I've updated my Top Anime Rankings permapost to inform people exactly where a ranked anime's source work stands in its production process. There are four possibilities:
1) * = finished.
2) % = abandoned unfinished.
3) & = not finished but still being worked on so it might finish someday.
4) @ = had a perfectly good ending but is now involved in endless pointless spinoffs so like a zombie it just won't die.
Now all of my 200 ranked series have a marker indicating what type of story they belong to. The good guys (* and &) or the bad guys (% and @), as it were.
Note that when a spinoff or sequel is good enough it falls under the '&' category, only when the extra content doesn't measure up to the original's worth do you end up with a '@'.
There are 8 series out of the 200 cursed with a @ mark:
Naruto
Code Geass
Higurashi
Inuyasha
K-On!
Suka Suka
Gate
Ghost in the Shell
There are 15 series out of the 200 cursed with a % mark:
Nanoha
Seikai no Senki
Eromanga Sensei
Berserk
Hunter x Hunter
High School of the Dead
No Game No Life
Guyver
Rokka no Yuusha
Card Captor Sakura
Hyouka
Broken Blade
Baccano
Amagi Brilliant Park
Chihayafuru
There are two reasons you might receive this mark. One is the author is dead, so nope, nothing's going to happen. This is true of Berserk and High School of the Dead. The other instance is when it's been so long since any additional material came out that even though no one has officially stated the work is abandoned it may as well be. Now, if a miracle occurs and new material arrives, I'll of course re-categorize the work back into the & category, but the creator must prove themselves to earn that &, only published works, not assurances, can get that symbol to flip.
There are 46 series out of the 200 blessed with a & mark:
Pretty Cure
Fairy Tail
One Piece
Dragon Ball
Sword Art Online
Fate/Etc.
Love Live!
Index/Railgun
Major
Rurouni Kenshin
Girls und Panzer
The Idolm@ster
World of Witches
Yuuki Yuuna
Macross
Saki
Boku no Hero Academia
Madoka Magica
Princess Principal
Edens Zero
Hai to Gensou no Grimgar
Kanojo mo Kanojo
Ryuuou no Oshigoto!
Akame ga Kill!
MIX
New Game
Vinland Saga
Yama no Susume
Tales of 'x'
Youjo Senki
Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear
Kami-tachi ni Hirowareta Otoko
Granblue Fantasy
Prince of Tennis
BanG Dream!
Akatsuki no Yona
Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun
Mikakunin de Shinkoukei
Spice and Wolf
Locodol
Yuru Yuri
Oreshura
Kimi ni Todoke
Shiroi Suna no Aquatope
Shadows House
A wide variety of situations fall under this category. Some of these series are currently on hiatus but have built up enough trust with the audience that I expect they'll be back soon. Others are anime original series that are currently in production. Most are books, manga, or video games with new content coming out regularly. You could say this is the beating heart of the entertainment industry. Unfinished works with constant new updates is the only material that can entertain people for long -- finished works are gobbled up and that's that, so these series are our most precious assets.
By order of elimination, the remaining 131 top ranking anime series have already completed sources. But this doesn't mean the anime is a complete adaption of those sources. There are only 83 instances where that occurred or is slated to occur.
The 4 series whose source works are already finished, and an anime adaption has been promised but not delivered:
Bleach
Utawarerumono
Hibike! Euphonium
Shingeki no Kyojin
These are basically the four things I'm looking forward to most in the future, because the endings of fully adapted series are my favorite experiences. It's frustrating that I've been promised these four things for a long time now and they still haven't happened, but when they do it's going to be amazing.
The 79 completed and adapted series who anime has actually done justice by are:
Clannad
Little Busters!
Cross Game
Kanon
Bakuman
Uma Musume
Oreimo
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
Shinsekai Yori
Katanagatari
Scrapped Princess
Kobato
Sora no Woto
Non Non Biyori
ef
Vividred Operation
Record of Lodoss War
Shirobako
Koutetsujou no Kabaneri
AKB0048
Ro-Kyu-Bu!
Basilisk
Angelic Layer
Toradora!
Rocket Girls
Kanata no Astra
Shin Seiki Evangelion
Cowboy Bebop
Hanasaku Iroha
Air
Shukufuku no Campanella
Anohana
Tari Tari
Uuchuu no Stellvia
Vandread
Akaneiro ni Somaru Saka
Working!
Valvrave the Liberator
School Days
Schwarzesmarken
Yu Yu Hakusho
Shakugan no Shana
Samurai Champloo
High School Fleet
Nekopara
Steins;Gate
Zero no Tsukaima
Galaxy Angel
Wake Up, Girls!
Amagami SS
Gosick
Kuromukuro
Myself;Yourself
Martian Successor Nadesico
Kokoro Toshokan
Natsuiro Kiseki
Zettai Bouei Leviathan
Atelier Escha & Logy
To Heart
Assassination Classroom
Ginga E Kickoff
Happiness!
Tamayura
Death Note
Kamisama ni Natta hi
Boku Dake ga Inai Machi
Shuumatsu no Izetta
Azumanga Daioh
Mahoromatic
Girlish Number
Tears to Tiara
Seitokai no Ichizon
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0
Usagi Drop
Kiki's Delivery Service
Summer Wars
Mononoke Hime
Spirited Away
Battle Athletes
Even among these 79, many have sequels or spinoffs that weren't animated, but I judged the core stories to have been sufficiently covered that the additional content can be ignored. Of course it would have been nice if every last thing had been adapted, but I won't let the perfect become the enemy of the good.
Koutetsujou no Kabaneri is an interesting situation. The makers of the series said it wasn't done, but were vague about their intentions to continue it. Obviously more episodes could be made, there are still zombies out there. But I also feel like the love story, which is the only important story, is satisfactorily over. Ikoma and Mumei are an item and that's really all I wanted from the series. So I count it as satisfactorily finished.
48 top ranking series have finished source works but animators refuse to finish adapting them, so we the viewers can only gnash our teeth in fury:
Bake-(etc)-monogatari
Full Metal Panic!
Ranma 1/2
Da Capo
Kimetsu no Yaiba
Sailor Moon
Hayate no Gotoku
Haruhi Suzumiya
PapaKiki
Angel Beats
Haganai
Maria-sama ga Miteru
Grisaia
The World God Only Knows
Majikoi
Unlimited Fafnir
Outbreak Company
Umineko
Claymore
To Love ru
Kiniro Mosaic
Aishiteru ze Baby
Kenichi
Flame of Recca
Sakura Trick
Kyoukai no Rinne
Hikaru no Go
Valkyria Chronicles
Hanayamata
Baka to Test
Death March
Choyoyu
Soul Eater
Lucky Star
Nichijou
Dimension W
Btooom!
H2
Joukamachi no Dandelion
Hataraku Maou-sama!
Kitakubu Katsudou Kiroku
Sore ga Seiyuu
Imouto Sae Ireba Ii
Ao Haru Ride
Sora no Otoshimono
Binbou Shimai Monogatari
Omoi, Omoware, Furi, Furare
Many of these series may well receive a future full adaption announcement, in which case I'll of course recategorize them. But a lot of them are clearly doomed. These are the worst tragedies. It's such a waste to have a perfect, finished story ready to be animated and thus presented in the best possible medium to the world, and for it not to be. It's even more horrendous when something is so obscure, because it isn't animated, that it's never translated into English at all. So we'll never get to know the ending to Unlimited Fafnir, for instance. Not in any way, shape or form. It's simply vanished from existence.
The series that fall under this worst of all possible results currently are:
Bakemonogatari
Da Capo
PapaKiki
Haganai
Maria-sama ga Miteru
Unlimited Fafnir
Hanayamata
Lucky Star
I would trade some major bodily organs for at least translations of these remaining stories, if I can't get anime adaptions. These rankle the most. It's possible they'll be translated someday, in which case great, but the outlook is grim.
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