The Tomb Raider franchise is about to get an exciting addition after Netflix announced that it will be releasing an anime series based on the iconic gaming franchise. While this is far from the first Tomb Raider adaptation, it will be the first one to be animated or on on the small screen. Both the Angelina Jolie and Alicia Vikander versions borrow from the characters' different eras but keep the same essence.
Lara Croft helped create the modern adventure game back when the original Tomb Raider released in 1996. To succeed, the Tomb Raider anime will need to include some important elements from the games.
Over the course of nearly 25 years, Tomb Raider has innovated the adventure game genre. Those innovations should translate into the anime, which is being set in the series' most recent continuity. The franchise shows the excitement of adventure and the terrors that come with survival, and one key element that makes the Tomb Raider games distinct is the feeling of loneliness that they evoke.
Lara Croft has always been at her best when she works alone. In the early games, this was mostly Lara's choice. However, more recent titles have seen her caught in situations that force her to be alone. When the series returned in 2013, players were introduced to a Lara forced to make the best out of a bad situation.
If the anime can use that to its advantage, it would show that Lara is a quick thinker who's adept at adapting to her situation. It would also build up tension similar to what players would experience by playing the games. Lara will have to be left to her own devices in uncharted territory for the anime to authentically adapt her character, something that will be incredible and rewarding to watch play out onscreen.
The adventure genre in both gaming and film has displayed exotic locations that look out of this world. Tomb Raider games are known for featuring beautiful lost civilizations to uncover, and it the anime can build up the mystery of whatever Lara is hunting for, the pay-off would be jaw-dropping over the course of multiple episodes.
Netflix is no stranger to creating action-packed anime series. What Tomb Raider lacks in stylized fighting, it gains by having realistic and brutal combat. To this day, players still remember the scene from the 2013 reboot in which Lara was forced to take a life. Those serious moments have helped define the recent trilogy, and portraying the intensity and high stakes involved in fighting to survive will be integral to the show's success.
The Tomb Raider anime has a lot of history and lore to build from, as well as high expectations from fans to meet. However, if the creators make the series with the most important aspects of the game in mind, the anime could be a massive success.