A lot of good anime is based off of even better manga series. Manga doesn't have filler, it's all straight from the source. It also tends to be much longer than the anime that tries to cover it. It also has faster pacing than the anime which tends to draw everything out to the point of terminal boredom (like how One Piece has become the last couple years). In addition, there are a few good manga series that never receive an anime adaption, in which case manga is your only hope. It's a lot like light novels or visual novels, everything revolves around anime, but anime doesn't cover everything good coming out of Japan, so you always have to orbit out to the other entertainment mediums if you're a true fan of a franchise.
For instance, The World God Only Knows Season 3 anime covers the Goddess arc. That's a fine arc, and I'm happy to see it animated. The problem is that skips some sixty manga chapters inbetween season 2 and season 3. If you didn't read the manga for that section, you would have no idea what's going on or who the characters appearing on screen were. In addition, since the anime is only 12 episodes long like the previous two seasons were, it has no chance of accurately covering the entire Goddess manga arc either. The Goddess arc is huge, the season would have to be 24 episodes to address the material appropriately, but we only got half as many instead. The World God Only Knows is one of my favorite anime series, but it's essential to read the manga too, one just isn't any good without the other.
In addition, this fourth season of Hayate no Gotoku has been great, and very loyal to the source material manga, unlike seasons 1 and 3. However, unlike season 2 of Hayate which was chronological and simply faithfully covered the manga chapter by chapter (by far my favorite season), season 4 is randomly skipping around and finding stand-alone funny stories that have nothing to do with the overarching plot. It's better than nothing, but it's really not a bright idea. What I would give for a faithful adaption of Hayate that just started at chapter 1 and covered the entire series until it ended, word for word, panel for panel. Until we get that (and we never will), any fan of the anime must read the manga too or be totally adrift in confusion and frustration.
Other manga that needs to be read because of flaws in the anime:
One Piece, Fairy Tail, Bleach, and Naruto. The anime is far behind all four of these series so any fan is stuck reading ahead to get the full experience. One Piece is following a model of each episode of anime covering only one chapter of manga. This is an agonizing pace, generally anime episodes should cover 2 or 3 chapters of manga per episode. As such, One Piece really hasn't been much fun to view since Water 7. I preferred the old model where One Piece had tons of filler that I could just skip and not watch at all to this new, slow-paced One Piece that tries to stay true to the original. But the One Piece manga has stayed just as good as ever and is a terrific read every week. Nothing drags in the manga, nor is there any filler, it just goes forth and conquers.
Meanwhile Naruto has so much filler that for years now the majority of the series has been total nonsense and lies. Only by reading the manga can you sift the truth from the fiction and get the Naruto anime experience you deserve. Without the manga as a guide to know when to watch and when not to watch, you'd have to watch hundreds of episodes of worthless filler and the series would be god awful. The ridiculous amounts of filler in Naruto's anime have never been justified because the manga is well ahead of the anime right now. Hopefully the Naruto manga will end soon and then the anime will have to stay non-filler from here on out.
Fairy Tail and Bleach also had to be read to know when to avoid filler in the anime, and also because the anime series ended without any resolution, so only reading the manga is left to their fans. In addition, I'd say Fairy Tail's art is so much more beautiful in the manga than the anime that it would be a total waste not to both read and watch the series.
Other good manga to read -- Claymore --> the anime became filler around the last 1/3 and ruined the story. The manga is much better and much longer.
Negima --> the manga has a weird and unsatisfying ending, but the anime is even worse. It gets practically everything wrong in the details, cuts massive amounts of story, and stitches together a Frankenstein's monster of an anime that doesn't even faithfully follow the manga's ending (bad as that ending was.) Negima has a great cast of characters and gorgeous art, and is a must read. The anime is useless so you may as well just start from the beginning and read to the end in manga form only.
Soul Eater --> The Soul Eater manga is over now, and at a much more satisfying point than the filler anime which stopped following the manga at episode 39.
Shin Prince of Tennis --> Yes, the tennis matches are retarded, but watching cool guys try their hardest on the battlefield of sports is always fun. The anime just ends randomly in the middle of this series, so manga is your only hope for more.
Vinland Saga --> Perhaps because the story is quite serious and gory, this historical fiction story concerning the life of norsemen is a great read while having no anime adaption at all.
Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha Vivid --> This is the story of Vivio growing up after her adoption, getting along with new friends and finding a dream -- to win the juvenile martial arts tournament that gathers all the strongest young female mages in the world to engage in passionate but peaceful competition to determine the smartest, cutest, bravest, coolest, and strongest of them all. This series is ridiculously good and ridiculously beautifully drawn. The story doesn't fall behind any of the animated seasons, which I have rated as my 17th favorite anime of all time. And, stupidly enough, instead of giving this series an anime, they just keep churning out more Dog Days. Ugh. Mahou Senki Lyrical Nanoha is worth a view too.
Berserk --> The anime stops when the demons pop out. The manga continues twenty years longer and counting.
Guyver --> The anime stops when the zoalords pop out. The manga continues twenty years longer and counting.
Yuru Yuri --> Someday I hope they will make a third season of Yuru Yuri. For now though, just enjoy the extremely beautiful and charming comedy of middle school girls in love with each other that continues past where the anime ended.
Hunter x Hunter --> The recent anime adaption of Hunter x Hunter is excellent, but until it has fully caught up with the manga it can't be relied on entirely.
To Love Ru Darkness --> Because the anime didn't cover it all.
Saki --> Again, the anime hasn't covered it all.
History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi --> The anime adaption ended just when the series was getting good. This is a huge manga series that deserves to be serialized just like Fairy Tail, Naruto or One Piece. It's a crying shame it was dropped at 50 episodes or whatever. Even counting the more recent OAV's, the Yami/Yomi storyline isn't even close to covered. The manga is still going strong and is always a blessing to brighten one's day.
Flame of Recca --> The manga goes much longer than the anime and is great to the end.
Rurouni Kenshin --> The manga goes much longer than the anime and is great to the end.
K-On! --> This great anime didn't end where the manga ended -- so there's no choice but to follow the manga the rest of the way.
Angel Beats --> There's a prequel to the anime series which was too short to cover all the characters' characterization. This manga helps fill in the holes.
Ranma 1/2 --> The anime was full of filler and ended way too early. The manga solves those problems.
Hikaru no Go --> The anime ended before the manga ended.
H2 --> The anime ended but the manga continued.
Sora no Otoshimono --> For all the scenes the anime got wrong or didn't include.
Freezing --> The anime didn't cover the manga correctly and doesn't cover all of it anyway.
Rosario + Vampire --> The anime didn't cover the manga correctly and doesn't cover all of it anyway.
Shinryaku!? Ika Musume --> The anime ended but the manga continued.
Strobe Edge --> A good manga by the same author as Ao Haru Ride.
Nichijou --> The anime ended but the manga continued.
Railgun --> The anime ended bu the manga continued.
Gokukoku no Brynhildr --> The anime didn't adapt the manga right, and the manga continued past the anime anyway.
There are also tons of good manga series I've never heard about and so don't even know to include on my list. But in any case, these are the good reads that you won't find anywhere else except in the world of manga. Restricting yourself to anime just doesn't work, every time, to get the real intended experience, you have to eventually go back to the source.
No comments:
Post a Comment