Official Metal Gear Solid Anime Series Is Not What You Think

Metal Gear Solid now has an official anime, but it's not what you think.

Far from a high-budget animated adaptation of the Metal Gear Solid series, an official YouTube series from Konami called Mini Gear instead takes the characters and storylines of the critically acclaimed "tactical espionage action" franchise and reimagines them. In this case, that means shrinking down characters like Solid Snake and Colonel Roy Campbell into almost chibi-like form for laughs.

In the first episode of what Konami is labeling a series, Snake is kind of over the whole "one-man infiltration mission" thing, joking that the series should be renamed to "Manic Gear," because he would have to be "crazy" to keep going on such dangerous missions. He also notes that Campbell gives off some strong "betray me later" energy, a line fans of the series will get a chuckle out of.

Despite Snake insisting he doesn't want to go on any more stealth adventures, a few shots of a questionable substance quickly change his mind. He quickly becomes excited about going to Shadow Moses island and feels compelled to "crawl around" and "hide in cardboard boxes," which is all music to Campbell's ears.

The series exists to promote Konami's upcoming Metal Gear Solid: The Master Collection Vol. 1, set to release on October 24. The collection brings together Metal Gear Solid 1, 2, and 3, alongside Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2, in one package for modern consoles. Konami is additionally working on a complete remake of Metal Gear Solid 3 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, though no release date for the project has been given.

Meanwhile, updates about a proper Metal Gear Solid film adaptation from director Jordan Vogt-Roberts have largely gone silent. Oscar Isaac, who signed on to play Solid Snake, said last year the Metal Gear Solid movie was still alive, and remained hopeful the project would come to fruition. He said the creative minds behind the film were "searching like Solid Snake" to find the right story before production could begin.