It doesn't get more American than Ghostbusters. The franchise has become a staple of American pop culture and even spawned its own cartoon series back in the 1980s.
But what if Ghostbusters got the Japanese anime treatment instead? It would probably look something like this.
The video comes from YouTube channel Nacho Punch and it's pretty spot on in its depiction of old-school anime. Giant eyes? Check. Cute chibi monsters? Check. Super-exaggerated character expressions? Double check. All the anime tropes are there, though I have no idea what is up with the swirling eyes of that one guy. He might want to get that checked out.
Instead of the iconic Slimer, we get a variety of Japanese-inspired ghosts and ghouls. Even the Ghostbuster's iconic car gets a Japanese makeover as the gang races through the streets of Tokyo to deal with supernatural troublemakers.
Then, of course, there is the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man's replacement, the massive and incredibly adorable Doraemon. Now let's compare this Japanese inspired short with what the kids of America actually watched more than two decades ago.
If you paid attention you probably noticed that the Nacho Punch anime version is a direct parody of the American intro. Cool, huh?
With all this talk about the Ghostbusters sequel/reboot going around, maybe it's worth considering a Ghostbusters: International spin-off. The Ghostbusters deserve to go global. If not, who is Japan going to call when there's something strange in the neighborhood?
