Anime>Manga, Manga>Anime

[Elijya]

for the various series where you've both seen the anime and read the manga, which ones do you feel are better?

Full Metal Alchemist: I've only just read the first two volumes of the manga, but already it's clear to me the Anime is above and beyond it. Obviously, they had the benefit of after sight, and treated the manga like a rough draft, and were able to mix and match and add elements when adapting it. The result is a series with an incredible interwoven structure that adds a greater depth then the Manga has.

Battle Angel Alita: The Anime is at a disadvantage here since for some bizarre reason they decided only to do a brief two episode OAV. So while most manga-anime transitions have many scenes added (sometimes for the better such as in FMA, and sometimes for the worse such as in Naruto) here we unfortunately lose many scenes. This is quite heartbreaking, as the very first villain, who is actually revealed to be a very deep and dramatic character with alot of pathos, is truncated into a simple cliched thug. The animation is great, though, and I'm glad we got at least something, and something that looked so good, but there's so much more that could have been done with it.

 

[Happenstance]

Gantz: Ive seen all of the anime and have just started reading the manga after the mission at the temple where the anime and manga split. So far the manga seems better but I need to carry on reading it.

 

[Alexia Dark]

Dragon Ball Z: I think the manga was better, just in terms of pacing. It didn't take 10 minutes for someone to make a witty comment and power up. It took two panels. Other than that it's pretty much the same as I remember it. I still think in the English dub's voices when I read.

 

[hippie_hunter]

The manga pretty much turns out to always be better. Hellsing, Rurouni Kenshin, Berzerk, etc.

Rurouni Kenshin: I like the manga better. Kenshin's speech is funnier. The maturity is upped a bit (more blood, death, etc). And what they did with the Jinchu arc, by forgetting it, was unforgivable.

The only thing that I liked in the anime beter was Kaoru's reaction to Tomoe's death (in the OVA obviously where she freaks out instead of "I won't die for Kenshin", felt like a more realistic reaction).

 

[KingOfDreams]

I don't read manga. Something about black and white comics rubs me the wrong way. But I love anime.

 

[anarchistguy]

Dragon Ball:

(I'm talking about the whole thing -from when Goku and Bulma first meet to Goku's fight with the original Majin Buu-)

Manga ALL THE WAY!!! The pacing is MUCH, MUCH faster (like when Zabon first transformed, as soon as he was done, he IMMEDIATELY started attacking Vegeta, whereas in the anime, he gives a speech, laughs THEN attacks Vegeta. Also, the fight scenes look a HELL of a lot better. They're more dynamic and some hits actually look more brutal in the manga.

Here are some examples:

Vegeta beheading Guldo

Anime:

Manga:

Gohan killing a Cell Jr.
Anime:

Manga:

Berserk:

As good as the anime is, it just CANNOT compare to the manga. Also, the anime took out some of the VERY BEST fights of that ark. Not only fights, but characters such as Puck and the Skull Knight. The anime only covers the first chapter of book one and books 3-13, which was nothing more than a build-up. In short, when the anime ends is when the story REALLY begins( the manga goes WAYYYYYY beyond the anime).

 

[Corinthian™]

FMA: The Manga all the way. The Manga is more in depth and in the Anime some things are rushed up. I think I may be biased since I read half of the manga first and then the Anime, but I like the Manga more.... and they screwed up the story... Hughes funeral is far more touching in the manga

Dragonball: The Manga's good, but I favour here more the anime. It really helped the animation for Dragonball. But.....

Dragonball Z: The manga's far better. Pacing began to take forever and they didn't do a good job at it.

Naruto: I don't really know. The pacing is slow, but I find it far better than DBZ's

 

[SLVRSR4]

I enjoyed .hack manga more than the anime. I think this was due to the fact i had their voices sounding different. So when i hear some very odd voice that.. you get the point

 

[gothicFLAVOURS]

It depends on the series.

Dragon Ball Z: It was definately better as a manga. The anime episodes were too slow. Sometimes they were pretty boring when the characters started to look at each other doing nothing. And sometimes the anime art quality was pretty bad.

Chobits: The anime was much more funny than the manga.

Saint Seiya: Anime all the way. The manga was just badly drawn

Neon Genesis Evangelion: It was awesome in both formats, but I'd choose the manga over the anime for plot reasons. In the manga they had a better character development.

 

[Keollyn]

Currently. the Demon City Shinjuku manga is much better than the anime. I, especially, like the way Sakaya and Kyoya look in the manga over the anime.

 

[Jplaya2023]

Dragonball Z and Naruto

The Manga is better in terms of getting information but its weird reading right to left all the time, I'd rather watch it in cartoon format so cartoon wins.

 

[oakzap425]

You don't even watch it...