Ask John: Does Every Manga Get an Anime Adaptation?

Question:
Does every single manga become anime? With so many gag, 4komas and even web comics becoming anime lately, I wonder if the popularity of those contributed to this. Of course not all manga are anime material. For example, the Pocket Monsters Special is a great manga but there’s no anime of it. Then there’s Saint Seiya Lost Canvas manga that will soon become anime. I wonder if popularity is the issue or there is a marketing drive behind this.

Answer:

Most international manga and anime fans know that there are a lot of manga titles in Japan, and most international otaku are familiar with at least a few manga titles that aren’t available outside of Japan, or which haven’t been adapted into anime. But I’m not convinced that average American anime and manga fans really comprehend exactly how much manga exists in Japan. Envision a typical American Borders or Barnes & Noble bookstore. Then imagine three-quarters of the shelves filled with manga. That’s roughly the amount of current, in-print manga you’ll find in a larger Tokyo area bookstore. And that doesn’t even include vintage and out-of-print manga titles that aren’t in present circulation! No, not every manga title gets an anime adaptation. In fact, for every one manga title that does get an anime incarnation, there may be a dozen others that don’t. To provide another illustration, consider popular Japanese manga magazines like Shonen Jump, Ultra Jump, Asuka, or Afternoon. These magazines may publish a dozen or more manga serials every month, yet among those serialized stories, maybe only 3 or 4 have anime adaptations. There are many times more manga series in existence than there are anime titles because the Japanese audience for manga is much larger than the audience for anime. Despite Japan being the world’s most avid market for anime, even in Japan anime is still a niche commodity compared to manga.

Regrettably, I don't know all of the conditions that affect the determination over which manga series do and don't get anime adaptations. I'm sure that some relevant considerations include the popularity and success of the manga title, the manga publisher's expectations for the title, the interests of animators, the ease of adapting certain comics into animation, and the wishes of particular manga creators. I'm aware that it may seem to Americans as though most manga receive anime adaptations. And I'm aware that Americans may have the impression that a large percentage of Japan's manga output reaches American readers. But in reality, neither assumption is accurate. There's much, much more manga available in Japan than most Americans even wildly imagine, and considering the sheer number of manga titles published in Japan, it's actually still a rather small percentage of them that get anime adaptations.