Wu-Tang Clan nearly had their own official anime at popular manga distributor Manga Entertainment called The Imperial Warrior.
Manga Entertainment’s senior VP, Lawrence Guinness, recently revealed some details about the show that nearly came to be in an interview with AnimEigo.
According to Guinness (around the 33:30 mark of the interview), the series was nearly set in stone, but some of the legendary hip-hop group’s members didn’t sign off on it. He reportedly pitched the series to Island Records founder Chris Blackwell as Wu-Tang “challenging the forces of evil through music and martial arts skills.” Guinness believed the project to be “revolutionary” and cited it as “the project I was proudest of that never happened.”
The Wu-Tang Clan wasn’t the only musical act that Manga Entertainment considered giving a show to. Guinness said that his company had engaged in “very advanced talks” with the Spice Girls about an anime that would appeal to fans of Studio Ghibli. The senior VP was sure that teenage girls, “might’ve gone to the cinema to see this. In fact, I think you would’ve stood in a line for a long time to get in to see this. This was the vision. Look, if that’s not girl power in action, I don’t know what is.”
Wu-Tang Clan has long had an attachment to anime, incorporating aspects of the art form’s aesthetics and themes into their work. Wu-Tang member RZA, specifically, contributed to the anime Afro Samurai adaptation by producing the soundtrack.
Last month, Wu-Tang Clan and game studio Brass Lion Entertainment announced an anime-style game called Wu-Tang: Rise of the Deceiver. The action RPG will be able to be played alone or with up to two more friends online, and ties in to Ghostface Killah and RZA’s upcoming film, Angel of Dust.
Brass Lion Entertainment’s co-founder and CEO, Bryna Dabby Smith, revealed to The Washington Post that Wu-Tang loved the concepts that the studio presented to be included in the game.
Prior to that, the legendary group had an anime-influenced fighting game that was released on the PlayStation 1 called Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style.
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