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Anime: One of the most popular entertainment resources
Many people would like to see a chess anime, and it is not to be surprised…
The anime industry is one of anime is one of the richest and big in the world these times. Since its beginnings in the 1900s anime kept its evolution until becoming a great entertainment product.
To the point that, nowadays, anime has provoked a cultural phenomenon in the entire world. Almost like a revolution, anime changed many peoples’ lives and it’s almost “international culture”.
Everyone has watched anime at least one time, and anybody remembers an anime series from childhood (even if you didn’t know that it was called “anime” at that time).
A chess anime is being asked by the community many times, like in this chess.com’s thread.
Anime is increasingly popular these days with more and more adepts starting to watch it. There are many series regarding chess in a very interesting manner.
We could mention the numerous Bobby Fischer movies there are available to watch like “Pawn sacrifice” directed by Edward Zwick.
And of course the incredibly popular Netflix’s chess series “Queen’s gambit” where we see the interesting Beth Harmon’s story. Of course, chess fans protest saying “ok and where is the chess anime we’re all looking for?”
Watch The (Japanese shogi) chess anime
There aren't any animes about the chess we all know and play unless you know how to play shogi…
Shogi is the Japanese version of chess and, in essence, is very similar to chess. As anime is Japanese, and in this country shogi is a game that a lot of people play there is a shogi anime.
This would be the most related to a chess anime that you can find with an interesting plot that will make you remember the Bobby Fischer movie.
“Ryuo no Oshigoto!” is an anime and light novel that tells the story of a young boy who won the national shogi tournament at the age of 16. Although is not exactly a chess anime you can still enjoy the light novel that I’m sure you will enjoy.
And we can also agree that shogi is not chess, but there are the same nature and spirit that we see in the chess series coming out today. Anyway, if you like the chess series you will find this material and fun.
You can enjoy the light novel as if it was a normal chess anime if you are into reading. Also, who knows? Probably someday an anime producer will take this material as an inspiration and make anothe anime.
Are there any chess animes?
There are many animes relating to other sports like volleyball, football, and even baseball but unfortunately, there are not animes about our chess. We could say there are animes where chess is present but it is not the whole argument of the series.
It would be really fun to see how would anime be portrayed in anime, surely would be hilarious. I am not the only one having this in mind but actually, this doesn’t depend on us.
Anime is a great business and creating anime takes a lot of money and effort. Let’s explain a little bit how the anime industry works to understand the possibilities of a chess anime coming out.
The first thing to consider is that in 99% of cases animes are based on manga or light novels. So we are more likely to have a chess manga before a chess anime in its entirety.
If there is a chess manga (which probably already exists) and people like it and buy it, we will probably have a chess anime.
Many sports animes like Haikyuu!!, Kuroko no Basket, and Yuri!!! on Ice is quickly becoming popular and liked by people, so it wouldn’t be rare to see a chess anime coming out soon.
References to chess in anime
As we said there are no animes that directly treat chess (at least the one we play) as key in the whole series’ plot like in queen’s gambit Netflix series. But many animes relate to chess or at least form part of a scene at times.
One of the most famous cases we see in “Youkoso Jitsuryoku Shijou Shugi no Kyoushitsu e (Classroom of the Elite) Episode 8”.
Where there is a scene in which one of the characters is recreating a chess game from what looks like a study chess book (ironically called chess itself).
Another case we see in the No Game No life anime is in which we see the protagonists playing a chess game against the antagonists of the plot. Also, chess pieces and references form part of many scenarios and decorations of the anime.
Finally, in the excellent Code Geass anime, we see the main characters playing a chess game to decide the fate of the war.
These are not exactly chess animes but they have nice references and provides a glance at how anime creators could portray chess in anime.
Will we have a chess anime in the future?
As we said many animes treat different sports like the one we mentioned above. And there are users on the internet willing to support the job if it’s done.
It is just a matter of time for some content creator to see an opportunity here and put his/her hands to work.
Different from the animes referenced above it would be particularly interesting to watch an anime with a whole plot about chess. A chess anime that treats the game carefully and realistically is what the chess lovers want to see.
If you think the anime world is vast and extent, itself you should take a look at the manga and light novel’s world. There is twice the amount of light novels than animes that don’t make it into anime and maybe more.
If I were you I wouldn’t worry about that juicy chess anime we want to see, it will surely come out soon!
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