6 Lord of the Rings Anime Movies Should Be Released After the Rohirrim War

Notice! This article contains spoilers for The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim.

The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim is the first anime film in the franchise, raising the question of what films could be made of the same type going forward. Lord of the Rings and Middle-earth are no strangers to the medium of animation. After all, despite being one of the least classified Lord of the Rings films, the first film adaptation of JRR Tolkien's original books came in animated form thanks to the story by Ralph Bakshi. With The War of the Rohirrim, however, another step has been taken in the vast world of animation.

The story of The War of the Rohirrim is told through the eyes of director Kenji Kamiyama, a Japanese director known for his work in anime. In a world focused on live-action anime adaptations, seeing the opposite happen with The Lord of the Rings it's certainly refreshing and offers a fresh and distinct take on an iconic world. With that in mind, there are several stories that could be told as an anime film later The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, allowing this distinct sect of the franchise to continue.

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A sequel to The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim

The story was left for more adventures

Perhaps the most likely anime film to be produced The Lord of the Rings franchise is a sequence of The War of the Rohirrim. The end of the story left the possibility of sequels, with Fréaláf being the main candidate for this story. This character was introduced as Héra's cousin in the film and a devoted ally of Helm Hammerhand. At the time of The War of the RohirrimAt the end of, Fréaláf led the counterattack against Wulf and the army of Dunlendings, saving the remaining people of Edoras.

Afterwards, Fréaláf is shown being crowned as the new king of Rohan, inaugurating a new lineage of kingship leading to Théoden's reign in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. As for a sequel, it could be interesting to see how Fréaláf's reign solidified. From The War of the RohirrimIn the end, the country is left in a sorry state; Edoras is being rebuilt and Wulf's revolt has likely caused death and destruction in Rohan. Therefore, exploring the beginning of Fréaláf's reign and how he rebuilt the kingdom would not only be an interesting story, but it would also define Théoden's future in The Lord of the Rings.

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A spin-off of The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, starring Héra and Olwyn

The Shieldmaidens of Rohan

Another potential sequel to The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim it could come more as a spin-off starring Héra and Olwyn. At the end of The War of the RohirrimHéra and Olwyn set out from Edoras as Shieldmaidens, the female warrior tribe of Rohan, on their own quest. This establishes connections to the original trilogy, with Héra receiving a letter from Gandalf about Mordor looking for Lord of the Rings'Rings of Power. With this in mind, several anime spin-offs could be created.

One of these spin-offs is the idea presented in The War of the Rohirrim which established a potential alliance between Héra and Gandalf. Creating an anime sequel that explored Gandalf's suspicions about the Rings of Power would have several benefits, from tying The War of the Rohirrim to the main franchise, setting up the original trilogy and even preluding the story of the next Lord of the Rings film, The Hunt for Gollum. Furthermore, Héra's character could be further explored.

The many Lord of the Rings projects developed since Jackson's original trilogy have all been tied into the main story; The Hobbit was a prequel, The War of the Rohirrim configure Rohan Lord of the Rings future and Prime Video's The Rings of Power tells the story of Sauron's rise to power in the Second Age of Middle Earth. This shows that independent stories are not as common in The Lord of the Ringsdespite the vastness of the world. With that said, An anime spin-off centered on Héra and Olywyn could provide just that: a standalone story about the Shieldmaidens of Rohan.

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Stories from the First Age of Middle Earth

The first part of the Middle Earth timeline is ready for exploration

Relative The Lord of the Rings' timeline, most of the Ages of Middle Earth have been explored. The Second Age is the focus The Rings of Powerwhile the Third and Fourth Ages are the setting of both The Hobbit and THE Lord of the Rings trilogies. The only Age yet to be focused on on a large scale is the First of Middle Earth. This Age was very important to the history of Middle-earth and outlined the prelude to Sauron's rise to power, chronicling his subservience to the world's only true enemy: Morgoth.

The First Age of Middle-earth lasted nearly 5,000 years, featuring a wealth of anime films that could be created to explore this part of the timeline. One of Tolkien's greatest books, The Silmarillion, describes the history of the First Age, which means there's no shortage of stories from the source material to choose from. Furthermore, the anime's design and animation work is distinct and unique, meaning that the First Age could be explored in a new visual medium than the original films and their closely related spin-offs, as a way of differentiating the parts. ancient Middle-earth.

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Origin stories of other Middle-earth kings

Although The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim is closely tied to Peter Jackson's original trilogy in many ways, but still featured a unique cast of characters. The exploration of characters like the aforementioned Helm Hammerhand and Fréaláf allowed the film to flesh out the origin stories of some of the most prominent kings of the Third Age of Middle Earth. In future anime films, the franchise may continue to do this.

There have been many important kingdoms in the franchise over the years, from Gondor and Rohan to Arnor and even the less explored lands of Rhûn in Middle Earth. While the founders of Gondor and Arnor – Elendil, Isildur and Anárion – appear in The Rings of Powermany other kings over the years could be given anime origin stories. This would flesh out the world in the same way as The War of the Rohirrim as a result, and tied into the overall franchise while introducing new stories and characters in distinct art styles.

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An adaptation of the Silmarillion

The jewel war could make for a fantastic film series

As mentioned, the First Age is home to many integral stories of Middle Earth. None of these stories is more integral than The Silmarilliona retelling of the War of the Jewels which led to the defeat of Morgoth and the banishment of Sauron from Middle-earth until the Second Age. Aside from The War of the Ring and The War of the Last Alliance shown in Jackson's original films, The War of the Jewels is arguably the greatest conflict that Middle Earth has seen. As such, many have long wanted an adaptation of the story.

An anime film could focus on this. Rather than focusing on other elements of the First Age, as previously mentioned, a spin-off animated film – or even a series of films – could adapt The Silmarillion appropriately. This would provide audiences with a long-awaited story tied to The Rings of Power and The Lord of the Rings fleshing out a huge swath of Middle-earth history.

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A sequel to The Lord of the Rings

What comes after Frodo's victory could be a story concept

A big question for the franchise is what happened next Lord of the Rings. While the fates of most of the main characters were highlighted in Jackson's films, not everything about the Fourth Age was explored. For years, the idea of ​​a sequel The Lord of the Rings was teased in relation to future films, with the anime style of The War of the Rohirrim potentially offering a vehicle for this story to be explored.

Anime filmmakers could have the opportunity to lend their voice to the Fourth Age. Whether it's a series of low-stakes anthology films exploring the characters after Sauron's defeat or the potential adaptation of Tolkien's only idea for a Lord of the Rings sequel, the possibility is more likely than ever given Warner Bros.' to enable a new means of exploring Middle-earth. If this happens later The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim remains to be seen, but evidently, there are many options for further exploration of the world through the eyes of anime filmmakers.