Anime and manga are two different mediums of storytelling that fans equally enjoy. One of the most influential debates in the anime community has been whether anime is better than manga or vice versa. There have been several animes that have improved on their source material. On the other hand, there are certain manga that are much better than the anime adaptation.
Throughout the years, we have seen many animes that have outclassed the source material, such as Demon Slayer, Jujutsu Kaisen, and FMA: Brotherhood. On the other hand, there are certain mangas that the anime adaptation can’t surpass, and they include names like One Piece, Berserk, and Death Note.
3 Anime That Are Better Than the Manga
1: Demon Slayer
The story written by Koyoharu Gotouge is one of the simplest yet interesting stories and introduces some of the most amazing characters to the audience. However, one major claim the fans make is that Demon Slayer is known due to the Ufotable adaptation, not because of the story.
The claim is not off the mark since Demon Slayer got a huge boost in popularity after the anime adaptation and we are all well aware of how amazing the animation of Ufotable is, which took the series to another level and drastically improved the enjoyment of the viewers.
2: Jujutsu Kaisen
The story written by Gege Akutami is already one of the best but the adaptation improved on certain aspects of the story, which helped the fans understand the story better. The manga can be quite confusing at times due to numerous cursed techniques, domains, blood paintings, cursed spirits, etc.
The anime improved on this and added more explanation, as well as changing the color palette a little bit, which overall enhanced the experience of Gege Akutami’s magnum opus. Season two even outdid season one and animated the Shibuya arc to perfection while also adding anime original scenes, making it better than the manga.
3: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Arguably the most well-written and fan-favorite anime series of all time, almost two-thirds of the series was produced without the manga as a base source and the anime adaptation outdid the original storyline and improved it drastically.
The anime adaptation added more depth to the characters and focused more on world-building. The anime’s political relevance deviates quite significantly from the manga and overall, the anime was much better as compared to the manga.
3 Anime That Can Never Surpass the Manga
1: One Piece
One Piece manga is one of the most well-written fictional stories of all time. Even though the adaptation of the series is good, it certainly fails to live up to the original work by Oda sensei. The anime tends to drag the episodes out way too long.
Many scenes have also been omitted due to pacing issues and certain arcs have deviated a little bit from the manga. The manga is better written, has good art, and the pacing is way better than the anime adaptation. Overall, it is better than the anime adaptation.
2: Death Note
The Death Note manga pulls no punches and tears Light Yagami apart toward the ending as compared to his anime counterpart. The manga explained the powers of the Death Note more accurately and gave Yagami more focus as a normal student.
It expands more on Light Yagami’s personality and his thought process behind how he turned out to be so evil despite having a good childhood. The manga also showed the death of Misa and gave all the characters involved a much better conclusion.
3: Berserk
Berserk is a series that won’t ever get justice, irrespective of the studio that decides to adopt it, due to reasons such as the fact that the art of the manga is one of the best and anime adaptations can’t replicate it, and other reasons being the sheer amount of repetitive and s*xual violence involved in the story.
The anime adaptation only shows a certain arc of the story while cutting stuff out for pacing. The artist/writer Kentaro Miura depicted his genius in the story and gave us an unforgettable tale.
