Manga series that pale to their anime counterparts

[tritoch]

Kodomo no Omocha - I have the translated version of the kodocha manga and yes while the manga is superbly written, the anime does a better job at throwing out those tear-fits. Really, seeing the hyperactive Sana all gloomy in the anime was just almost unbearable.. until she started rapping then it made my day. Kudos to the music as well. I have teh soundtrack and i am TEH loving it. Gotta love those cliffhangers and then the ED music starts and it just makes you go crazy.

[Saber Cherry]

re: Scrapped Princess

Originally Posted by wontaek

The manga was bad. The original material, the novel series itself, might be considered as a masterpiece among scifi+fantasy books. You get much better idea what the trio did as well as how awesome Shannon and Raquell can be by themselves. Christopher Armalite is much stronger in the book as well.

My negative comments were about the manga, of course. I've been really hoping to see translations of the novels for Scrapped Princess and Crest/Banner of the Stars, as well as Zero no Tsukaima. I find that anime based on novels tend to be stronger than those based on manga; or at least, I often discover that anime I consider good or deep is based on a novel. The novel format avoids the episodicity that can plague manga, as it is often published by the chapter. Also, manga is often used as free storyboarding, allowing a direct transition to anime without the thinking or imagination required by a book. The current Kenichi is an example of storyboarding that worked in the manga, was ripped straight into the anime, and (IMO) did not work as well.

[Rosepetal]

I agree about Scrapped Princess, that the anime is so much better than the manga. Others I would mention are Pretear and Angelic Layer. I liked both animes, but gave up on Pretear manga after the first two volumes. Angelic Layer had some changes for the better, in my opinion, from the manga.

[rooboy]

Originally Posted by Saber Cherry

re: Scrapped Princess


My negative comments were about the manga, of course. I've been really hoping to see translations of the novels for Scrapped Princess and Crest/Banner of the Stars, as well as Zero no Tsukaima.

I'm not sure where you're from or what your native language is, but Tokyopop is translating Scrapped Princess into English. The first two volumes have already been released.

I think they might actually be doing Crest/Banner of the Stars as well (Dunno, I'm actually reading Scrapped Princess and Kino no Tabi, but I seem to recall they were doing Crest as well).

[LightningZERO]

Black Cat. The anime is way better than the manga!

[sl^sh3r]

Originally Posted by LightningZERO

Black Cat. The anime is way better than the manga!

I'm sorry, but LOL! that's the funniest thing I've heard all day xD!

[Forbin]

Read or Die,
The Manga is a comedy, the Anime is mostly action. I liked the Anime before and AFTER reading the Manga.

[Darkman.exe213]

Infinite Ryvius - The anime is easily one of my favorite anime series, because of its amazing depth, maturity, and overall feel. Howeer, the manga had none of this; instead, it's your basic slice-of-life/romance drama being tacked onto the main plot created by the anime series.(which is a mere plot device for the manga) There are no themes being explored. Human drama is kept to a minimum, and it couldn't catch that high-tension feel like the anime did.

Rahxephon - Generic ecchi/harem slapped onto a butchered Rahxephon anime. The complexity and underlying themes in the anime are not in the manga. Instead, the manga tries to get away with standard harem antics. The plot was far too simple compared to the layered storytelling that was present in the anime, because they couldn't fit all the plot into three volumes.

Code Geass - Suzaku of the Counterattack - Originally, several people saw Code Geass - Lelouch of the Rebellion as a Gundam SEED rip-off, other than the anti-hero point of view. Suzaku of the Counterattack takes that point of view away and puts you in the idealistic hero's place instead.

[petran79]

Originally Posted by rooboy

I'm not sure where you're from or what your native language is, but Tokyopop is translating Scrapped Princess into English. The first two volumes have already been released.

I think they might actually be doing Crest/Banner of the Stars as well (Dunno, I'm actually reading Scrapped Princess and Kino no Tabi, but I seem to recall they were doing Crest as well).

I bought the first volume of Crest of the Stars. They did a good translation, even if you actually need to know Japanese and have the special Abh-Japanese dictionary published in Japan to understand the Abh language.

As for Kino no Tabi I didnt like the translation of the first novel that much, though some episodes were better than the anime.

They also prepare to publish The Twelve Kingdoms.

As for animes that are better than mangas:

From CLAMP I choose Angelic Layer anime over the manga.

Also the Alien 9 anime enriches the manga's mediocre design and adds some new elements in the intruiging story, like the dream sequences. But since it ends in manga volume 2, the third and last manga volume (excluding Emulators) adds some plot twists that would make the anime a hit, had they decided to adapt it.

Then the GITS SAC series are better than the GITS mangas, even if the mangas are entirely different and much harder to follow.


FCLC manga is mediocre too, even if I didnt like the anime that much

the mangas above are a small exception to the rule though, since I enjoy reading mangas much more than watching their anime adaptations

[rooboy]

Originally Posted by petran79

As for Kino no Tabi I didnt like the translation of the first novel that much, though some episodes were better than the anime.

I'm confused, do you mean that the translation is bad or that you preferred the anime to some of the story? I'm only curious because I haven't seen anyone do any kind of comparison on the translations of the light novels to the original source.

[sl^sh3r]

oh yes I forgot to mention,

BLEACH! (without the fillers)

[Umaibo]

The thing to keep in mind, manga is the original work done by the author (Mangaka) and the anime is made by the producer of the tv network (or something). Since that is true, most anime have fillers and alternate storyline and/or endings. Also, nothing beats the original, afterall.

I cannot say I know of any anime that beats its original manga, because anime if it has an original story usually have plenty of plot hole; for example, Full Metal Alchemist.

[Kyuusai]

Trigun.

The manga isn't finished, of course, but the anime really portrayed the characters with greater depth, depicted the action more comprehensibly, tugged at our emotions harder, and gave the story better structure.

The exception to this is the content of Trigun Maximum #1, which was just outright superior to the anime episodes it mirrors. In this case, the anime gave away all the secrets that made that part of the story enjoyable (a small part of which could have been fixed by moving the preceeding filler episode to after that episode), and gave us a generic villian instead of the mystery that created suspense in the manga.

Other than that and just a bit more backstory, though, I far prefer the anime. I'm eager to see the manga ending, though.

[-KarumA-]

Originally Posted by solarknight123

For me mai-hime the manga. I loved the anime alot, but when it came to the manga,little to no character development, too much fan service(kinda hot at first but got annoying esp with the tentacle orphans) & i esp didn't like the whole love triangle between mai, tate, and natsuki, or tate being the lead character. only good thing about it was how strong the himes were and the action. Now i think otome and its manga counterpart are a different case, with the anime paling in comparison to its manga counterpart.

i so agree on that..

also Vision of Escaflowne i think it is because the characters are quite different in the anime and the music is appealing

Inuyasha, i liked the anime more than the manga.. for like the first couple of arcs.. but then meh for both... and mostly because the anime has ended the manga is 'still' ongoing...

[ainsin]

I've only read a little bit of the manga, but I did find Hachikuro (Honey And Clover) to be superior to the manga.

The manga does convey the emotions storyline well, but just the whole anime series feels like a classic.

Such a depressing.. yet uplifting series. It is just an epic series!

[Shalron]

Originally Posted by sl^sh3r

Naruto Anime >> Manga (till the filler arcs started)
Hunter X Hunter Anime >> Manga

Wasnt the entire Zabuza/Haku thing just a huge filler?

[VegaCrescent]

Well, there's a bit of a difference here. Anime adapted from manga and the reverse, manga based on (usually popular) anime.

As far as the former goes (since I'd say it's usually harder to make an anime based on a pre-existing manga and fully and accurately represent and one-up it), I'd say Kannazuki no Miko, since as a romance (which is what it primarily is), the anime focuses on Chikane and Himeko's relationship a bit more and has the better ending.

[andromeda0201]

I agree with Angelic Layer...and probably X as well since the anime had really nice music

I thought Ouran High School Host Club was more superior anime-wise, it was funnier and the drawings were prettier
Even though Fruit's Basket anime didn't end, I thought that it was much better in anime version as well

[2H-Dragon]

Well even though it isn't an anime Goong as K-drama was wayyyy better that the manga. The manga was just pointless and frustrating and the it's way to slow. The drama on the other hand isn't maybe fast paced, but it looks beautiful the main girl stays lovable through out the series. You also have more affection towards the characters.

[jedinat]

I don't know that it pales to its anime counterpart, but I could never get into the xxxHOLiC manga. I tried more than once. And I absolutely loved the anime.

Another one is Full Moon wo Sagashite. Loved the anime. The manga was just "meh" for me.