DHX And Dentsu Entertainment Announce A New 'Mega Man' Cartoon

Of all the video games that you could make into cartoons, Capcom's Mega Man series seems like it's the easiest slam dunk in the world. It's got everything you want, right down to an extremely toyetic cast of evil villains that have to be defeated by fun and clever ways, and if Archie's late, lamented Mega Man comic series proved anything, it's that you can take all of those elements and turn them into something smart, action-packed and appealing to all ages. And yet, aside from an off-model appearance on Captain N, a short-lived animated series in the '90s, and a couple of bizarre educational PSAs produced by the Japanese tourism board that used to be available on Netflix, there haven't been a lot of attempts.

Now, though, we have one on the way. Today, DHX Media and Dentsu Entertainment announced the production of a new Mega Man series that will be produced by Man of Action Entertainment --- and it's bringing a new design and some new elements to the Blue Bomber.

Here's what the press release has to say:

Aimed at kids 6 to 9, as well as their parents who grew up loving the videogames, the animated series will feature exciting new technologies and robots, as well as the introduction of Mega Man’s alter-ego, Aki Light, a normal, upbeat, schoolboy robot. When activated, his skin re-forms – in a flurry of computer code and visual pyrotechnics – into a suit of impenetrable nanocore armor, including the iconic Mega Buster arm cannon and helmet. Beloved characters, like Rush, will return - while new characters, like Mega Mini™, will make their debut! The new Mega Man animated series has a target air date of 2017, coinciding with the franchise's 30th anniversary.

All right, look: I'm trying to be better about judging things before they happen, but I will say that "Mega Mini" is a little worrisome. Although, given that the press release emphasizes a pyrotechnic transformation sequence, I feel like there's a strong possibility that Mega Mini might be Mega Man and Tuxedo Mask's daughter from the future.

As for the high school element, it's worth noting that while Man of Action --- the studio made up of comics veterans Joe Casey, Joe Kelly, Duncan Rouleau and Steven T. Seagle --- has had success with action heroes in school before, it's not the first time we've seen that twist on Mega Man. The short-lived Brian Augustyn/Patrick Spaziante series from Dreamwave had a similar take, with Mega Man going to high school with a secret identity. I liked that take a lot, so seeing it revived here is, if nothing else, pretty interesting.

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