The Wu-Tang Clan almost had their very own anime series, courtesy of the U.K.-based Manga Entertainment — the now-defunct producer, licensee and distributor started by Island Records founder Chris Blackwell that helped anime become mainstream in the United Kingdom, according to The Anime Business podcast.
Laurence Guinness, who was once head of the U.K. office, sat down with The Anime Business podcast and talked about the project he was most proud of that never got made, and that project included the influential group fighting evil as anime characters. “The project I was proudest of, an OVA series I pitched and conceived to Wu-Tang Clan, got far down the line with a production agreement with them that they’d signed off, we had financing in place,” he revealed.
“There were a few members of the band that hadn’t [signed off], and that’s what stalled the whole thing. But when I pitched it to Chris Blackwell — I’ll never forget — I sat in front of him, I said, ‘This is the series, it’s called The Imperial Warrior, it’s about a gang of Black musical artists from Brooklyn who challenge the forces of evil in the world through music and their martial arts skills.”
He added: “And it was a great series, fantastic — as you would expect — soundtrack, but with these incredible characters…in anime form. It would’ve been revolutionary. That was the project I was proudest of that never happened.”
Guinness also mentioned that the studio was in talks to produce an anime with the Spice Girls as well and shared some concept art.
The Wu were in the news recently as they finished up their Final Chamber Tour and had Zohran Mamdani, New York City’s Democratic mayoral nominee, visit them backstage during their performance at Madison Square Garden.
The iconic rap group is also coming out with a video game called Wu-Tang: Rise of the Deceiver that will feature a customizable character that is tasked with finding each member and will have producer Just Blaze handling the soundtrack. The game will release alongside the RZA-directed, Ghostface Killah-produced horror movie Angel of Dust.
There isn’t a set release date for either.
You can watch the full conversation below.