Where Netflix’s live-action “Avatar: The Last Airbender” series suffers from trying to rejigger a story to a medium that it doesn’t readily lend itself to (read /Film’s review by Jeremy Mathai for more on that), the streamer’s “Scott Pilgrim Takes Off” applies anime aesthetics and tropes to the already-heightened “Scott Pilgrim” universe with much stronger results. It’s easy to imagine “Twilight” doing something similar. Heck, Meyer’s romantic high school fantasy is practically already a reverse harem, i.e. a story about a lone female protagonist being courted by multiple male love interests. One need only watch the anime musical “Dance with Devils” to understand how “Twilight” could thrive in this format.
A more impressionistic visual style would also allow the “Twilight” animated series to go further with the truly messed-up aspects of Meyer’s novels than the films ever could. The movies, of course, had to hold back on those stranger and more violent elements in order to hit that sweet PG-13 spot … and what it did include was often pretty wonky. (Bella’s human-vampire hybrid baby, anyone?) Animation, on the other hand, will free the series up to really delve into its story’s body horror and the creepier parts of its spin on vampire lore. Just think of Alucard sadistically grinning as he’s torn to shreds in a hailstorm of bullets in the “Dracula”-inspired “Hellsing” anime, and you’ll have a firmer grasp on precisely how twisted an animated “Twilight” could get.
Best of all, being animated means the show’s stars can better avoid comparisons to the actors from the “Twilight” movies. I’m assuming the series won’t pull a “Scott Pilgrim Takes Off” and bring back the original cast — though, really, how amazing would it be to have Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson playing Bella and Edward again at this stage in their careers?
Keep it tuned to /Film for further updates on the “Twilight” TV series.