Shaman King was a 2000s series that was part of the 4Kids Entertainment era of anime localizations. Though it and its manga seem on the surface to be fairly typical shonen series, Shaman King's narrative and characters were fairly atypical for the genre. This resulted in a cult following that manifest in several manga sequels and spin-offs.
The original Shaman King manga will be receiving a new, more accurate anime adaptation, making the value of watching the first series highly dubious. Though it certainly gave a valiant effort to portray its source material, the soon-to-be-rereleased original Shaman King is obsolete due to how much is missing -- but is it still worth a watch?
Shaman King (2001) Was Too Different
The biggest problem with the 2001 Shaman King was that crucial points of characterization and characters themselves were missing wholesale. Part of this stemmed from the fact that the show ended before the manga did, meaning that it had to create its own ending. Even with what it did adapt, the narrative felt way too rushed and overlooked some key elements.
One great example is the villainous Hao and his followers. These followers were barely featured compared to the manga, where they not only showed up in more fights but were also given more depth as characters. Hao himself had much of his depth and dimensions as a character removed, too, reducing him to a relatively generic shonen villain without much in the way of layers. It also had the effect of making him far less sympathetic and a comparatively megalomaniacal villain. Likewise, his later betrayal from Peyote equally lacks in what made it such a decisive heel turn in the manga.
Opacho also eventually leaves Hao, which is a story element not present in the manga. The dub makes things worse for her character, randomly changing her into a male instead of a young girl. Matamune is another character central to Hao's story, and yet he was completely absent in the anime. Even characters like Horohoro, Yoh and Anna have parts of their backstory completely kept out of the anime, despite being the main characters.
Other changes and additions included the Lily Five, a quintet of sisters introduced in the anime for explicitly comedic purposes. Their place in the show was pretty unnecessary, and the time spent on them could have been used to include plot points from the manga instead. Add in the fact that the ending it came up with was particularly poorly received, and it's no wonder so many people prefer the manga.
Shaman King (2001) Wasn't Terrible
At the same time, the show wasn't terrible by any stretch of the imagination. Even with some weirder censorship and changes brought through 4Kids, the dub wasn't that cumbersome. Many fans recommend it even alongside the manga's existence, at least up to a certain point. On top of that, the international release of the new series won't be hitting Netflix until August. This gives those who may have grown up with the series or who want to check out the original anime for the first time a chance to watch it before the new show hits.
Whether or not it will be surpassed in the long run by the new series has yet to be seen, though it's likely given its closer fidelity to the manga. At the moment, the original Shaman King anime isn't bad by any means, but there's certainly room for improvement.
