Capcom's Mega Man franchise has had many Blue Bombers, be they futuristic descendants of the original robot boy or versions from alternate universes. One such parallel take on the character was introduced in the Mega Man Battle Network series of video games. These titles swapped out the traditional robot-based premise for one instead based on digitization and the internet.
This subseries was for many years the face of the franchise, even receiving an anime adaptation in the form of MegaMan NT Warrior, as it was known outside of Japan. Though NT Warrior was based on the Battle Network games, it eventually diverged into a wildly different storyline, something many English-speaking fans might not know, considering NT Warrior's English dub was never completed. With Mega Man Battle Network's 20th Anniversary celebrations underway, now's the perfect time to release the full series or, better yet, remake it entirely.
MegaMan NT Warrior
Like the games, NT Warrior follows Lan Hikari, who lives in a world filled where people surf the internet with the help of NetNavigators, high-tech, sentient programs that live online. Lan's NetNavi is MegaMan.EXE, who is of course based on Capcom's Blue Bomber. The pair are joined in their adventures by their friends, other humans with NetNavis based on classic Mega Man characters, like Roll, Guts Man and Ice Man.
The storylines were loosely based on the first two Battle Network games, featuring plots involving virtual tournaments and rogue NetNavis. Unfortunately for fans of the game, they wouldn't be able to enjoy an exactly similar experience. Not only did NT Warrior go on to make several drastic changes to the source material, but many of the characters and concepts were changed in the dub due to rampant censorship. To make matters worse, American audiences didn't even get to see all of the story!
How MegeaMan NT Warrior Differs from Battle Network
For one thing, the post-9/11 landscape of the show's release saw it dramatically changed in the dub. Simple words like bombs, napalm and even fire were replaced in the English edit, with several characters having to have their names changed to accommodate the times. For instance, NapalmMan.EXE is changed to MoltanicMan.EXE in the dub. The dub was also aired out of order, and only reached up to the anime's second part, called Axess.
After Axess, there were three more parts to the series, Stream, Beast and Beast+, that would never see an English release. It's also worth noting that from Axess onward, the anime diverged even more from the games. For instance, the Battle Network incarnation of Bass was introduced as the first NetNavi without a human counterpart, but in the show, he's a reincarnation of the completely unrelated PharaohMan.EXE. Dr. Regal's allegiance is also changed, turning him from a loyal follower of ShadeManEXE to instead betraying him. Other bizarre changes include making Princess Pride an ally of Lan instead of his enemy, emphasizing minor characters and de-emphasizing major ones from the games, which is thoroughly confusing considering the anime was created to promote the games.
Needless to say, these differences have split the fanbase of the popular Battle Network games quite a bit. Again, Battle Network was the face of the Mega Man franchise at the time and was popular enough to spawn six mainline games, a number of spin-offs and a manga. Despite the massive changes to the Mega Man formula, Battle Network and even NT Warrior are well-loved and still fondly remembered.
The subseries is now 20 years old, and the perfect way to celebrate its legacy would be to create a new Battle Network anime that more closely follows the games. This would have the advantage of hindsight and be able to adapt a completed Battle Network storyline, unlike how the original anime was concurrent with the games. If nothing else, simply dubbing the rest of the old anime into English -- with a non-censored dub -- would be the perfect way to celebrate the digitized take on Capcom's beloved blue mascot.
