Top 10 Manga that Need a Better Anime Adaptation

Let's say for fun that a studio wanted to remake an anime and make it more like the manga. Which anime do you think should have had a better manga adaptation? Keep in mind what I'm going to say below is my opinion and you're free to add in your own.
The Top Ten
1 Tokyo Ghoul Tokyo Ghoul is a Japanese dark fantasy manga series written and illustrated by Sui Ishida. It was serialized in Shueisha's seinen manga magazine Weekly Young Jump between September 2011 and September 2014, and it has been collected in fourteen tankōbon volumes as of August 2014.

I have no outright hatred against Tokyo Ghoul nor have I actually gotten to watching it yet, but I can see that both fans and detractors alike were dismayed by Root A's drop in production value and story. Seeing as the Tokyo Ghoul manga came out after the Parasyte manga and the Tokyo Ghoul anime adaptation by Studio Pierrot came before Parasyte got an anime adaptation by Madhouse, my best suggestion is that upcoming anime seasons and content to come for Tokyo Ghoul should try to be more consistent with its animation and more faithful to its source material like Parasyte did.

2 Berserk Berserk, also known as Sword-Wind Chronicle Berserk, is a Japanese anime television series that aired from 1997 to 1998. An adaptation of the manga Berserk, it comprises 25 half-hour episodes produced by Oriental Light and Magic and first aired on Nippon TV.

All of Berserk's anime are very flawed, but the 1997 one is honestly not bad and did its best at that time. The reboots are absolutely trash, though, and looked like it was animation with PS1 graphics.

But to be honest, the manga's art is RIDICULOUSLY detailed, so nailing Berserk is going to be an extremely difficult job to do. That's why I gave the 1997 version a pass.

The ending to Berserk (anime) sucked but I really liked the ending that happened in the manga. I think the series could benefit from it. Not the really bad remake but a good one.

3 Bleach Bleach is a Japanese anime series based on Tite Kubo's manga of the same name. Bleach adapts the first 54 volumes of Tite Kubo's manga series of the same name. In addition, 4 anime-original arcs were broadcast in-between and during the adaptations of original arcs of the manga... read more

The anime is...not bad, it's pretty flawed but it doesn't match the manga's art and no fillers there either. Also, the anime is pretty censored, the manga is A LOT gorier too.

The manga is way better than the anime. The animation was nice but it wasn't nearly as uncut as the manga was.

Could have been so much better.

4 Black Butler Black Butler is a Japanese anime television series produced by A-1 Pictures. It premiered in October, 2008. It was based on the manga of the same name written and illustrated by Yana Toboso. The series follows Ciel Phantomhive, the twelve-year-old Earl of Phantomhive serving as the Queen's Watchdog... read more

I agree with Black Butler fans that the manga is way better than the anime. The second season was just ridiculous and wasn't nearly as good as the first season.

5 Soul Eater Soul Eater is an anime series directed by Takuya Igarashi and produced by Bones, Aniplex, Dentsu, Media Factory, and TV Tokyo, which adapts the Soul Eater manga written and illustrated by Atsushi Ohkubo.

The manga ending was a lot more satisfying than what the anime gave us. At least the former didn't cop out with Maka simply defeating Asura with a punch to the face (I can understand and praise that it was trying to send a message about bravery, but I kind of felt like they could have at least done it better). To quote a line from Angry Beavers, where in the name of deus ex machina did that one punch come from? Plus, I didn't really like Soul Eater Not! since it paled to the original Soul Eater and really came off as some cheap cash grab in my book. So a reboot would be something to look forward to, though it would have to spark high interest with fans again to become a reality. And please, NO LIVE-ACTION ADAPTATIONS.

6 Naruto Naruto is an anime and manga franchise Naruto, created by Masashi Kishimoto. The manga was later adapted into a television anime, which was produced by Studio Pierrot and Aniplex. It premiered across Japan on the terrestrial TV Tokyo and other TX Network stations on October 3, 2002. The first series... read more

No. Nein. Nyet. I couldn't disagree more. The anime is faithful to the canon parts. The fights and other scenes are wonderfully augmented; by comparison, the manga versions seem edited. I like the fillers and flashbacks, giving me more from the characters. The drawings in the anime are superior to those in the manga.

Kishimoto was still writing this while the anime was coming out and Naruto was making so much money. So they added in unnecessary filler and flashbacks to drag the story down. The manga was better written and sometimes the animation in Naruto sucked.

7 Rosario + Vampire Premiering in 2008, this anime series is adapted from a manga by Akihisa Ikeda. It follows a human boy who accidentally enrolls in a school for monsters and becomes involved with a vampire girl. The series is known for its romantic comedy tone and fantasy elements.

Everything about the manga is amazing, the storytelling, the character development, the progression to the final battle, the main character going from the weak frail human to the badass full blood Shinzo vampire, the anime lacked anything, that held a candle to what the manga had going for it, it's not an adaptation, it's a nameMake at best, and that is being friendly.

I really didn't like this anime but the manga had more effort put into it. I think it deserves a second chance.

Rosario Vampire's second manga was really awesome.

8 Yu-Gi-Oh! Yu-Gi-Oh! was aired from 2000 to 2004 in Japan, and 2001 to 2006 in the US. It continues where the Toei Anime Left off. When 10th grader Yugi Muto solves the Millenium Puzzle, Yami Yugi emerges, taking control of him to help his friends. In Duel Monsters, they mostly played children's card games because... read more

I can't say that I've ever seen anything from this aside from the 4kids anime. I honestly thought that it was good as a standalone, but as far as what it did that differed from the Japanese anime, let alone the manga itself, I can't say.

Eh, there was really one thing that butchered how people perceived this anime. And it starts with the number 4 and ends with the demographic that it was cheaply trying to appeal to.

Manga was much more dark and mature. The anime tried to go the more kid friendly route and it didn't always work out great.

9 Zatch Bell Debuting in 2003, this anime series is based on a manga by Makoto Raiku. The storyline involves a boy who partners with a magical creature to battle in a tournament for the title of the Mamodo king. The show is praised for its unique concept and emotional depth.

This anime was just mediocre and really didn't end. I read the manga and I have to say it didn't hold up at all to its predecessor.

10 One Piece One Piece is a manga franchise created by Eiichiro Oda. The manga has been adapted into an original video animation (OVA) produced by Production I.G in 1998, and an anime series produced by Toei Animation, which began broadcasting in Japan in 1999 and has aired 851 episodes to date.

I really wish that the One Piece anime could have been seasonal as opposed to weekly. The anime suffers from painfully slow pacing, particularly in the Dressrosa and Wano arcs. Also, they only needed to show the Rebecca flashback once, not 48 times.

The manga is awesome and the anime is okay.

The Contenders
11 Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha ViVid

The anime would've actually been good if it adapted more of the manga, had less fanservice, and had more fight scenes.

12 Deadman Wonderland Deadman Wonderland is a Japanese manga series written by Jinsei Kataoka and illustrated by Kazuma Kondou, who also wrote and illustrated the Eureka Seven manga, and published in Shōnen Ace since 2008.

Yeah. While I don't hate the anime adaptation, a lot of executive issues and other factors brought down its series duration. The anime only went so far to adapt only a few arcs up to the Scar Chain arc. The anime could have very well continued off from there and progress into the Forgeries arc and finish it off with the Return to Deadman Wonderland arc like how the manga ended. Unfortunately, what with the anime adaptation doing poorly in its native country in terms of ratings and only gaining momentum in the West especially when it premiered on Toonami during its revival, only 12 episodes were produced and the story would end on a cliffhanger. To make matters worse, Manglobe, the studio that animated Deadman Wonderland and also Samurai Champloo, filed for bankruptcy years ago and shut down. Hopefully, if it ever does spark interest with fans again, it can gain a much better adaptation that either continues where it left off or reboots the entire plot to be more faithful to its original manga source material along with a good animation studio to boot. Madhouse or Bones could be likely contenders for a rebooted adaptation (maybe even get ufotable to adapt it? ).

13 Pandora Hearts Pandora Hearts (stylized as PandoraHearts) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Jun Mochizuki. It was serialized in Square Enix's shōnen manga magazine Monthly GFantasy from May 2006 to March 2015, with its chapters collected in twenty-four tankōbon volumes. In North America, it was... read more

This anime was made BEFORE the manga ended. Thus it has original ending that wasn't in the manga. If the anime adaptation for The Case Study of Vanitas (Both made by the same mangaka) ends up successful, we could potentially see a remake and/or sequel of Pandora Hearts in the future.

Pandora hearts is beautiful and I'd love to see a T.V. show based on this manga with a better pacing.

14 The Promised Neverland

Surprised TPN is this low down. TPN Season 1 is probably my favourite anime I've watched so far, but season 2 was terrible. It left out characters from the manga who were influential to Emma's character development, such as Lucas, Yugo and the kids at Goldy Pond. The children didn't really have much time to grow and the finale overall was just anti-climatic. I highly recommend reading the manga after finishing Season 1, and I hope one day TPN will get the adaptation it deserves!

15 Squid Girl Ika Musume is the main character from 'Shinryaku! Ika Musume' an anime about a Squid Girl that wants to punish humanity for polluting the oceans, but ends up breaking a wall and is forced to work at a restaurant to pay off the damages.

The manga is so much better!
The anime has some stretched moments at times, and can be pretty boring.
Not only that, the characters are much better in the manga.
In the anime, most characters are unlikeable, while in the manga, they actually show more of their good side.
The only thing I dislike about the manga are the early chapters, which is just ika musume getting punished.
But at least, they are shorter than in the anime..
Thank god.

The anime skipped a good amount of chapters.

16 Pokemon Pokémon, abbreviated from the Japanese title of Pocket Monsters and currently advertised in English as Pokémon: The Series, is a Japanese anime television series, which has been adapted for the international television markets. It was first broadcast in Japan on April 1, 1997, in the United States... read more

I think it would benefit from Clefairy being the main character's starter instead of Pikachu.
I also think that there should be an anime based on Pokémon Adventures because I think it is an amazing series which deserves an anime adaptation.

Pokemon, we meet again. the first pokemon manga I ever read was Ginji's rescue team. that was the day I had to see more. I was disappointed wean the main character wasn't Ginji!

While it was made after the anime, I would love to see a Pokemon Adventures manga

17 Akame ga Kill Akame ga Kill! (アカメが斬る!, Akame ga Kiru! is a manga published in Gangan Joker authored by Takahiro and Tashiro Tetsuya. It received an anime adaptation that premiered on July 6, 2014 and ended on December 14, 2014.

They should have waited for the manga to catch up rather than rush in and give the anime a rushed original ending.

The manga was way better and this anime also ended terribly.

18 Medaka Box

The anime was great but I wish there was a third season to it which adapted the rest of the manga.

19 Gantz

Out of all the adaptations, Gantz is probably the most butchered anime I've ever watched. The anime's art is complete asscheeks, the frame rate is horrendous, the characters are much more unlikeable (especially kurono and kishimoto), they also erased his character's development. Every panel in the manga is far superior than the anime, especially if the art is ultra detailed and is almost on par with Berserk. But unlike the latter, the animators barely put in effort and that's why almost everything in the show looks sloppy.

20 Negima! Magister Negi Magi
21 Boku No Pico Boku no Pico is an anime series of three OVA episodes created by Katsuhiko Takayama. It was released to DVD on September 17, 2006.

They should make it where Pico ditches his romance partners and becomes a badass.

22 Fairy Tail Fairy Tail is a manga franchise created by Hiro Mashima. The manga has been adapted into an anime series produced by A-1 Pictures and Satelight, which began broadcasting in Japan on October 12, 2009. Additionally, A-1 Pictures and Satelight have developed seven original video animations and an animated... read more

Let's be honest; after the Tartaros arc, the manga became absolute garbage. I'm pretty sure the anime is gonna be just as bad, if not worse.

23 Aku No Hana

The "rotoscoping" art for the anime is an absolute atrocity, and it got cut off before getting to the best part of the story. Please read the manga instead.

The animation for this anime was so unappealing...

24 UQ Holder

I've read the manga and liked it and I've heard that people hate the anime and that it left out a lot of characters.

25 Yona of the Dawn Yona of the Dawn is a Japanese manga series by Mizuho Kusanagi, serialized in Hakusensha's shōjo manga magazine Hana to Yume from August 2009. It has been collected in twenty tankōbon volumes... read more

Don't get me wrong, I loved the anime when I was first watching it, but then I read the manga shortly after and oh my gosh the manga is so good. Better than the anime, which now that I've read nearly all of the content that happens after where the anime stopped (which is a lot) I find the anime to be very underwhelming (although I thought that its ending was underwhelming long before I started reading the manga).

The anime was good but manga was much better.

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