But does the road go both ways? Are there any Japanese manga adaptations of Western video games? Not little promo tie-ins either, but full-on published issues with their own plots. They’re not common, but they’re out there. Here are a few examples of Western franchises that got turned into manga.
5 Watch Dogs
This one is the freshest of the bunch. Watch Dogs: Tokyo moves away from Chicago, San Francisco, and London for a new setting in Japan’s capital city. Drawn by Kamo Syuhei and written by Shirato Seiichi, the plot will involve its protagonists taking on the Bloom Corporation by using their new infrastructure system against them. The manga made its Japanese debut on April 12th, 2022, on the Kurage Bunch website.
Whether it will get an English release is still up in the air. Likewise, it’s unknown whether other Watch Dogs characters, like Aidan Pearce and his iconic hat, will appear too. But it does have a promising pedigree, with Syuhei previously drawing for GANGSTA: CURSED and Seiichi being the story advisor for the Judgment video game. With luck, it might match that game’s mystery plot in quality.
4 Assassin’s Creed
Staying with Ubisoft properties, Monthly Sunday Gene-X published a manga adaptation of their sci-fi/historical stealth killing sim in Assassin’s Creed: Blade of Shao Jun. From 2019 to 2021, it followed its title character as she returns to China from Europe. Her goal is to avenge the deaths of her comrades at the hands of the Jiajing Emperor’s political purges, and reform her band of assassins.
Written and drawn by Minoji Kurata, Viz Media translated the series into English and brought its tankōbon volumes over to the West. The fourth and final volume is due out on June 12th, 2022. The three currently available volumes have received strong reviews too, being particularly noted for its appeal to non-fans as well as fans. It goes over the series’ terms and characters without leaving the former confused, or bogging down the action for the latter.
3 The Witcher
Poland’s premier fantasy series has had an interesting life. The book series was popular enough, then it really rocketed to the sky through the video game series. Geralt’s swung his way through three mainline games, three spin-offs, two expansions, and a guest appearance in Soulcalibur 6. Plus, that Netflix series seems to be popular enough, Henry Cavill’s wig notwithstanding.
Now it has a manga. Written by Rafal Jaki and drawn by Hataya, The Witcher: Ronin is a non-canon spin-off that sees Geralt wander through an ancient Japan-esque world in search of the Yuki-Onna- the Lady of Snow. It received a Kickstarter campaign (in both English and Japanese) where backers could get a special hardcover edition with 3 extra short stories, a making-of section, and other extra goodies. The manga is due out in November 2022 for backers and regular punters alike.
2 Among Us
Yes, really. Among Us received a one-shot manga in the April edition of Bessatsu Corocoro magazine. If that wasn’t weird enough, it has a meta plot where the five crew mates play their own game. While they all want to win, Tamago – the impostor – plans on both winning the game and getting rid of his four crew mates. It’s up to the others – King, Megane, Yankee and Cap – to suss him out both in the game and real life.
It’s all played for laughs to entertain Japanese kids, so it’s not like it was ever going to be some Berserk-esque epic. Still, it shows how popular the little indie game has gotten. Bessatsu Corocoro is famous for producing Japan’s iconic Doraemon series, as well as publishing manga based on Pokemon and Yo-Kai Watch. They also published another Western video game character, who was lucky enough to get a full run than a one-shot.
1 Crash Bandicoot
When it comes to appealing internationally, companies can rarely put a wrong foot forward when they make a mascot platformer. Granted, the mascot and their platformer have to be good. Otherwise, people end up with Bubsy the Bobcat or Alfred Chicken. But it worked for Crash Bandicoot. Especially in Japan where it received its own odd brace of TV commercials, and some region-exclusive easter eggs. Then it got a manga. Crash Bandicoot: Dansu! De Jump! Na Daibouken ran for just over a year from December 1997 to February 1999.
Written and drawn by the late Kawashima Ari, and published in Corocoro Comics, the comic largely follows the plot in Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back. Dr Neo Cortex tricks Crash into collecting crystals (or ‘power stones’ here) for him, while also gathering stuff for Dr N.Brio to stop him at the same time. Unlike the games, Crash can talk, and the comics play the comedy side of the games up more than the action. Like Crash’s love for the Wumpa fruit, or ‘Apple-Chan’ as he calls it. Die-hard fans will be displeased with that rookie error, but it was good enough for kids at the time.
More: The Best Comic Books Based on Video Games
