Ask John: Are There Any Anime That Are Better Than Their Manga Source?

Question:
Are there any series you think worked better as a manga and vice versa? What did you think the one media form had that the other lacked, such as to create the difference?

Answer:
My ability to provide a thorough answer will be limited because my experience with manga is limited. I’ve always been more interested in Japanese animation than Japanese comics, so I’ve watched lots of anime, but read a relatively small variety of manga. I can name a few anime titles that I think have surpassed their manga origins, but I may have only read one manga title that I preferred over its anime adaptation.

The Azumanga Daioh 4 koma manga is certainly amusing, but the anime literally brings the series to life. Soft colors, amusing music, and character voices add depth to the story, but more importantly, seeing the series on film establishes comic timing. When reading manga it’s much too easy to read too quickly and not allow gags adequate time to make an impact. Anime forces a sense of timing on viewers, which is extremely important in comedy and character reactions.

The sense of timing, and the sense of motion, do wonders for Excel Saga. Honestly, I don’t like the original Excel Saga manga, although I love the anime adaptation. Fast paced, cinematic gags, I think, work much better in cinema than on static printed pages. The hectic action of the Excel Saga manga is difficult to follow at times because its visual narrative is illustrated in steps that are too far apart to conveniently lead the reader’s imagination. The animation, specifically the motion in the animation that clearly depicts action and activity, conveys a more immediate and comprehensible impression than the original manga does.

I’ve discussed the effect of timing and the advantage of motion in animation over manga. I’d like to identify another stylistic advantage. Despite its incomplete climax, I like the Hellsing TV series because it develops a substantial atmosphere of looming dread, and it takes time to introduce and develop its characters so that viewers empathize with them. On the other hand, Hellsing was Kouta Hirano’s first major manga, and its early chapters feel like the work of an inexperienced writer. The first volume of the Hellsing manga, which I’ll admit is all that I’ve read, feels rushed and underdeveloped. It lacks the spooky, gothic horror tone that the anime accomplished so well. The Hellsing manga feels obviously like the work of an inexperienced author while the anime feels like a work produced by a skilled and accomplished crew. I think the Hellsing TV series conveys a better sense of action horror than the original manga it’s based on does.

However, moving from one Gonzo production to another, I think that the original Gantz manga is bit better than the anime based on it. Admirably the Gantz anime tried to emphasize the subtle theme of selfishness and an uncaring society from the original manga, but emphasizing that trait made the Gantz anime characters totally unlikable and un-sympathetic. The original Gantz manga presented its characters more even-handedly and allowed readers to develop personal reactions to them. The anime went to the extreme by intensifying character traits and removing the audiences’ ability to develop unique, individual perspectives on the characters.

Manga has the ability to tell a longer and more complex tale than anime because manga doesn’t have the time limitations that a limited number of 25 minute animated episodes do. Manga can also allow the reader to determine the pace of the narrative, and allow individual readers to focus on and emphasis unique aspects of the story. However, since manga is a visual literature, it doesn’t have the same ability that prose does, to delve into character psychology. In effect, I think that manga bears a closer familial resemblance to animation than prose fiction, and I think animation has more advantages to convey a visual story than manga does. Of course, manga has certain advantages which animation does not, such as the aforementioned ability to tell longer stories. But animation is better able to illustrate motion and sound and depth perception than monochrome manga. I think that’s why I prefer anime over manga. But it’s impossible to say that anime is innately superior to manga. Ultimately the relative quality of any manga compared to its anime adaptation depends on the skill of the artists working on each version.