

I'm wondering why would an anime that featured several episodes be compiled
into a movie.

For example, [Attack on
Titan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Titan#Anime) spanned 26 episodes
that were later compiled into 2 movies. Another example is [Death
Note](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Note#Anime), also compiled into 2
movies.

I might understand the release of an original movie with a new story, or a
special episode that recaps the series. However, a full movie recapping the
series ?!

Is it really necessary or profitable?


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anime-production
Why change an anime series into a recap movie?


It definitely has the potential to be profitable. Otherwise, why would they do
it?

Movie adaptions for a successful series have two benefits.

  * Avid fans will watch it, even if it is just a giant recap
  * People who don't want to invest 26 episodes' time into the series will watch it

The latter is especially true as more casual viewers will have heard the name
before from the shows' popularity and decide to get up to speed with it
through the movie.

Of course, every instance is different and there may be series that flunked
dramatically or performed exceedingly well.

In the case of live-action adaptions like Death Note, the audience spreads a
lot wider and can be marketed to people who wouldn't go near anime usually.

I can't find any sales figures but I'm pretty sure it's a good investment for
popular shows, but every venture is unique.

Whether it's necessary is up to your personal opinion.


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It's very cheap to cut a TV show up to become a movie compared to making a
whole new movie. This is usually done in anticipation of some form of
continuation of the story.

People who watched the show years ago but did not buy it can refresh their
memory, people who never watched the show get a chance to dive into the
franchise. Fans get to experience the show on the big screen.

There's really no downside if the franchise is popular enough.


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In addition to the financial incentives, a studio may compile a series into a
movie in order to release a version without filler, or content that may have
been added in for political\commercial reasons. Think of it as being a
director's cut.


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### Compilation videos predate modern video consumption methods and were
designed to be compact, efficient and affordable products that allowed casual
fans to relive the series.

Other answers cover the modern concept nicely, but as someone whose first
experiences with anime dates back to the world of media that existed prior to
streaming, Blu-rays and DVDs, the reasoning is simple: It was not practical or
economical for studios to pump out VHS episode collections back in the 1970s
and 1980s.

I first got into anime when trying to get episodes of old English versions of
anime I grew up with: [_Battle of the
Planets_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Planets) (aka: [_Science
Ninja Team
Gatchaman_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_Ninja_Team_Gatchaman)) and
[_Star Blazers_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Blazers) (aka: [_Space
Battleship Yamato_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Battleship_Yamato)) as
well as old [_Space Pirate Captain
Harlock_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Pirate_Captain_Harlock) episodes
I would occasionally see on local
[UHF](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra_high_frequency) stations in NYC back
in the day.

Needless to say in the late 1980s and early 1990s, there weren’t many quality
or comprehensive releases of vintage anime like that on VHS past a few
official compilation “[direct-to-video](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct-
to-video)” releases.

So while nowadays, I can easily purchase DVD or Blu-ray set of all of the
episodes of any of those series, back then relatively short official
compilation VHS releases is the best anyone could do.

Thus, things like the [_Gatchaman The Movie_
(1978)](https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=6856) were
compiled and released in theaters and eventually on home video. Whether
compilation “films” like this were good or bad, for most people at the time a
“movie” like this was the only way to rewatch the characters of Gatchaman at
home on their own VHS players.

And sure, fandom-based tape dubbing circles existed. But for the average fan
who just wants a bit of nostalgia, compilation “films” like this worked well.

I don’t believe there was ever a _Space Battleship Yamato_ video compilation
film that was ever released in this way, but the first few _Space Battleship
Yamato_ movies were basically a retelling of the exact same story told in the
multi-episode TV series.

Ditto with _Space Pirate Captain Harlock_ but I cannot recall the exact name
of the VHS release but among fan circles that VHS compilation of a handful of
TV episodes was considered a compilation made for “kids” since it summarized
and simplified a lot of the plot-lines to make it all more self-contained.


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