universe that has a beginning, middle, and an end. So my question is, why does a Katawa Shoujo anime have to condense all the paths into one coherent story? Why not make a separate OVA for each path and simply change things a little for each path? I mean there's enough going on in act 1 where the beginning can easily be mixed up a little for each OVA.

I think this way would probably be for the best. Not a single fan will feel short sided that their favorite isn't the main love interest because each one will be the main love interest in their own OVA. Not only that, but it would add more specific focus on each girl's disabilities and problems instead of having to edit each one to fit a single story. The emotional investment remains intact without any sacrifice and seems more like a actual love story than a harem.

One of my only main concerns with a Katawa Shoujo anime is the amount of effort required for Shizune and Misha. I mean the artists need to draw every single sign that goes on with the right motion, place, and shape. That is a LOT of work since the animators are basically required to learn some degree of sign language to properly illustrate it (assuming if there is a translator or two there to help with references).

[Mirage_GSM]

I mean one of the things that makes Higurashi great is how each new arc is set in a new universe.

Uhm... not really. I don't want to go too deeply into Higurashi here, but if you're interested you'll find plenty of sources that will tell you what really happens in Hinamizawa...

A better example for what you propose is Amagami SS, and it has been mentioned in this thread before.