Alright, let’s just say it straight out: an anime version of Twilight would be fantastic. Seriously, imagine it: dramatic sparkles, over-the-top romantic stares, a brooding Edward leaning against a cherry blossom tree, and Bella internally monologuing in the rain while a sad J-pop song plays in the background. Tell us that’s not peak anime perfection.
But here’s the catch: we want it done right. We want actual artists making it. Not, you know, a bunch of AI code stitched together to spit out vampire drama like a half-baked filter app. Which, sadly, is more or less what Lionsgate thinks is a good idea.
Lionsgate thinks AI can turn movies into anime in 3 hours, and that’s just wild
So, it seems Lionsgate, the film studio that gave us The Twilight Saga and Borderlands, believes it can just grab any random film in its vault, put it into an AI blender, and voila: anime. All within three hours, no less. Yep. Three hours. That’s barely enough time for us to rewatch New Moon and cry over the forest scene.
The mastermind behind this hot take is Michael Burns, Lionsgate’s 66-year-old vice chairman, who recently got super cozy with an AI startup called Runway. According to him, they can repackage classic films, tweak the age ratings, and churn out AI anime adaptations in no time.
This ‘bold vision’ was revealed in the Vulture magazine, which is all about Hollywood’s secret romance with AI, aka their plan to cut out creatives while still cashing in on their work. And we don’t know about you, but something about turning a deeply human story like Twilight into a soulless anime remix gives us the ick.
Let’s be real here: AI-produced ‘anime’ is not anime. It’s fanart-level weirdness, without the fan part. It’s janky, soulless, and ninety percent of the time, it looks like someone fed a blender some pixels and told it to make art. Now, if you’re going, “Hey, maybe Japan’s doing it, so it’s cool?” Nope. Japan tried it, and it was a complete failure.
So, this spring, they released Twins Hinahima, which was hyped as ‘Japan’s first AI anime.’ Sounds groundbreaking, right? But the thing is, nobody really loved it. People said it lacked that magic, had some strange animation, and just didn’t feel human. Because obviously it wasn’t.
We want the Twilight anime, but just not like that
Now, let me flip the script around for a moment. A Twilight anime, done right, would be a piece of art. Imagine this: what if Studio MAPPA or Bones had their hands on it? The animation would be so moody, Forks would be rainy and gloomy, and Edward’s sparkles would get this incredible sakuga animation whenever he gets struck by the sun.
Bella would totally have these real anime inner monologues. Rosalie would have this crazy flashback episode that totally blows the fans’ minds. And the Volturi? Basically, a villain squad straight out of Black Butler. Get a killer J-pop or K-pop opening theme. And let’s have a dramatic cliffhanger after every episode.
But here’s the thing: you need real artists. Real animators. Real passion for the material. You can’t do that with AI. You can’t shortcut your way to magic. So yeah, we would love to see Twilight get the anime treatment. But if Lionsgate’s just gonna put an AI label on it and be done with it? No way.
Let the artists do their thing. We deserve a quality anime adaptation, not some quick one Lionsgate can give us in three hours. Because if you’re gonna sparkle, sparkle with soul.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
