In my last review, Infinite Ryvius, I criticised it due to it being a failure compared to the anime. Digitalboy left the following comment:
Of course – there is pretty much no such thing as a manga that’s based on an anime that’s any good unless it’s an alternate universe retelling. PERIOD. This is just further proving the point. NEVER AGAIN.
This lead me to thinking on anime to manga conversions, and how many of them I liked, and the cause of their failure or success.
I’ve only read a few anime to manga conversions, since most usually started out as either a light novel or manga first, however of those I have read the number I’ve liked is only two.
Looking over the releases that are anime to manga releases, I’ve noticed something. All of them single digit volume releases, in fact most are usually two or three volumes. Looking at that, could that be the problem?
The other thing I noticed is that most of the conversions are of titles that are immensely popular, Blood+, Code Geass etc etc. Again that’s part of the problem, not in so much of them making manga of the series, rather their method.
From what I’m seeing, it’s more a case of them trying to bleed more money out of the series as quickly as possible. So they get the manga out and over as quickly as possible. This naturally means that the manga volumes are short on number and the content is well, crap.
So far the only anime to manga conversion I can say I loved was Witchblade Takeru. However it’s not really fair to consider that a anime to manga conversion since it’s based on a US comic book that was made into an anime, and other than using the ‘Witchblade’ has no ties to the anime at all. It’s completely stand alone.
Sadly, the few conversions I have seen, such as the Code Geass, Infinite Ryvius, Brigadoon, and Blood+ have all been light on content.
Blood+ is an enjoyable manga true, and I did rate it highly. However when you consider the anime itself ran for over fifty episodes five volumes of manga just can’t do it justice. That’s a little over ten episodes into each volume of manga. As a result the manga is supper fast paced and has chunks cut out.
Gurren Lagann is another example of the cash cow idea. The anime (which I admit I hate) is getting a three volume manga adaptation (two have been released so far). They compressed an anime that ran for twenty-seven episodes into a two volume manga. And destroyed it in the process.
I understand companies desire to gain as much cash from a best selling series, but I feel they go about it the wrong way.
I’m not saying the manga should run for ever, but certain things should be covered. For example, Blood+ ran for fifty-one episodes, and was based off of the idea of Blood: The Last Vampire. Given that the guy who worked on both the original anime and novel was involved in both the new anime and novel adaptation, he could have easily taken the manga to new high levels.
For example elements that he had wanted in the anime, but couldn’t fit, could have been added in the manga. Scenes that were glossed over could have been expanded on. But lets face it, even if they only covered the same material as the anime, it could have easily run for fifteen or even twenty volumes, and it would have sold.
There’s so much potential that is left unexplored in these manga adaptations that I have to admit I’m getting to the point where I’m wary of reading them anymore. What’s the point of wasting money of a few volume series that will ki9ll of my love of the anime.
July 31, 2009 @ 08:29.
The problem is, the companies don’t really give a fuck how bad it is, and neither do the fans. It’s all completionism. People who are really huge fans of the franchise will want to buy all the related products to make sure they have everything. Consider the fanfiction writers who want to make sure they recognise all of the series canon, or the obsessive collelctors who might not ever even read the manga, so long as they own it. My little brother s a diehard Gurren Lagann fan so chances are he’ll buy the manga even if it sucks. (by the way, you don’t like GL? weeeeeeeeaaaaaak……) Hell, he considered buying it just for the awesome Yoko foldout in the front, lol.
A manga based on an anime can never match up, because the transition is completely different. When a manga is made into an anime, the anime is all about trying to please the manga fans, there are different elements like the budget it gets, teh studio that does it, and all the trying to stay true or breaking away from teh original that will either hook or piss off fans of the manga. An original anime is just an anime, no strings attatched, and making a manga of it is like moving backward.
Personally, I like anime adaptions way more than original manga, because I like what anime has to offer, but this will never be popular opinion as long as manga is the ‘original’. Without the power of being the original, manga looses some of it’s importance. Anime has directing, voice acting, music, animation, and when the anime comes first, all of that is ingrained into the story. Taking all of that away just eaves something less desirable, and it will always be ugly when it’s not the original.
The only time I feel that a manga adaption of an anime is acceptable is when it truly offers something new, expanding franchise canon. A great example might be the Code Geass Nightmare of Nunally manga which allows characters to be portrayed in a parallel canon that fans can toy with (in fact, I think Sunrise is pretty good about their manga adaptions.)