The fall 2021 anime season has officially begun, which means it's time for viewers to decide which shows are worth watching and what to skip. But how did these shows originate? Demon Slayer and Blue Period both began as manga before their anime adaptation, whereas takt op.Destiny and Fena: Pirate Princess are original stories. The decision for an anime studio to pursue an adaptation or whether to create an original anime can be difficult considering the particular difficulties of both -- as well as the potential for success.
Adaptations of manga, light novels or other preexisting materials have several advantages over their counterparts. Adaptations almost always have an established fanbase, an audience who read the source material and is very likely to check out the anime as well. Knowing a viewership exists no matter what is a huge benefit for an anime to have. The overall plot, characters and much of the dialogue already being available means resources that would have been put into character design and scripting can be put into storyboarding and animation by relocating funding. The entire structure of the anime team can be changed around, due to what the source material already provides.
However, adaptations can also have major drawbacks. The fanbase that was so important to an adaption's initial success can easily turn if the anime does not live up to expectations, such as Season 2 of The Promised Neverland. Any changes the anime team wishes to make, whether it be character design, dialogue or arc order, could upset manga fans who were truly looking for a straight adaptation. Arcs that can't be faithfully adapted can end up hurting the anime overall when they're unable to fit in the required number of episodes. This can leave certain arcs feeling rushed, drawn out or even written out completely, such as what happened between Season 1 and 2 of Noragami, where arc timing led to the creation of an anime-only villain who ultimately messed up Season 2.
Fans aside, the degree to which an anime sticks to the manga can be incredibly important based on the mangaka's relationship with the anime team. The creative differences between Studio Bee Train and the authors of Tsubasa - RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE had such repercussions that the anime was canceled completely after Season 2. However, other mangaka have had wonderful relationships with their anime teams and even written the scripts for movies or helped to adapt their material so the anime would succeed. Although Season 1 of Blood Blockade Batttlefront did not follow the manga's plot, the mangaka Yasuhiro Nightow drew art of the anime-only characters to help pacify those who didn't like those characters' inclusion. In the end, relationships with mangakas can be a bane or a boon.
The largest drawback when deciding to adapt a work is almost always if the source material is completed. Even if a manga is being released on a steady schedule, there's no telling if a mangaka might need to take a break, so an anime would need to decide between waiting for the manga or going off on its own. One of the best known examples of this is when Fullmetal Alchemist '03 ran out of manga material and decided to continue the story anyway, deviating wildly from the manga plot. Erased and Soul Eater also decided to forge their own way, some more successful than others.
It wasn't until the manga was complete that Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood was released in 2009, and Inuyasha actually decided to take a several-year break until its source material was complete. The Hunter x Hunter anime is currently waiting for the manga to continue, lacking source material to adapt.
Something else happens, though, when the source material isn't there to begin with. Original anime operate with a lot more freedom -- but with a lot less assurance that things will turn out well. If the first episode fails to impress, the anime might be a failure. While the My Hero Academia films have no concern being shown in North American theaters, Studio Trigger limited the release of its original movie Promare due to concerns it would not do well. This also tends to limit the length of original anime in case of failure. Originals also need to consider character designs, the story, the entirety of the script as well as everything else an adaptation anime has to worry about. It requires more manpower and time.
However, the lack of restriction on an original anime may pay off. While a preexisting fanbase can help guarantee viewers, an original also means that viewers can't be disappointed in the inability to stick to the original. Issues with pacing and arcs can be easily taken care of by changing the story. So though anime originals operate without a safety net, the freedom they gain in return can allow for much better pacing and control over all aspects of the story -- though that does still require a skilled team to pull it off. Sometimes lacking the guidance of a manga is detrimental, as seen with Wonder Egg Priority's pacing problems.
So which wins out, the adaptation or the original? There have been fantastic representations of both. Jujutsu Kaisen, Haikyuu!! and Yu Yu Hakusho are all examples of hugely successful adaptations. Adaptations of popular manga use their existing fanbase to cultivate a devoted following, creating the worldwide network of fans that allows for the way My Hero Academia and Demon Slayer are nearly household names.
However, the lack of fame might actually be a benefit to the original anime. Due to not having source material, there is not much known about these originals when they are first released. As a result some of the most iconic works in memorable history come out of nowhere to surprise audiences with their quality and inventiveness. Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Psycho-Pass, Cowboy Bebop, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Gurren Lagann and Angel Beats are but a few of these trailblazers. The influence these original works had on anime itself is undeniable, and that was partly because they were anime-only inventions that could exclusively use the medium of animation to explore what it was capable of.
In the end, both adaptations and originals take an astounding amount of work and support in order to make happen. Whether adapted from a favorite manga or a completely unknown original, any anime has the potential to be a hit; it's simply that original anime and adaptations come at it from different routes, both with advantages and disadvantages. While adaptation anime can cater to what the audience wants and so create a successful show with global appeal, the original can attempt to astound with a story that changes genres and puts names on the map.
Both are important industry's success as a whole, one almost acting as the backbone while the other experiments -- such as how Studio Mappa has produced many original works over the years such as Terror in Resonance and Yuri!!! on Ice, but is also adapting Jujutsu Kaisen and the upcoming Chainsaw Man. Adaptation and original anime have many aspects to consider when planning a series, but in the end it's best for the industry for both to exist in a constant process of complementing each other and encouraging studios in the creation of both.
