The Reploid Research Lavatory

So in two years, we’ll have another Mega Man cartoon… you know, maybe.

It’s the first sign we’ve been given in recent times that Capcom isn’t planning to just sit on the franchise and continue to squeeze out anniversary/nostalgia products. They are attempting to take an active direction, so that’s interesting. Especially that it’s going to be catering to a western demographic. I don’t have an opinion on the company Man of Action Entertainment, or its partner Dentsu Entertainment. I’m pretty sure I haven’t watched anything that either is associated with. Reactions I see from people more familiar with them seem pretty mixed. I’ll just withhold verdict for now and see what happens.

I do imagine that there will be tie-ins galore. You wouldn’t invest the time and money in the animation without thinking about toys and clothes and phone cases and other little plastic things to sell. I think it makes good business sense to get that brand recognition out to the younger generation. I think it’s clear that cartoons can certainly help sell video games, too. Battle Network 4 isn’t the highest selling Mega Man title of the 2000’s because it was such a great game, after all. I hope they can manage to synchronize and plot the game and the cartoon out together, if that’s the direction they are going in. Sonic Boom was good enough to show us what happens if you don’t and have to rush out one or the other.

I also hope that whatever comes out of it is something that I’m still interested in associating with, but I’ve already come to accept that these things will not be made with me in mind. We are living in an age where western cartoons have the capacity to be written for and enjoyed by children and adults alike, but I’m not expecting any miracles. There is potential though.

Regardless of whether this new direction is a future success or short-lived failure, my piles of classic games, sound tracks, art books, comics, and decades old untranslated lore will still be sitting here waiting for me. Even if the new Mega Man isn’t my Mega Man, it’ll be nice if it still connects as somebody’s Mega Man. Then again, if that would mean dooming others to share my fate of winding up old and heartbroken and still obsessed with a children’s franchise, then maybe that isn’t so great…

Oh that reminds me, I guess we have about 2 years then before Archie Mega Man gets cancelled or rebooted to be in line with the new product. Hope that’s enough time to get through all the time travel, Mr. X, and the Stardroids stories, but at the rate it gets interrupted for crossovers, chances aren’t looking so good. Well, it won’t be the first time a Mega Man comic is cut short of its planned scope. It’s practically a tradition.