There’s an endless degree of versatility that’s associated with anime, and it’s routinely one of the most creative and ambitious mediums in storytelling. There are certainly occasions where anime series are completely original productions, but more often than not these programs are adaptations of popular manga, light novels, or video game series.

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There are many ways a series can benefit from being adapted into an anime series, but adaptations are inherently a tricky process and they can often fail expectations or not be as satisfying as the source material. Alternatively, anime adaptations can frequently build on their original stories in fulfilling manners and present the audience with a lot to appreciate.

10 It Comes With A Built-In Fanbase

Ray Emma Norman from The Promised Neverland

Anime series are often able to cultivate extremely enthusiastic fan communities, but it’s always a disappointment when a promising property can’t connect with a crowd and meet an untimely cancellation. Even a shoddy story deserves a proper ending, and while this isn’t a guarantee with anime that are adaptations, it at least allows the series to begin with an already established fanbase. Anime adaptations often get to live long lives because the audience that they bring from their source material provides them with huge numbers.

9 An Animation Studio Can Bring Their Own Style To The Series

Studio Trigger Anime Feature Falling

One of the biggest factors when determining an anime’s success is the animation studio that’s putting its specific stamp on the property. There have been a number of situations where a mediocre animation studio has crumbled under the pressure and turned out an anime series that’s not worthy of the source material. Of course, the exact opposite is also possible, and companies like Studio TRIGGER, MAPPA, Science Saru, David Productions, and more have made names for themselves due to their creative and boundary-pushing animation work. They bring an extra level of visual excellence that’d be impossible in any other medium.

8 Voice Actors Can Give The Characters Depth And Greater Personality

Kuwara Threatening His Friend Yusuke

One of the fundamental differences that’s present in an anime series as opposed to a manga or light novel series is that anime actually brings audio into the equation. Audiences might have some sort of visual reference for their favorite heroes, but they often don’t get a voice, which can add much personality to a character.

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Anime is just such an infinitely richer medium that allows characters to gain depth and have additional details reflected through subtle animation touches. Some characters don’t properly connect with audiences until they have a voice to power them.

7 Original Filler Material Can Yield Surprising Rewards

Goku and Piccolo learn how to drive in filler episode of Dragon Ball Z

A serious topic of discussion that regularly comes up during debates between anime and manga is that the former often has to create original filler material to allow the manga the opportunity to get further along in its story. Admittedly, filler can sometimes muddle the mixture or dilute the strength of a story, but it’s not always a wash. An anime’s original filler material can introduce original characters, expand upon the series’ supporting characters, or even change the tone in creative ways and bring comedy into action or dramatic series.

6 Pacing Can Be Changed And Improved

Anime Demaro Black Threatens The Real Luffy In One Piece

Pacing is another crucial element that can make or break a series, and it’s something that has to be handled very differently between a manga and an anime. Depictions of lengthy battles need to be handled in a wholly unique manner in an anime, which can frequently improve upon the battle’s action and tension. An anime adaptation can turn a singular fight into multiple episodes’ worth of content, or take the opposite route. An anime can also condense arcs that were considered to be too long in the manga and make comparable pacing revisions.

5 It Can Improve Upon The Original

Anime Dragon Ball Z Kai Bardock Death

The sheer fact that anime adaptations are usually made after a manga has accrued plenty of content means that they have the benefit of hindsight to use to their advantage. Anime can apply foreshadowing because they know what’s to come and tease these future details in a way that actively improves upon the story and makes it stronger in a grander sense.

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An anime has the opportunity to create a deeper level of consistency that might be absent in a manga or light novel that’s still figuring itself out as it goes.

4 Opening And Ending Sequences Can Become Beautiful Distillations Of The Series

Anime JoJo Stone Ocean Joseph Joestar Walkman

Music is another fundamental detail that’s absent in a manga or light novel series and is something that gives an anime adaptation a distinct advantage to build upon the series’ personality. Music, in general, is important in anime, and some of the more popular series even have concerts that celebrate their soundtracks. However, the opening and ending sequences that bookend anime episodes are seen as their own form of art. They operate as beautiful visual distillations of what the season’s story is all about.

3 Fight And Action Sequences Become Substantially More Exciting

Anime Goku Black Stabs Super Saiyan Blue Vegeta - Dragon Ball Super

Manga and light novels can still be incredibly suspenseful, but there are natural limitations in mediums that deal in still images or text. Incredible things can be done in manga that simulate the illusion of movement, but it’s still nothing in comparison to what can be done in an anime series. There are plenty of occasions where excellent fight or action sequences from a manga evolve into phenomenal moments when they’re fully animated. Fistfights, car chases, gunplay, and sprawling energy attacks all become more compelling when they’re presented through fluid animation.

2 The Anime Is Able To Have A Conversation With The Manga

Anime Shinpachi Experiences Instrumentality In Gintama

An anime has its source material as a helpful blueprint during the adaptation process, but there are also plenty of series that pride themselves in self-aware comedy and gags that deconstruct the medium as a whole. As a result, there’s an extra level of metatextual awareness that’s possible in an anime adaptation of a gag series. Programs like Gintama are able to actively reference the manga, poke fun at it, and address the changes that have been made in a way that’s faithful to the series’ sense of humor, but would also be impossible in the original text.

1 There’s The Potential To Change The Ending

Eren Yeager looking to the sky at the end of AOT Season 3

One aspect of anime adaptations that’s gained a lot of attention in the past few years is that an anime can actually be a way to “fix” the ending of a manga that concludes in a manner that’s unpopular with fans. Some of the best anime series are heralded for their ability to be faithful to the source material, but there are occasions where a changed anime-original conclusion is viewed as an improvement. This is very tricky territory and fan impulses should never control creative decisions. However, sometimes, the creator themselves will use the anime as an opportunity to change and revise their past work.

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