Domee Shi’s Turning Red is a new Pixar movie. This movie falls into the fantasy animation category. This is Shi’s debut film as a director. Turning Red movie’s story revolves around a 13-year-old Chinese-Canadian girl student who turns into a big red panda whenever she is too excited or stressed about something. She changes back to a normal human being when she calms down. She has given all her experience and passion to the “Mei” character. However, this is the first Pixar film fully directed by a female director. It’s no wonder that funny dorky, and anime lover Shi has drowned her inspiration from some animes. One can actually notice the influence throughout Turning Red color design and Mei’s energetic tone while she transfers into a panda. So in today’s article, we will talk about the 4 key animes that influenced Domee Shi.
4 Key Anime series that inspired Shi:
In a recent interview, Shi has stated that she got the idea of this film by watching 4 anime including Sailor Moon.
1. Sailor Moon:
Sailor Moon is a 1991 manga series that was written and illustrated by Naoko Takeuchi. It was already adapted for two t.v series. In Sailor Moon, a schoolgirl named Usagi Tsukino can transform into a sailor moon. So no wonder why Shii was inspired by this series. As per Polygon report, Shi explained during an interview, ” We were really very inspired by the pastels and the dreaminess of the nighttime, of the nightscapes,”. Now we can imagine how this show impacted Shii. Currently, Sailor Moon is available on Hulu.
2. Ranma 1/2:
Ranma 1/2 is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi in 1996. This series is based on a martial arts student Ranma Saotome who has a curse. Whenever cold water splashes on him he turns into a girl and when hot water is poured on him he turns into himself. So this story is very similar to Meii who turns into a panda whenever she is too excited or stressed. According to Shii, it was another inspiration for her for Meii’s transformation. You can also find that Meii transforms into a pink cloud so we can say Shii borrowed this idea from this anime.
Ranma 1/2 is streaming now on Hulu and Funimation.
3. Fruit Basket:
Fruit Basket is Natsuki Takaya’s rom-com, a slice of life, and supernatural Japanese manga series. In the series, the Sohma family are possessed by the Chinese zodiac animals and are cursed to turn into animals when they are too much angry or stressed or weakened by opposite-sex people. The series is pretty good, you can watch it on Funimation.
So by watching Turning Red we can easily see the inspiration of Fruit Basket.
4.Inuyasha:
Apart from three anime, Inuyasha was also a huge inspiration for Shi while she was planning her movie Turing Red. Inuyasha is set up in modern Tokyo. It is a romantic adventures journey of a woman who after falling down her household shrine transported to a Sengoku interval. Her name is Kagomi Higurashi. The adventure begins when she has to free half-Damon dog Inuyasha from the prison. Inuyasha is available on Netflix, Crunchyroll, and Funimation.
As per Siri, this anime has also played a huge inspiration for The Turning Red.
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