Ray-San: What More To Expect In A Rayman Anime…Or Manga

Minasan, Kon’nichiwa! We all know the limbless wonder debuts back in the 1990s, the time of landlines, answering machines and no smartphones [17]. Four years ago, we have discussed how an anime series based on the Rayman franchise could excel [55] [56]. Moreover, I still wonder if the idea of a Rayman anime will eventually be taken into consideration. I know what some of you gamers are thinking. Seriously, Laura? Not many gamers give a sharknado about Rayman anymore [23]. Well, first of all, Rayman is yet to return as part of DLC for Mario & Rabbids: Sparks of Hope later this year [47]. Secondly, there are still some gamers who hold Rayman dearly in their hearts, even the French gamers who remember playing Les Dictées de Rayman [26] [33]. I also suspect that a Raymanmanga series will be a good alternative to a Rayman anime series, but there will be more about that later. As Mario and the Rabbids courageously strive in the Tower of Doooom [21], which power-up from Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc will you dress up in for this follow-up? Besides, now is the time to wish Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc a happy 20th anniversary [32].

Aside from how we wish Rayman 3 a happy 20th anniversary, we can wish the limbless wonder a bright and motivating future. [32]

Some say that he was nicer in Rayman 2, including Globox [32], but could there be hope for a fresh yet familiar fantasy to become a reality [55] [56]? [39]

Enough with the creepypastas because making the limbless hero likeable in a magical world of adventure is essential [14]. He ought to have courage and a strong sense of justice, despite occasional childishness, being the opposite of Scrappy from the 1930s cartoons he starred in [9]. Should Rayman wear a blue shirt for a new anime or manga series starring him, considering how he wore one instead of his usual purple shirt in the Japanese version of Rayman 2: The Great Escape [36] [55] [56]? Better yet, he could wear that snazzy adventurer’s attire he wore in Rayman Adventures at some point [30] [48]. Could Raynette from a flashback sequence in Rayman Origins return as a cynical ex-spouse yet to get used to his hair, leading him to some new character progression that had never been established before [38] [51]? Despite Rayman’s very little popularity in Japanese gaming, a top-notch personality for him in a Rayman anime or manga would let his likeability shine like any one of the seven chaos emeralds from the Sonic the Hedgehog series [55] [56]. Furthermore, an anime or manga Rayman would be a hundred times the man Raymond Alfonso from one of my poems will ever be [57].

Surely, Rayman will not gather any pirate’s treasure just for himself and gain a ton of weight in a new anime or manga [3]. I still stand by how it would be ethical to feature him with five fingers instead of four alongside remarkable anime eyes [55] [56]. [34]

And ummm…I think it would be best to not let him scare any children like this again. [27]

Could scrapped characters or characters from eventually cancelled adaptions be given a second chance? Simohne, a female member of Rayman’s species was originally going to appear in Rayman Raving Rabbids as his girlfriend [39]. Why not let her be the girlfriend of a twin sister for Rayman named “Rayla” instead for some adorable lesbian representation, along with some respectful black representation within Simohne’s portrayal? After all, yuri is quite a popular media genre involving lesbians in Japan [46]. Perhaps the four former circus freaks from the cancelled television series can return to make up for the story of their daring escape from The Great Rigatoni’s circus and adaption to a new life in Aeropolis that was cut short, even though it never aired in Japan, thus there was never a Japanese dub for the series [37]. Perhaps Monik could be one of the anime series’ antagonists with the motivation to ambush Rayman and Globox as she was meant to be Andre’s girlfriend in the scrapped version of Rayman Raving Rabbids [31]. Even though it would be nice to give characters from scrapped projects a second chance in new ones, the best decision would be reintroducing the current league of allies from Rayman Legends, including Barbara [48] [50].

Simonhe’s personality could be like the Barbie from Brooklyn if she was brought into action, even after getting scrapped alongside Monik in the 2000s [1] [2] [31]. [39]

Can you imagine if Lac-Mac, Betina, Cookie and Flips got the happily ever after they deserved, but never got, even though the fourth episode almost seemed like one? [37]

As an alternative to a Rayman anime, there can be a Rayman manga. Besides, there is a manga series based on various The Legend of Zelda games [52] [60]. The format of a Rayman manga would be quite like the promotional comic for Rayman 2: The Great Escapetitled “Hands Down!”, the only official Rayman comic that has ever been published besides its Japanese counterpart, but with some major differences [27] [29] [55] [56]. The pages of a manga may be colourless, but they are still richly detailed. Recently, I decided to tune into the first volume of the manga Your Name to see how it differs from the anime film adaption [15] [59], which partially led to me suggesting a Rayman manga. The pages of a Rayman manga may be monochrome but it can still be enlightening with some splendid effort put into the artwork and a coherent plot. It could be as humourous as the Ratchet & Clank manga [25], but it ought to have some new character depth like Your Name [15]. And of course, the cover will be in fabulous full colour, most likely with Rayman wearing a blue shirt and having an extra finger on each head, along with glossy anime eyes [55] [56]. Surely, it would be less costly to produce a Rayman manga series.

One of the manga-styled graphic novels based on Catherine had its own ending [7]. The other was set before the events of the game [6]. [7]

As faithful as the manga books based on The Legend of Zelda are [52] [60], the plot of a Rayman manga could be a brand new adventure co-starring Globox and a Teensie. Perhaps the prime conflict in the first volume can be Rayman being reduced to the size of an ant, making the plot of the first volume an adaption of Rayman Mini [35]. [60]

Could a Rayman anime or manga be established after the third DLC pack for Mario & Rabbids: Sparks of Hope marks the limbless wonder’s grand return to 3D in late 2023 [47]? I am not saying that either idea will be brought into action, but it is always fun to creatively express suggestions [55] [56]. We can look forward to animated adventures and antics that will definitely happen later this year, such as Hazbin Hotel [4] [13] [16]. We can also look forward to expansions on interactive experiences as two parts of a new downloadable story for Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet await Poké players this Autumn and this Winter [44]. Hopefully, action against the sexual harassment that occurred at Ubisoft has been taken [10], assuring that the working environment will always be safe for now on, even though some people just cannot be forgiven. Moreover, not everyone is able to comfortably separate the art from the artist [5] [22] [40] [58], which is understandable, yet there could suddenly be a loophole [11] [45]. The best we can do is to keep being kind while setting up specific boundaries [8] [41]. Possibly in association with that, a new adaption in a gaming franchise could be as familiarly fresh as a salted caramel in a Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate bar [19] [20]. Yondre kurete arigatou gozaimasu to sayonara!

We can also look forward to anime adaptations of video games that are definitely happening, including the upcoming Tomb Raider anime that will be available to watch on Netflix and the next Pokémon anime that will introduce a brand new Captain Pikachu [18] [24] [53] [54]. [30]

Lastly, if an anime or manga series starring Rayman might not boost his cred in Japan anytime soon, there could always be an official Rayman comic book series with a lot of elements from Rayman Origins and Rayman Legends for a Western audience, especially those in France and Canada [26] [33] [48] [49] [50] [51]. Au revoir! [29]

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