Square Enix announced this Sunday that Warner Bros. Japan will be producing an anime adaptation of the 1999 “Legend of Mana” game. The anime is titled Legend of Mana: The Teardrop Crystal. It is unclear when it will premiere, but a teaser visual was released. Fans of the game will definitely recognize the iconic starting point, where we wake up near that cactus and get all confused (or was that just me).
The production will be a co-animation by Graphinica and Yokohama Animation Laboratory. Graphinica previously worked on another game adaptation, Chain Chronicle ~Light of Haecceitas~, together with Telecom Animation Film. They’re also known for the original anime film Hello World, Hellsing: Ultimate & Hellsing: The Dawn. Most recently, they were in charge the Record of Ragnarok anime. On the other hand, Yokohama Animation Laboratory did Lapis Re:Lights, as well as Miru Tights. They also worked on a game-to-anime adaptation, Magatsu Wahrheit -Zuerst-.
We don’t know much else about the anime at this point. However, the game also just got a remastered version! It’s available on Playstation 4 and Nintendo Switch since Thursday, and even PC/Steam since last Friday. I’ve personally bought it on Steam and looking forward to reliving the nostalgia, though I haven’t tried it so don’t have an opinion yet. The 2 studios in charge of the animation did work on the opening cinematic for the game, and you can watch that:
As we look forward to more details about the Legend of Mana anime, it might be a nice time to pick up the game and try it. If not, maybe the anime helps people get into the franchise instead. It’s likely that old-school RPG fans will recognize it and feel nostalgic, though it might also pick up all-new fans as well. Hopefully it inspires some more remastered games from the ‘old’ and then even more anime about them!
In other news, Square Enix announced another anime adaptation recently, Deep Insanity: The Lost Child!
Source: Official Website, Square Enix YouTube Channel, Warner Bros. Japan Twitter
©SQUARE ENIX / Cactus Observation Association