It bears repeating that if you want to judge how good the story is, judge it based on the original source material, not the anime adaptation.
This is what most people tend to do when they’re judging the story. Rather than having a look at the original source material, they’re passing their judgment based on the anime adaptation instead.
Yes, I get that you don’t want to dive into the source material right away when you’re not sure if you like the story enough.
But if you’re like me who feels dissatisfied after watching the second season of Yakusoku no Neverland, then it’s time for you to consider going straight to the source material.
And yes, you can also add Tokyo Ghoul and Sorcerous Stabber Orphen into the mix as well.
The problem with the anime adaptation
Except for the big-name anime, most anime adaptations will only run for one or two seasons at most. It will only get a new season when the anime is popular enough among the viewers.
With a limited amount of episodes in one season, not everything from the original source materials will get adapted. Because of that, some parts of the story will have to change to compensate for the missing details.
As a result, the story doesn’t seem to flow well because of the changes. And it can also feel rushed too.
Take Ascendance of a Bookworm for example.
Back then, I received a comment from someone who said that he didn’t like Ascendance of a Bookworm anime.
The reason? The anime just went straight to Urano being reincarnated as Myne. We don’t get to see the process of her gradually reincarnated into someone else in another world.
As someone who reads the light novel, I didn’t question the anime skipping the reincarnation part since I knew about Myne’s past life as Urano.
But for people who don’t read the light novel, they were assuming that was how the story began.
This is the thing that I don’t like about the anime adaptation. While I’m okay with slight changes for the anime version, I certainly am NOT okay when the story in the anime version becomes complete opposite to the original one.
Sure, a story that is different from the original one can still be good if the anime studio is doing a good job in creating a brand new story.
But that’s never the case at all.
It’s not good when people who aren’t familiar with the source material think that the story in the anime is the same as the one in the original source.
Well, the anime adaptation is supposed to be faithful to the original source material, right?
For some popular anime, the answer is yes. But for most anime that may not get green-lit for the second season, that doesn’t seem to be the case.
This holds true for the light novels that receive an anime adaptation. If you see that the anime version seems so much different and messier than the source material, this could be the reason.
The real purpose of the anime adaptation from the publishers’ perspective
What comes to your mind whenever you hear a series getting an anime adaptation?
Do you think that the series gets an anime adaptation because the original source material is popular enough?
Well, you’re not wrong to think that way since that’s the case for the majority of the series.
But for the rest of the series out there, it has a lot more to do with the anime adaptation bringing more sales to the original source material.
And in the case of an online game such as Granblue Fantasy, it means more players playing the game.
It’s because of this reason that many publishers are more than willing to spend money on anime adaptation.
To them, the anime adaptation is just another form of marketing channel.
Will anime adaptation converts to sales for the original source material?
Yes, it does. It’s just that we have no idea how far it can convert the viewers to fans.
Even with an increase of 10 to 20% in sales, it’s still good enough for the publisher.
That seems like an expensive form of marketing when the anime adaptation only increases the sales by 10 to 20%. But for some publishers, that’s only a drop in the bucket for them when they put long-term sales into perspective.
And it doesn’t matter whether the anime studio is doing a good job or not adapting the source material into an anime. That’s the least of their concern.
Don’t like the anime? Well, there’s always the source material for you.
But there are many good anime adaptations too
Okay, it’s true that there are still many good anime adaptations out there that aren’t just good. But they’re also faithful to the source material as well.
One of the few anime that I can think of is Yowamushi Pedal and Black Clover.
I can’t comment on Yowamushi Pedal since I never read the manga other than Yowamushi Pedal: Spare Bike.
But people who read the manga did say that the anime version is just as exactly as the manga.
As for Black Clover, I can’t say how faithful is the anime to the manga since I didn’t read the manga from the beginning.
But with the anime just ended because the anime is getting closer to the story in the manga, then maybe the anime is the same as the manga.
Even with such a good anime adaptation, it’s possible that we won’t get a new season anytime soon.
The good news is you can read Black Clover manga for free on MANGA Plus if you don’t feel like waiting for the next season of the anime.
Sure, the story in the manga is way ahead of the story in anime. But it’s still not that hard for you to grasp the story in the manga.
So, what about Yowamushi Pedal then?
Well, you don’t have much choice here other than to buy the manga. That’s what the source material is for, remember?
Does it mean we should forgo the anime and jump straight to the original source material?
Of course, the answer is no. Anime is still a great resource for you to discover new manga and light novels to read.
At least, this is how I see from the fan standpoint. Sure, the anime adaptation may not be that good. But if I like the story enough, I will consider jumping straight to the original source.
Of course, I’m only doing it for the select few, though.
It’s up to you whether you want to jump straight into the source material after that or not.
Just remember to judge the story based on the original source, not the anime adaptation.
It’s hard to judge the story when the anime adaptation skips so many crucial details, to the point that it becomes so much different from the original.
P.S Are you in the mood to read a light novel, particularly a thriller and suspense seinen light novel? If that’s you, then take a look at my thriller series, Trigger Locked.
Curious about the series? You can learn more about it right here:
Trigger Locked Book 1: The Mind Control Assassins
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