Kyoufu Densetsu Kaiki! Frankenstein

Kyōfu Densetsu Kaiki! Frankenstein (恐怖伝説 怪奇！フランケンシュタイン), is a 1981 Japanese animated television film loosely based on Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus and the Marvel comic book Monster of Frankenstein. The film was made by Toei Animation and Studio Live; initially broascast on TV Asahi in 1981, it was dubbed and released in the U.S in 1984, advertising it as both Monster of Frankenstein and Frankenstein: Legend of Terror.

Like in the original book, in 1860 Dr. Victor Frankenstein does his best to create a monster and infuse it with life despite the warnings of his father Alphonse (who left the process) and his partner Zuckel. As the creature is brought to life, he's painfully electroctured fue to malfunctions and goes into a rampage, chasing after Zuckel and Victor ferociously. Victor manages to escape, Zuckel is not so lucky, and the Creature falls off a nearby cliff.

Victor returns to his house, where his wife Elizabeth and their nine-year-old daughter Emily are waiting. (Alphonse, on the other hand, is living in a nearby cottage despite having gone blind). But things do NOT get better, as suddenly animals and people appear slaughtered not too far from them. Victor is growing more and more paranoid, firmly believing that the Creature somehow lived through its fall, and he hires the detective Belbeau to investigate; he does his best to gather any info he can, but he cannot help suspecting Victor himself. And even more, Emily and Alphonse do meet the Creature himself, and unaware of his identity, Emily names him "Franken" and bonds with him. . .

Tropes used in Kyoufu Densetsu Kaiki! Frankenstein include:

• Accidental Murder: Franken did kill people and animals, but was mostly looking for food and clothes. Additionally, he didn't really want to kill Philip; he slapped the boy away in self-defense when he tried to attack him in angry terror, and he died when he hit a huge rock.
• Animated Adaptation: One in a TV special format.
• Anti-Villain: The movie goes out of its way to show Franken as very tragic and sad. To the point that once it sinks in for him that he will never truly be welcomed in human society, he commits suicide on screen by tossing himself off another cliff.
• Asshole Victim: Zuckel.
• Break the Cutie: Emily Frankenstein exists for two purposes. To be a sweet pre-teen girl who adds some cuteness to the story, and to be BRUTALLY broken by the plot.
• Calling the Old Man Out: Emily does this to "Papa" Victor at the very end.
• Canon Foreigner: Emily, her dog Lucky, Emily's best friend Philip, and Inspector Belbeau.
• Composite Character: This movie's Alphonse Frankenstein is one of Victor's father and of the blind old man the Creature befriends.
• Downer Ending: By the time the story finishes, a good part of the cast is dead, including Victor, Elizabeth, the Frankenstein's housekeeper, Zuckel, Lucky the dog, Philip, and Franken himself.
• Driven to Suicide: Victor shoots himself dead with his own shotgun as atonement for his actions and how they caused MANY deaths. Franken willingly tosses himself off a massive cliff.
• Expy: Detective Belbeau seems to be one of Captain Walton from the book.
  • The Emily of the movie may have her own one - the fellow Artificial Human and "little sister" of Victor von Gerdenheim from Darkstalkers, also named Emily.
• Frankenstein's Monster: But of course!
• Go Out with a Smile: Franken is smiling sadly as he falls to his death.
• Graceful Ladies Like Purple: Elizabeth's purple dress
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Both Elizabeth and Emily.
• Hey, It's That Voice!: Mami Koyama voices Emily in Japanese, and Rebecca Forstadt in English. Both women also voiced Minky Momo/Gigi at one time.
• Hot Mom: Elizabeth Frankenstein
• The Igor: Averted with Zuckel, Dr. Frankenstein's assistant. He isn't physically deformed though he does lose an eye to the Monster later, has more agency than the average Igor (in fact, he's more of a partner than a servant and does warn the Doc about the dangers of the experiment itself), and ultimately he becomes the closest to an actual Big Bad in the special, harassing the incresingly unstable Doctor out of Revenge for the Eye Scream he was a victim of. He more or less earns his own end at the hands of the Monster.
• I Just Want to be Loved: Franken genuinely wants friends! He makes two, Emily and her grandfather Alphonse, but Emily snaps on him when she mistakenly believes he killed her mother Elizabeth and her best friend Philip. She does forgive him when Alphonse proves that Franken's innocent and that he saved him, but by that point, it's too late.
• Inspector Javert: Detective Belbeau evolves into this.
• Names to Know in Anime:
  • Toyoo Ashida was the character designer and animation director. His other credits include Dr. Slump, Space Battleship Yamato and Magical Princess Minky Momo (in fact, Dr. Frankenstein and Momo's dad could be twins).
  • Studio Live, who assisted Toei on animation production, would contribute character design work and animation to Toei's Sailor Moon anime over a decade later (particularly Kazuko Tadano and Hiromi Matsushita, both credited as in-betweeners on this special).
• Narrator All Along: Detective Belbeau
• Not Me This Time: Franken was trying to save Elizabeth! Not kill her!
• Pink Means Feminine: The very girlish Emily wears a pink slip dress.
• Revenge: Zuckel really, REALLY wants this after Victor left him for dead, Franken almost killed him, and he lost his eye.
• Seppuku: One way to see Victor's suicide at the end.
• Ship Tease: Of the Puppy Love kind, between Philip and Emily. Before he dies.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Emily is basically a tiny Elizabeth.