It’s been almost 20 years since Psyren was first published, and it might finally be getting an anime. While Psyren was unceremoniously canceled after three years, it was still fairly popular with fans and critics, especially in the West, and even 15 years after its cancellation, it remains a major cult hit, and it still ranks highly in official polls for manga people want to see receive anime adaptations.

Psyren is one of the most overlooked Shōnen Jump manga of all time, but it might finally be getting the respect it deserves. In the preview for the issue of Total Licensing, Japanese licensing company Remow is listed as working with Shueisha to develop an anime “based on a beloved series from Weekly Shōnen Jump that ended more than 15 years ago”; that description perfectly matches Psyren, so Psyren has all but been confirmed to finally be getting an anime. There still isn’t official confirmation, but if Psyren is getting an anime, that’s something everyone should look forward to.

Why Shōnen Jump Fans See Psyren As An Underrated Classic

What Makes Psyren Such A Great Manga

For anyone who read Psyren while it was still in Shōnen Jump, it’s easy to see why Psyren getting an anime is so exciting. Not only is Psyren’s artwork consistently gorgeous with plenty of creative and all-around great character designs, but the story does a great job of developing its sci-fi and mystery plot in a way that always feels natural, not to mention having an incredibly thorough and creative power system to go along with it. Everything about Psyren worked on a visual and narrative level, and seeing it all in animation will be even better.

Oddly enough, much of what makes Psyren work as a story is shared by Shōnen Jump’s biggest hits. The manga’s penchant for attractive character designs and heavily detailed battle systems gave it a lot of overlap with Bleach, and nowadays, Psyren’s basic aesthetic has also been used by stories like Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man to tremendous effect. In short, Psyren probably would have been a bigger success if it had come out a few years later than when it did, and hopefully, the current environment will work to help the anime become as big as possible.

Psyren’s Anime Needs To Completely Change The Manga’s Story To Work

Why Psyren Never Became A Big Hit

As great as Psyren was, that doesn’t change the fact that Psyren was unceremoniously canceled, and it’s easy to see why. Not only did its overlap with Bleach not do much to help it stand out, but the pacing in the latter half never allowed for its characters and the overarching story to develop in any meaningful way, especially when Psyren’s popularity started plummeting, and it was doing whatever possible to avoid cancellation, no matter how odd it was. Overall, Psyren is a solid story, but unfortunately, Psyren still made plenty of poor writing choices that ultimately justified its cancellation.

With that in mind, the Psyren anime shouldn’t be a straightforward adaptation of the manga. The manga, as it is, was objectively a failure, and adapting it as is would make the anime no more satisfying than the manga was, so if Psyren really is getting an anime, then Psyren’s anime should rework the worst parts of the manga for a more coherent and all-around better story. There still isn’t even confirmation that a Psyren anime is happening, but if these reports are true, then hopefully, it will be the exact sort of product a story like it deserves.

Sources: Anime News Network, Total Licensing.