Squid Girl Hits Splatoon! Other Ways Nintendo Could Use Anime in Their Games

Nintendo dropped it's much anticipated "August Update" for Splatoon in North America just a few days ago (at the time of this writing), and in addition to new music, stage designs, play modes, and of course two new weapons, part of the update included an outfit inspired by Ika Musume, the central character of the anime series Squid Girl. This makes perfect sense, considering that Splatoon is about a future where global warming has made humanity extinct, and allowed ocean creatures to take over the land, namely Squids who look like humans. Squid Girl on the other hand, is about a squid who transforms into a human to stop humans from the acts they are doing that are contributing to global warming.

That got me thinking, are there other anime shows Nintendo could utilize in their properties? Let's take a look at some potential DLC or Bonuses that Nintendo could add to their games.

I know Attack on Titan has a slightly older target audience than the Smash Brothers series of games, but many of the characters in the series are from no less gritty backgrounds, such as Solid Snake (Metal Gear) or even Samus (Metroid which they really need to make another proper game for). Plus, the chief audience of Titan is in the 14+ age range, which does make up a lot of the same audience for Smash. The Corps' Verical Manuevering Equipment would make using him a lot of fun on stages, but to keep from being overpowering, would still have to be useless on stages with open terrain. Perhaps they could also add a stage featuring Giant Titan as a trap somehow? Either way, this is the idea that has my fullest confidence, and Nintendo has been open about allowing fans to suggest characters for Smash.

Okay, this is kind of an obvious choice, I know. Initial D is all about racing. And in theory, so is Mario Kart, though really, Mario Kart seems more about Bullet Bills and Blue Shells. I actually had a hard time picking this one. I was also considering the possibility of Keiichi Morisato and Belldandy from Oh My Goddess! Perhaps use all of them, and add Captain Falcon to make a 3rd DLC pack?

Anyways, Initial D is about ridge racing, a popular - and very dangerous - motor sport in Japan, that heavily utilizes drifting techniques while racing on a downhill road. Takumi accidentally joins the Ridge Racing world after borrowing a friends car on the condition he uses it to race someone his friend really didn't want to race. Well, it turns out the person he was racing was one of the best, and Takumi wins. This spins off into a lot of drama that is beyond the scope of a simple Mario Kart game. And Initial D tends to be geared more towards young adults. If you want a character you can approve of your children watching, there's always the much less relevant other obvious choice.

I know this sounds like I'm grasping at straws, but Professor Stein is the kind of guy who would try to determine your brain age by removing it from your skull. He wouldn't kill you, and he'd probably make it relatively painless - he is a biology teacher. He just likes dissecting things. And he is a smart and fun guy. Just work with me on this. If you've seen Soul Eater you know he'd certainly make Brain Age more interesting.

There would be so many to choose from. Do we go with human characters, or fantasy characters? Play as Totoro? With a few notable exceptions, the works of Hiyao Miyazaki are right in the demographic group of Mario Party: Everyone can enjoy it.

I'd love to roll across the board as Satsuki Kusabe (My Neigbor Totoro) or Chihiro Ogino (Spirited Away) and have a Board based on the works of studio Ghibli with a Catbus (Totoro) or the Valley of the Wind (Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind). And these lovable characters could go a long ways in preventing friends from murdering each other while playing as we laugh and bond over our love of these memorable and charming characters.

The likelihood of this is slim, since the American rights to the works of Studio Ghibli are owned by Disney, where Nintendo just signed an agreement with Universal Studios for the rights to make attractions based on Nintendo characters. However, this does not make it impossible, as while Disney does have a foothold in both the film/televison industries and the theme park industries, they are two separate industries and the Universal Studios contract with Nintendo does not negate Nintendo being able to use Disney characters in it's games. It's all up to how nice Disney wants to play, and they have played nice in the past, allowing Warner Brothers to use it's characters in the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

Wishful thinking? Perhaps. Doesn't make me want it any less.

These are just the ideas that easily come to mind. Perhaps you have some ideas you'd like to see? Maybe a simple downloadable costume for your favorite character, or anything at all. Comments are always welcome, and enjoy this weekend's Splatfest. I'm on team Marshmallow, so perhaps we'll meet up. If you see an RG splat you being held by squid named Bubblegum, you'll know you ran into me.