That should have stayed a manga only!

Not sure if there is a thread like this but whatever.

Pretty much it's as the thread title reads.

Because we all know that there are some of those animes that we think should have only become manga.

So lets get this thread on the road!

Although I'm an avid manga reader and not enough of an anime watcher, I can't really place any opinion on mangas that should've stayed as mangas. Only a few shounen titles come to mind, like Naruto, Bleach, Rurouni Kenshin, but that's because of complaints about filler episodes not contributing anything to the anime as a whole. Especially after the Shishio arc in Kenshin anime, where nothing seemed to happen. The Revenge arc is really where the steam picks up in the manga.

Another thing that is common in manga to anime transitions is cutting the anime off at a point where it still continues in manga form. Many animes do this, and sometimes loyal manga readers will think it pointless to watch the anime when you can get the complete story and picture by reading the manga. On the other hand, watching the anime might be a better platform for many people to become fans of the series and thus begin reading the manga.

While writing this I finally thought of one: Angel Sanctuary. They made it into a two part OVA which was minimal time to explain anything. The entire manga is 20 volumes long, if I remember when I read it, and there were too many characters and plot twists to even squeeze anything relevant into two hours. Art is pretty, yes. OVA is a mind boggling NO.

His and her circumstances should have definately stayed as a manga only. I loved the manga but the anime was so-so. Gainax is a really good studio; but i think they should stick to drawing robots and such not girly shojo ai.

Man, the only title I can think of at the moment is not one I've seen or read myself, but "Full Moon O Sagashite". A friend of mine watched it, then read the manga and now doesn't care for the anime do to added filler stuff and certain character elements that are only addressed in the manga. I kinda want to see/read it now for curiosity's sake.

I'm with Dee when it comes to Angel Sanctuary. Amazing manga with amazing art and amazing story, but the anime OVA doesn't cover NEARLY what it should.

Another manga/anime I'd throw out there is Hellsing... the ORIGINAL anime. Because the anime was producing much faster than the manga, they basically made their own story for the anime, which turned ridiculous. However, they're soon coming out with Hellsing Ultimate, which actually follows the manga (gasp!).

I'm trying to scan my manga/anime shelves in my head, but can't come up with any more right now. I'll look closer later, because I just know I'm forgetting some of the titles I own.

These are sort of opposite cases in which the manga came after the anime finished but:

The Law of Ueki and Disgaea instantly come to my mind. The art style is totally different from the anime, and they are simply better in anime form (well, Disgaea in game form, since it was originally a PS2 game before that). The manga versions both seem messier and more so of afterthoughts. With Disgaea, the story progression is different for the third time, despite the basic plot and goal in each version being the same.


As well, I don't remember which came out first, but I prefer Petshop of Horrors to have only been in manga form. Granted, the OVA is somewhat old, and only covers a fraction of all the supernatural tales in the manga. The anime does not capture the graphic nature of the blood or the macabre story-like feel as well as the manga does.

Love Hina...The manga is freaking LOL-funny the entire way through (it's the only series I have the GN's for from beginning to end) and they gutted so much of the humor from the TV series and wasted episodes on stuff like the "first kiss" bit and Su, it's painful to watch at times. The whole vacation thing was completely ruined in so many spots. I really wish they would redo this. Oh, and I like dubs, but the English track here was intolerable.

Also Full Metal Panic...Even after seeing the first disc of Fumoffu, a lot of scenes I saw were much more potent in the manga. I'm hesitant to get back into this series, since the first season ended up being one of the biggest series letdowns ever.

I suppose FMA should've stayed as a manga. After reading several volumes, there was alot of details they missed in the anime.

Naruto, plain and simple. The anime is absolutely horrid, compared to the manga.

I'd have to say that Negima! was a complete bombsite of an adaptaton that in the end had to bump off chracters to even become remotely intresting. (Negima?! seems to be geting good though)

Lets see, Air Gear....Cover Crows for hte fuck lose, Blur if you have to, hell, digital underwear it if needs must but as it is it's a serious case of "Screw you, Toei" in there.

I don't really see why people are saying Naurto should of stayed a manga. Yeah, the fillers are bad, we get it. But when you see the actual show, it's a very faithful adaptation and has some real good animation. There are weak points, yes, but it's still a good anime if you take out the filler(which no one is forcing you to watch, anyways).

As for real anime that should have stayed as mangas, there are hardly any. The ones mentioned already, with the exception of FMA I agree with. FMA, while going on and doing its own thing is still a good show, you just gotta look at the anime and manga as different entitie's in the same world.

I think Hokuto no Ken (Fist of the North Star) should have stayed as manga, though. The anime is alright in it's own right, and the voice acting is awesome, but the ammount of stuff they had to censor, the filler, the stretching of the first 2 volumes into 26 episodes, etc.. is just too much.

Originally Posted by Chaotic

I suppose FMA should've stayed as a manga. After reading several volumes, there was alot of details they missed in the anime.

Funny you should say that. I enjoyed FMA as an anime, yet the manga didn't catch my interest. I keep hearing it's great, though, so maybe the first volume just wasn't as good as the rest.

I have to mention Berserk here, although I haven't really read enough of the manga and seen enough of the anime to make a definitive call. So far the manga has been great and the anime just okay, with lots of simplifications, "shortcuts" and such. I especially dislike how the manga's timeline wasn't respected, the flashback coming way earlier than it should. I also get the feeling that the drawings are subpar next to the original manga, which is a shame. Ah well.

Black Cat should've stayed a manga IMO. The anime started out alright as it was a little different...

Spoiler:

....Sven meeting Train while the latter was still an assassin of Chronos instead of a dumb new sweeper that passes out in the middle of the street due to hunger, as in the manga special.

....but the episodes started to get a little weird later on. They changed the ending somewhat which made it a liiitttttllee bit interesting, but in the end I guess they shouldn't have bothered.

Basically any long manga (over 20+ volumes) will eventually stagnate before it gets to the end. Especially when the manga hasn't even finished yet. In cases like these, writers and directors are forced to make stuff up (Rurouni Kenshin after the Kyoto Arc) or take things in an entirely different direction (Full Metal Alchemist, Hellsing) or just leave a hanging ending and hope someone else gets round to continuing it (Berserk).

Originally Posted by Summonmaster

As well, I don't remember which came out first, but I prefer Petshop of Horrors to have only been in manga form. Granted, the OVA is somewhat old, and only covers a fraction of all the supernatural tales in the manga. The anime does not capture the graphic nature of the blood or the macabre story-like feel as well as the manga does.

I actually wish that they would have made PSoH a series, instead of the funky chopped-up OVA thing that they did. The nature of the stories (mostly self-contained tales) would translate well as a show -- however, the animation was sub-par, the music was LAME, and it just overall didn't get the treatment it deserved.

Now, I like Vampire Hunter D and all, but I really think it should have been made into a manga first (only now is it being adapted into a manga series), then maybe a series. The movies are okay (VHD:Bloodlust was actually an improvement on the original novel, in my opinion), but I think with as many books as there are, it should have been something that allows more of it to be made following the novels.

In my opinion, the mother of all this is: Akira. For those who have read the 6 volumes will understand while the film is great, and I still love it, it is hardly a faithful adapation to the manga is just bloody unreal.

Gantz

I hated this show when I first saw it. Thought it was a horrible anime. The anime was boring, the characters annoying and the voice acting was atrocious (the english dubbed). I saw the anime first but someone told me to read the manga. So I downloaded the manga off a site and I enjoyed it better than the anime.

The Getbackers

I read the manga first before seeing the anime so when I saw the anime listed On Demand, I was pretty excited. Uhhh I don't know about anyone else but it should have defintely stayed a manga.

Lordo, good point! I'd forgotten totally about Akira. I'm surprised it wasnt one of the first mentioned!

After looking at my manga collection I picked out another one: Magic Knight Rayearth. Clamp's art in the manga (as usual) was absolutely amazing. The anime changed the way the characters looked in such a way that made me hate the anime. Not to mention that the story was changed around way too much.

I'd also add Berserk to the list, anyone who's update to with the Manga and has seen the ending of the anime will know why.

Although Narusegawa is hot as hell, I have to agree with Goldfish. Too much of the anime was focused on the romantic part of romantic comedy. That is where things like Ah! My Goddess work out well. Naruto, Bleach, etc. for the above mentioned reasons that wasted 10GB of my Hard Drive.