Akira was, obviously, the launch off point for Anime in the west, and the movie was great. But later on I read the Manga, and they were so much richer than the movie. It seems like a 12-episode Anime would be perfect for Akira. And it would probably be successful, because everybody knows/loves it.
20th Century Boys is a bit... odder. I've read the Manga twice, and I know that there's a live action film, but the work seems so much better suited to Anime. I don't know how it's held up -- certainly no one on KIA2 mentions it. It's also not great -- the build up is fantastic, but the denouement is... odd.
Just wondering if there's a reason for this, or if it's just an historical quirk.
i'm still a bit bummed Nausicaa didn't get a full adaptation series
I'm more salty about the fact that Miyazaki got away with only writing four volumes of it and didn't even have to tell a complete story in order to make his movie. The movie was also shit compared to the manga rendition. It is paradoxically some of his best work but also his laziest/sloppiest.