As I’ve mentioned before I’m working my out of anime normie territory. I’m currently watching Ah My Goddess (yes I know, but it’s a catchy show) and I know it’s based on a manga so I was wondering if anime adaptations do a better job than here in the west. I know Japan isn’t perfect but it seems like they value the source material a lot more than they do here. Or am I mistaken?
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Anime adaptations are much more of a wildcard in terms of better or worse.
Generally, the spectacle and superficial aspects will be better in the anime. Action/fighting series benefit the most from this. Whereas gag and drama fare better in manga simply because you aren't being forced along at a pace and can appreciate without pausing/rewinding.
Also anime are notorious for getting greenlit the moment a series becomes popular, and then overtaking it. Leading to either entirely made up conclusions or endless filler to try and give the manga some lead time before repeating the cycle. DBZ's most infamous "scream for an entire episode" was a unique example of this to not need constant filler, by simply dragging out the material as long as possible instead of needing to make shit up that is often low quality and full of plotholes.
Its not a black/white thing. Most are fine in either sense. Heck you aren't even factoring in how a huge portion of manga are adapted from light novels, so its already a game of source material to begin with. One of my favorite series, Welcome to the NHK, has a manga so wildly different from the light novel that it is closer to a complete remake instead of an adaptation. Leaving the anime to pick and choose bits of both when it was made. Yet all three are better in their own way. The light novel is somber and melancholic, with the only laughs you get being from sheer discomfort. The manga is brutal, and far more cruel while still being able to laugh at how ridiculous it all is. The anime is sterilized (all the drug use removed, the sex plots are much more "anime fanservice" instead of realistic horrors) and closer to a romantic comedy with a unique theme.
Personally, I always just stick with the manga versions in general, simply because that works better for me in terms of how I coomsoom. And scanlation is still mostly passion projects by fans, while subbing is almost all corporate Crunchyroll garbage.
Hitori bocchiiiiii~
Damn, what a trip. Reminds me I need to read the LN one day. Also, its worth noting that while most subs are corporate garbage now, back in NHK's day most if not all things that matter have decent fansubs. I know you didn't imply otherwise I'm just clarifying for the peanut gallery.
Yeah, back in those days Crunchyroll was just another fansub hosting site (and one of the worst) that only stuck around by sucking corporate cock and being a great place to prey on underage, low self esteem weebs.
Most people weren't there at the time, but I was. When CR rolled out its Myspace ripoff system, it was notorious for just how easy it was to pick up whatever slutty degenerate E-girl/E-boy to send you their probably illegal nudes.