The Oscars may be over, but their influence on Hollywood will reign for years to come. Earning an Academy Award is considered by many to be the peak entertainment honor, and Guillermo del Toro just took two statues home for The Shape of Water. Audiences around the world are eyeing del Toro after his praised win, but anime lovers are paying particularly close attention.
After all, it isn’t everyday one of anime’s biggest fans takes home an Oscar.
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In the past, del Toro has talked openly about his anime interests. The director, who hails from Mexico, told Complex before that he was introduced to anime as a child. The medium influenced his creative style, but anime was not alone in that. Other accessible genres like monster flicks and horror movies also caught his eye.
“Funnily enough, the anime I watched in Mexico absolutely matches with the anime any kid in the same era would have watched in Japan. It think it’s because it was cheap. And there was also very obscure Japanese live action sci-fi series (on television),” del Toro said.
At the time, the director was asked if he still keeps up with anime. Despite the medium’s massive growth, del Toro says he tries to keep up with its newest entries.
“I try. Anime is too big,” the director said, echoing a thought every anime fan has had.
“It’s thousands of titles. I stay with the artists I love, Katsuhiro Otomo, Hideshi Hino, Naoki Urasawa. I’m not aware of super-new manga. Even the ‘new’ stuff I like, like Gantz, or Blame!, is a few years old.”
So far, del Toro has yet to bring his love of anime to the screen, but movies like Pacific Rim have clear connections to the medium. In the past, the director has tried to get his live-action adaptation of Monster by Naoki Urasawa green-lit by networks. The project has stalled several times in recent years, but del Toro’s new Oscar-worthy clout may be just the thing to reignite the long-awaited adaptation.
Do you think del Toro’s work is suited for live-action anime? What series would you like the award-winning director to tackle? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics, k-pop, and anime!
