Anime-inspired Scooby series: "Yokoso Scooby-Doo!"

[wiley207]

We've finally got another Scooby-Doo series for kids in the works, and it's going to be a very different take on the franchise...

"Go-Go Mystery Machine!" According to Variety: "While visiting Japan on the ultimate foodie adventure, Shaggy and Scooby-Doo unwittingly unleash hundreds of mischievous mythical monsters that are now causing trouble all over the country. Scooby turns to his uncle, Daisuke-Doo, and magical friend Etsuko and gadget wiz Toshiro to help solve the mystery and catch the monsters."

Maybe this is going to be the replacement for "Scooby-Doo and the Mystery Pups?" It kind of gives me that vibe, but done in an anime style instead of CGI animation. This is also not the first attempt at an anime-inspired Scooby-Doo production; I'm also reminded there was to be a similar direct-to-video movie, "Scooby-Doo and the Anime Invasion", set for release in spring 2004. But due to adults complaining about the concept, it was cancelled and replaced with "Scooby-Doo and the Loch Ness Monster", thus leading to the rest of the Scooby-Doo direct-to-video movies that decade basically being 70-minute episodes of "What's New, Scooby-Doo?" so they could play it safe.

Sure, it looks like it won't have the whole gang, but it could be better than "Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue!" Any comments?

 

[Action!]

Dang, I didn't expect to see this. I'm intrigued by this.

 

[RoyalRubble]

Interesting this is still only a Scooby & Shaggy series, plus some new characters. Wonder how popular they will get, I doubt they would really ever reach the levels of the original cast.

I don't have much to comment but the idea sounds promising enough and I will check it out whenever it premieres. Also, pretty sure this the first Scooby show without his name in the title. Kind of a weird choice.

 

[Silverstar]

Nothing against the new characters, but I'd have rather gotten all of Mystery, Inc. anime-style instead of just Scooby and Shaggy, but nonetheless this sounds somewhat intriguing, like an anime version of 13 Ghosts. This could prove interesting. I just hope it doesn't get ported over to Adult Swim.

 

[JMTV]

We've finally got another Scooby-Doo series for kids in the works, and it's going to be a very different take on the franchise...

Wow. From the art style alone, I'm pretty intrigue by this.

 

[Edward Joseph]

We actually could have received a Scooby Doo cartoon with anime elements long ago:


Though granted Wiley, this is from the Sanders Schwartz era of WBA. So even if it did come out, knowing your hatred for that era (even going so far to compare it to the freaking Seven Arts era), you probably wouldn't have liked it.

 

[wiley207]

We actually could have received a Scooby Doo cartoon with anime elements long ago:


Though granted Wiley, this is from the Sanders Schwartz era of WBA. So even if it did come out, knowing your hatred for that era (even going so far to compare it to the freaking Seven Arts era), you probably wouldn't have liked it.

Yep, I had already posted about that. It would've been titled "Scooby-Doo and the Anime Invasion," to be released in spring 2004 as the seventh direct-to-video Scooby movie. But while kids liked the concept, too many parents complained, and so they replaced it with "Scooby-Doo and the Loch Ness Monster" (i suspect that was already planned for a fall 2004 release, likely as another one of those "retraux" movies like "Legend of the Vampire" and "Monster of Mexico", but the release date being pushed ahead of schedule led to them re-tooling it into basically being a 70-minute episode of "What's New, Scooby-Doo?", since it would be quicker and easier to produce it that way.)

 

[Edward Joseph]

Yep, I had already posted about that.

Oh drat. Sorry, I didn’t see it in your post. This is what happens when I skim over them.

 

[Golden Geek]

Scooby-Doo and the Anime Invasion probably would've been pretty fun anime-inspired cheese. Parental complaints just sound like xenophobia to me - it's still freaking Scooby-Doo. (Unless there were tentacle monsters invading...)

The poster/artstyle intrigues me to check this out more than anything else I've seen today. Also - Scooby's uncle's a Shiba Inu?

 

[SweetShop209]

It's a bit odd how we almost got a Scooby and Shaggy centric preschool show (Scooby Doo And The Mystery Pups), and now we're (hopefully) getting a Scooby and Shaggy centric anime inspired show. This does sound promising.

 

[RoyalRubble]

It's possible the rest of the Scooby Gang might appear occasionally. Similar to Shaggy & Scooby Get a Ckue.

Given the premise I suppose this will be another, more serialized show. I've seen it compared to 13 Ghosts of Scooby so hopefully this show will manage to finish its story.

 

[Frontier]

I never expected in my entire life I'd see a Scooby-Doo anime but I'm totally here for it !

I thought it would just be anime re-imaginings of the entire Gang, but no we've got Shaggy and Scooby with a new team...and dealing with real Yokai .

So it's like 13 Ghosts mixed with Get a Clue. It could work .

 

[Surreal Kangaroo]

I’m not sure how I feel about this. I will give it a chance but I wish that Velma, Daphne, and Fred were there.

 

[LinusFan303]

I don't mind if the others aren't there, I do like the 80's stuff, I'm not too out of it. This looks interesting.

 

[RoyalRubble]

Thinking about it some more, it's also been a while since they invented another relative for Scooby himself. It's usually someone else in the gang and their family trees. One of the most random recent ones being Bobby Flay as Fred's uncle, I think.

 

[Antiyonder]

So I guess Shaggy and Scooby will from time to time chow down on some ricebal....

Oops. I mean jelly filled donuts. Sorry for that random slip.

 

[Red Arrow]

I’m not sure how I feel about this. I will give it a chance but I wish that Velma, Daphne, and Fred were there.

We have been robbed of Fred and Daphne as a sexy anime couple

 

[NoobtheProphet]

Is it wrong I want this series to be influenced after Yu Yu Hakusho?

 

[wonderfly]

From the front page of AnimeSuperhero.com:

"Editorial: Scooby-Doo Invades Anime! Five Takeaways On The Upcoming “Go Go Mystery Machine” Series"​

"The Scooby-Doo franchise is nearly 55 years old, but is still going pretty strong. Its characters are still recognizable and relevant today, and it is one of those franchises that keeps churning out direct-to-video movies and other projects every once in a while. Even though the quality has been kind of inconsistent at times. Some of the recent movies have been less than stellar, and their most recent animated series aimed at adults Velma has been divisive to say the least (and that’s about all I have to say about it, considering I never got past the first episode – something that I would have never expected from a Scooby cartoon!), but most of the Scooby projects have been successful enough to warrant making more.

It feels like there’s not much the franchise hasn’t tried out by now, to keep things fresh and sometimes re-invent the classic formula of teenage mystery solvers and their pet/mascot dog running into monsters and ghosts wherever they go. These are either real life monsters or only people disguised as such, as part of rather complex schemes to try and do something illegal. A “Scooby-Doo Hoax” has kind of become a trope itself. Scooby has been a part of pop culture for a few decades now. Bringing in real monsters was bound to happen, sooner or later. Something that hasn’t exactly been done yet is a Scooby-Doo anime. As a genre, anime is still pretty popular these days and various shows have been inspired by some Japanese works. Some have even tried copying or offering homages and tributes to specific anime, either classic works or more recent “mainstream” titles. Enter… Go-Go Mystery Machine."

Read the full editorial here.

 

[Pfeiffer-Pfan]

Apparently someone online called ''Kit Hamm'' claims that this series has now been cancelled, with no updates after the announcement. Take it was a massive grain of salt as always, but some Scooby fans also claim he has been right about certain things in the past:

What I do find interesting is that out of all the shows announced recently through the trades or festivals for Warner Bros. Animation, Go-Go Mystery Machine (and Blue Beetle, although that has never been officially greenlit) is the only one that does not appear on the press release:

WBA’s current series include Batman: Caped Crusader, Bat-Fam, Batwheels, Bugs Bunny Builders, Creature Commandos, DC Super Powers, Get Jiro, Harley Quinn, Jellystone!, Keeping Up with the Joneses, Mister Miracle, My Adventures with Green Lantern, My Adventures with Superman, Starfire!, Teen Titans Go!, and Tiny Toons Looniversity.

I guess we'll have to wait and see what the outcome is.