This article contains discussion of sensitive topics.
The best, everything is great story should get one cartoon at some point, but there are some great manga that will probably never get an anime, and for good reasons. While it is often the case that a critically and financially successful manga will get an anime adaptation at some point, sometimes this never happens, because the series is only successful in critically rather than financially, or because of the theme of the series, or even simply its aesthetics. , won’t work like an anime unless a studio is willing to put in the extra effort.
Whatever the case, there are plenty of reasons why some manga never get an anime adaptation, and that’s the case for 10 specific manga, despite how great they all are.
10 of Psy
The first great manga discussed here is the hit Psyren. Psyren was quite popular with readers in the late 2000s and early 2010s for its excellent art and compelling sci-fi story, but much of its popularity came from Western readers. In Japan, while Psyren began to enjoy moderate success, it quickly plummeted in sales and Weekly Shonen Jump rankings until it was unexpectedly canceled in 2011. As a result, it’s hard to see. This can be considered a financial failure, so it is difficult to consider it a financial failure. animation studio to see any merit in having it make animation.
9 All you need is to kill
Hiroshi Sakurazaka’s All You Need Is Kill has a very notable franchise: in addition to the graphic novel by Nick Mamatas and the comic book adaptation by Death Note artist Takeshi Obata, it has even been adapted. become a real person in Edge of Tomorrow. Unfortunately, Edge of Tomorrow had a mixed reception from critics and the $370.5 million box office was too low, and that made the proposed sequel essentially dead. . Edge of Tomorrow’s lack of success suggests that there isn’t enough interest in All You Need Is Kill to continue its franchise, and as such, it will likely never get an anime.
8 Abyss of a Boy
Another manga that isn’t likely to get an anime adaptation is Ryo Minenami’s Boy’s Abyss, a gripping drama with great art and characters, but revolving around very sensitive topics like depression and suicide, and often have very explicit and repulsive sex scenes. While there’s nothing wrong with a story with such elements, it makes its themes too dark for what is usually shown in anime, and with the level of censorship that it will face, no animation studio wants to try. their hands on it.
7 Animal Land
Animal Land is the second major series of Zatch Bell’s Makoto Raiku!, and it is yet another manga that did not have an anime adaptation. Animal Land raised Raiku’s taste for dark visuals and heavy themes to a higher level than anything he’d done in Zatch Bell!, and it was a critical success that even earned him an Award The 37th Kodansha Manga for Best Children’s Manga. Unfortunately, the manga struggled to find financial success for most of its run, so despite being one of Bessatsu Shonen Magazine’s top manga series, the series has hasn’t received an anime series in nearly a decade since it ended, and is unlikely to receive any. early time.
6 Pokémon Adventures
Pokémon Adventures has received acclaim over the decades for being more serious and mature than other Pokémon media, but has yet to be able to receive an anime. Every arc is based on any of the most recent games, so there’s a notable inconsistency with its lore and mechanics. That’s not a problem for the original anime and series, but for a story-driven manga like Pokémon Adventures, an anime would have to rewrite the main parts of the first season to accommodate the later seasons and the whole story. franchise department. With such amount of work required, combined with the level of success of the main Pokémon anime, the chances of Pokémon Adventures getting the anime are slim.
5 Goodnight Punpun
While Goodnight Punpun is arguably Inio Asano’s most famous work, it’s hard to see it get an anime adaptation. Like the other manga on this list, Goodnight Punpun has explicit sex scenes and extremely dark and heavy themes, but the bigger problem probably lies in its art. Part of the story’s visual aesthetic stems from Punpun’s depiction of a cartoon bird that contrasts with the more realistic art of the rest of the world, and that kind of contrast is hard to come by. appealing even in live-action. As such, there’s too much work against Goodnight Punpun for it to receive anime soon.
Garden of 4 Roses Story
Although Rosen Garten Saga is a fairly new manga series, from the start it presented itself in a way that made it impossible to see it as animated. Rosen Garten Saga has a rich and engaging story with a unique interpretation of historical and mythical characters, and its art and combat choreography ranks among the best among action manga. published in the past few years. Unfortunately, nearly every chapter contains too much nudity, gross debauchery, and even black comedy, and it is often incorporated into the fight scene. The Rosen Garten Saga is going to be a censorship nightmare, so there’s little chance of it getting an anime adaptation.
3 real
Real is the second basketball manga by Takehiko Inoue, the creator of Slam Dunk, but it’s a completely different story. With Real being a seinen manga, it explores the world of basketball in a more serious way than Slam Dunk, often showing how a sport can affect a person physically and mentally, and it even even more focused on real life. with disability. It’s not as weighty as some of the other entries on this list, but it’s still a hard sell in the end, and with Slam Dunk still a major franchise, it’s easy to see Real don’t need anime.
2 wanderers
Vagabond is another manga by Takehiko Inoue, and it is another manga that is unlikely to get an anime adaptation. Vagabond tells the fictional story of ronin Musashi Miyamoto, and it has beautiful art and incredible storytelling that very few manga can match, but previous works have resisted it because the art is too good It’s so hard to see an anime that can imitate it. Even if it could, Vagabond has a very inconsistent release schedule, the last chapter was published 8 years ago at the time of writing, so it’s impossible for an anime series to tell a complete story. Things could change if Vagabond goes down.
1 Yotsuba&!
The last manga discussed is Yotsuba&!, and it’s definitely unique on this list. Yotsuba&! is a manga about a happy life with most of the chapters talking only about the mundane lives of its cast, and according to series creator Kiyohiko Azuma, that style of writing is too difficult to be animated. Azuma said that in 2008, however, and since then, there have been a lot of slice-of-life anime that very little happened, so Yotsuba&! can still get an anime. However, there is still no information about Yotsuba&! anime since then, so it’s safe to assume it’s still considered another manga that will never get an anime.
Every manga on this list was chosen because, despite their high quality, something about their story, aesthetic, or financial success means that they are unlikely to get an anime adaptation. Of course, all of this is just speculation, and there have been cases where a manga that was never supposed to get an anime adaptation was suddenly turned into an anime.
Source: Box Office Mojo, Anime News Network.