Is Skull Island Netflix series an Anime?

Is Skull Island Netflix series an Anime

The official teaser for the upcoming Skull Island Netflix Series just dropped. Based on the teaser’s style and the themes hinted in it, many fans have been noticing a subtle anime-like shade to it. Is Skull Island Netflix series an Anime? Let’s answer that question.

What is Skull Island?

 

Skull Island is an upcoming fantasy-adventure animated Netflix series produced by Legendary Pictures and animated by Powerhouse Animation.

“Shipwrecked in the South Pacific, a group of explorers encounter a menagerie of fearsome creatures — including the giant ape who rules the island: Kong.”

—Skull Island blurb

The show was first announced through Netflix’s Twitter back in January 2021. It is set to follow a group of adventurers who venture into Isla De Craneo, an uncharted Island filled with bizarre and weird creatures and monsters, nicknamed Skull Island.

The Monsterverse

 

The Skull Island series is said to be a part of the “Monsterverse”, a term coined to refer to the shared universe between King Kong and Godzilla movies. The events of The Monsterverse take place in an alternate Earth timeline where colossal monsters called “Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organisms” (MUTOs) of various shapes, sizes, and forms exist.

The following films are considered to be a part of the Monsterverse:

  • Godzilla (2014)
  • Kong: Skull Island (2017)
  • Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)
  • Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)
  • Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024)

From the looks of it, Skull Island is set to take place in the same Skull Island featured in the 2017 movie. The teaser has shown to incorporate Kong as well, who might be playing a central role.

Can it be considered Anime?

 

  • On the surface level, Skull Island is a fully American production made and produced by American companies. The true definition of “Anime” can bit ambiguous these days, given that several countries outside of Japan have been independently trying to recreate the magic of the medium.
  • The properties and characters within the Monsterverse originated from the Godzilla series of films by a Japanese company, Toho Company Ltd. This is reflected in the heavy Kaiju themes depicted in these movies, even after the rights were acquired by Legendary.

In Skull Island’s case, the teaser portrays amazing artwork and very fluid animation. It is also backed by the original franchise’s lore based on Japanese Kaiju, thanks to the actual source material’s origins. If this is combined with a proper, rooted story set within the Monsterverse, this series might just check all the boxes for a successful anime, at least theoretically.

Conclusion

 

Overall, if this show was created in Japan, through a Japanese anime studio with the same premise, it would definitely be called an anime. There are so many similarities and thematic references that could be noticed just in the trailer. On the official fandom website, Gojipedia, Skull Island’s genre is classified as anime.

There are several terms from “American anime” to “Pseudo-anime” floating around in the fandom, and the actual naming convention has largely stayed ambiguous. Beneath all that though, Skull Island definitely looks like a show that deserves the “Anime Pass”, similar to Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Skull Island is set to release on June 22nd, 2023 on Netflix.

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