Often when you see an anime, you might think the original manga was better. But do you ever feel the reverse is true? That the anime is more interesting than the source material? A recent Japanese poll asked just that.
According to website My Navi, five hundred adult men and women were asked which anime they thought were more interesting than the original source material. The poll was conducted this past February, and the resulting data did not provide an age breakdown other than that everyone who participated was a “working adult.” (So, these aren’t student replies!) Looking at the poll replies listed on My Navi, however, many of those who participated appear to be in their 20s and 30s.
OK! Let’s get right into it. Here are the top five anime that those who took part in the poll thought surpassed the source material, whether that was a manga or even a light novel:
5. Sword Art Online: 3.8 per cent
4. One Piece: 4.8 per cent
3. Gin Tama: 7.2 per cent
2. Dragon Ball: 9.2 per cent
1. Attack on Titan: 11.6 per cent
As you noticed, the top five came in at seemingly low percentage among those polled. That’s because replies included a whole myriad responses, including Sailor Moon, K-On!, Terra Formars, Ghost in the Shell, and more.
Some fans might concede that the Dragon Ball anime is more interesting than the manga, simply because of how well the battle scenes were animated (though, there is an argument that the anime loses some of the manga’s humour). But! Attack on Titan coming in first could definitely be a source of dispute.
When explaining why the Attack on Titan anime surpassed the manga, reasons included everything from the music to the action scenes. Other reasons were that the animated version elevated the already interesting original work with improved character design and top-notch production.
Agree? Disagree? Which anime do you think felt surpassed the manga source material?
Picture: McAnime
Comments
19 responses to “Poll: Anime That Are Better Than The Original Manga”
Well the Dragon Ball Z anime did have the filler ep that had Goku & Picollo try and get a drivers license ie best DBZ ep ever so so anime > manga confirmed? 😉
But is says Dragon Ball.
IIRC the Dragon Ball manga covers both Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z anime
I think I enjoyed “Azumanga Daioh” more as the anime, which is not to say the manga isn’t great too, but its a little different.
Tsukurimashou!
I think that might be because the original manga was a yonkoma (4 panel strip) so it didn’t have as much time to do the setup for the punchlines or maintain the flow and pacing that the anime could achieve. I’ve read/watched both as well and agree the anime was more enjoyable.
As someone who just doesn’t read manga, I enjoy anime more. I’ve tried reading manga a few times but I just can’t get into the flow of it.
Attack on Titan was made to be animated. The manga simply doesn’t do the thing justice.
Hard to think of many, and those that do are mostly due to aesthetic or inherent media differences. One that springs to mind is Ouran Koukou Host Club – something about the way it was animated just surpasses the limitations of black and white manga. That, and the voice acting was great.
Maybe Azumanga Daiou’s anime is slightly better because Osaka’s accent is better heard than read… but then again, the manga has way more stories than the anime. In the same vein, Lucky Star’s anime beats its manga counterpart, purely because of the voice acting (Konata’s voice actor is spot on! :3).
I liked the King of Bandit Jing anime more than the manga. The manga was a little hard to follow and felt a bit all over the place but it does fill in some of the gaps the anime assumes you to know. I’m still on the fence about some like Peach Girl and Kare Kano though, mainly because I haven’t read the manga for so long.
I seriously think the anime of attack on titan is way worse then the manga.
The anime has serious pacing issues, the battle of Trost goes on for way too long, while in the manga it feels way better paced. in never saw past the battle of trost in the anime, so maybe they got better after that, but i’ve stuck to the manga.
tokyo ghoul was waay better to watch than to read
more emotion was conveyed to the viewer
so yea tokyo ghoul was better in anime than manga 😀
I usually hear about anime first…
I usually much, much prefer manga but there are shows/movies like Ghost in the Shell, Neon Genesis and Full Metal Alchemist that are better as anime. Plus, Shinichiro Watanabe…
I love the anime attack on titan way better than the manga Shingeki no Kyojin mostly because the anime gave what feels like more connection in the back story. It was way easier to sympathise with eren and milady’s back story in the anime for me. That and I don’t like the direction the Manga is taking right now
I am waiting for ONE PUNCH MAN!
Heard about that the other week. Read it all up to date. Cannot wait!
I absolutely agree with DBZ and Attack on Titan being numbers 1 and 2. DBZ because he anime has some awesome fillers, and the fight scenes are insane.
Same with AoT. I’ve read the manga and watched the anime and seeing it animated is 100× better. The English dub is the definitive version of that story as far as I’m concerned.
While Elfen Lied is not any kind of masterpiece by any stretch, it is infinitely superior to the manga, which has atrocious art and pacing, is much, much, much more morbid, unnecessarily, and plays up the “harem” tropes even more shamelessly.