Prehistoric Critter cameos in Anime

[ITdactyl]

You know from my previous posts that I enjoy it when a prehistoric critter cameos in another form of entertainment: the dinosaurs in "Doctor Who", the Seraphon mounts in Warhammer... even the new creature types in "Magic the Gathering" and "Dungeons and Dragons."

Sometimes, prehistoric critters also make cameo appearances in Anime.  You've probably seen those background "dinosaurs" in "Dragon Ball".

My niece and nephew stayed over today and showed me the anime they were currently following.
I used to enjoy Anime, but the interest has waned.
To my surprise, lo and behold, I spy a gender-swapped "Goddess" Quetzalcoatl riding a Quetzalcoatlus.
Jaw meets floor






Would you look at that; a quadrupedal, "feathered" Quetzalcoatlus in a non-prehistoric themed anime.  Sure, it won't win any accuracy contests, but it's a fantasy anime and I enjoyed that surprise.

[stargatedalek]

I've always loved Fate but still haven't actually seen Grand Order, I think it just went further up my watch list!

There is also a cameo of some Colorata figures in the anime "Psycho-Pass", though it's a fair bit more serious in tone and themes than Fate, which is at it's core an action series (though some Fate entries are pretty dark).

[CityRaptor]

Hmmm, looking her up, her mount does not seem to be a normal Quetzalcoatlus:
https://typemoon.fandom.com/wiki/Quetzalcoatl_(Noble_Phantasm)

[ITdactyl]

@stargatedalek , curiosity piqued.  I'll give "psycho-pass" a go.
@CityRaptor , that's interesting.  I'm clueless about this anime - I just saw this today.

[Justin_]

In the Studio Ghibli film "Ponyo" there are Bothriolepis and Dunkleosteus-like fish that appear when the main character's island home gets flooded. I think there might be trilobites too.

[Brontozaurus]

If we're listing cameos now, Diplocaulus makes an appearance in Neon Genesis Evangelion as part of an surreal evolution montage, and one of the angels is based on Anomalocaris.

[PrimevalRaptor]

I do still love the idea of tying Quetzalcoatlus to Quetzalcoatl since it's named after the God, she also has a Noble Phantasm (basically like the Final Smash moves in SSB so to say) that references the Chicxulub Impact, it's pretty cool.
On the topic of Fate itself, Mary Anning (at least I'm 99% sure it's her) makes an appearance in a joke spinoff manga to FGO, being a Lancer who uses an Ichthyosaur as a Lance. It's...wild. lmao



And in terms of general anime cameos, the final season of Symphogear had Anomalocaris and a very familiar T.rex in one segment:

[MLMjp]

Ah yes, prehistoric creatures and anime, two of my favorite things combined. Shame that it doesn't happen more often and the only things we usually got are pokemon rip-offs like dinosaurs king (but I would lie if I say that I didn't enjoyed it back then), cameos here and there and series/movies directed towards children with stylized designs.

While its neat that they give Quetzalcoalt "Quetzalcoatlus pets", me personally I don't consider them proper Pterosaurs, more like fantasy creatures inspired by the pterosaur with the same name. It is more of a reference that anything. That, or they absolutely didn't care. I do find curious how they give the aztec god turned into a waifu some Spanish words here and there when the aztec civilization was pre-hispanic.

I do still love the idea of tying Quetzalcoatlus to Quetzalcoatl since it's named after the God, she also has a Noble Phantasm (basically like the Final Smash moves in SSB so to say) that references the Chicxulub Impact, it's pretty cool.
On the topic of Fate itself, Mary Anning (at least I'm 99% sure it's her) makes an appearance in a joke spinoff manga to FGO, being a Lancer who uses an Ichthyosaur as a Lance. It's...wild. lmao

Oh crap, are they also going to turn Mary Anning into a Fate/Grand order servant in the Future?

[ITdactyl]

@MLMjp , it's more of "they absolutely didn't care"...   It was never discussed in the anime, but apparently the other media (games I think) sources say that those were meant to be magical copies of the Cretaceous pterosaur.  I did enjoy the reference, and the way they were animated (despite having only a few seconds of screen time in the few episodes they do appear in).

@PrimevalRaptor , that comic is.. err... uh... something.   I had a good laugh.  I hope they don't sully the real person that way though.   I love the animation they did for Quetzalcoatl's "noble phantasm"... and you're right, it did look like a meteor strike.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_T28RDNfJdM

After watching a few episodes though, I realized this anime's story isn't to my liking.  I still enjoy the animation and the fight scenes though.

[Papi-Anon]

The anime series "Murenase Gakuen Seton"/"Seton Academy: Join the Pack!" has QUITE a few paleo cameos.

-Headmaster of the land-based animal academy is a talking anomalocaris whose aquarium is always shattering.



-One of the main teachers is a T-Rex.



-Headmaster of the aquatic-based sister-academy is an opabinia that keeps gettting splashed by breaching whale students.



Several other teachers are various large dinosaurs that have minor appearances.

The final arc of the short series deals with a group from a separate academy of extinct animals who want revenge on modern animals (the two human students of Seton Academy especially). There are two more members but that would give away spoilers.



Andrewsarchus.



Yangtze River Dolphin (female animals are 'kemonomimi' while the males are anthropomorphic).


Barbary Lion (yes, they're still alive IRL, and that gets discussed later)


Steller's Sea Cow.



And as a bonus there is a very brief cameo of Thylacosmilus.

[ITdactyl]

Oh Japanese anime... the weird gift that keeps on giving....

[ITdactyl]

I was surprised to find prehistoric themed critters in the new "Masters of the Universe: Revelations" anime.*
Then I remembered that the original MOTU toys included several "dinosaurs"**






Look at that "raptor"....
I think the last one was based off the original "bionatops" toy from the 80's.

*Netflix calls their animated features "anime", despite purists insisting this should be reserved for those produced in Japan.
**I remember a Ladybird children's book where Teela telepathically communicated with a stegosaurus.