Dear Santa,
It’s been a while since I’ve last written you a letter. Actually, scratch that, I’ve never written you one because we normally celebrate something called Sinterklaas over here. There’s not much of a difference, though. In more than one way Sinterklaas resembles you — the red suit, his white beard, and being able to touch little kids without raising any eyebrows — but my guess is that Sinterklaas will be nothing but a memory in a few decades, unlike you. I’m not sucking up to you, I promise. Besides, I’m pretty confident that companies like Coca Cola will make sure it will never happen that you’ll fade from the public eye.
I’ve been a good kid this year, Santa, really good. Usually I’m not all that selfish, but I actually have a list of things I’d like to get this year. Problem is, these things aren’t readily available yet. Since you have it in you to make reindeer fly, I’m pretty sure you can also make these things happen. Hence this letter.
The first thing on my list is the continuation of Zipang. For years I’ve been wondering why it never got a second season. While some will probably argue it isn’t that exciting of an anime, I actually enjoyed it immensely. Time travel tales are generally interesting, and this one actually had its characters thinking about the consequences of their actions for a change. But just when it was about to get more exciting by people doing things they shouldn’t, it ended. And that, dear Santa, is a crying shame.
In the same vein, I’d like to see the conclusion of Moonlight Mile. I wouldn’t say that the point where the second season ended was an infuriating one, but I certainly felt rather displeased by it knowing there’s no sequel. It’s not that Moonlight Mile is one of those superb anime I’ll remember fondly on my death bed, but I do like to see stuff finished. It’s not that I finish everything in time or at all, but let’s look past that, shall we?
I could probably make a quite comprehensive list of anime that ended prematurely, but I’d rather turn my attention to some brand new work. What about 20th Century Boys, for instance? Sure, there’s the live-action adaption, but I can’t even begin to imagine how insanely exciting it’d be as an anime. The manga, though I haven’t finished reading it yet, is one of the better I’ve read and I really hope an anime adaption will retain some or most of that quality. I haven’t forgotten Deadman Wonderland, of course, so if you please could get a studio to work on it who knows what they’re doing, I’d be very grateful.
As a Fate/Stay Night fan, I’d also like to see the Heaven’s Feel route as an anime. I’d probably prefer it to be an OVA, but a TV adaption is fine too. It’s perfectly fine to skip the sex scenes, though. Not that I mind sex in anime, but the Fate franchise works just fine without it. Actually, I wish it didn’t have sex at all; it’d have saved me from a rather embarrassing moment. I didn’t see the first erotic scene in Heaven’s Feel coming and I was playing it in a crowded train at the time. It was pretty awkward, to put it mildly. While we’re at the subject of Fate/Stay Night, how about an official English release of the Vita port of Réalta Nua? That’d be awesome too.
The last anime on my wish list is Akira. Yeah, the movie was an absolute blast as well, but the manga is simply way better. I can’t blame the producers of the movie, however, there’s was simply too much to work with for one movie and let’s not forget that the manga was still running at the time. But the titular character doesn’t even show up, and he’s what the story is partially about, isn’t it?
Since this is the first time I’m writing you a letter, I’ll keep it short. I can name quite a few things I’d love to see as an anime (like a decent version of Kara no Shoujo, and Pluto, and the second half of the Mushishi manga), but I’d probably come off as greedy. I just have a few more rather minor requests: a re-issue of this figure would be appreciated, and I’d also love an English version of the Vita port of Muramasa: The Demon Blade and an English version of the Sengoku Basara HD collection.
If you could manage to pull off at least one of the things listed, I might even sing a Christmas carol next year.
Kind regards,
Giovanni
