Previously, the writers at J-List discussed their first anime series. Now they’re talking about the anime series that didn’t adapt all the source material. Some anime series end, for one reason or another, before they can include all of the source material. Some, like the original run of Fullmetal Alchemist, just started making stuff up before Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood stepped in and fixed everything. Well, not every anime series gets that treatment. And not every anime series becomes so popular that every page is adapted to the screen.
The J-List writing staff knows that pain all too well, so we listed off some of the anime series we wish adapted more of the source material.
Claymore / The Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok / s-CRY-ed / Princess Resurrection / Kaze no Stigma / D.N.Angel (Justin)
Man, there are a lot of anime series I miss. Before I knew it, I had six series listed.
Claymore
The Claymore anime stopped adapting the manga exactly when it was getting good. We may never see the conspiracy of the Claymore organization, mention of “dragons” and the outside world, or Clare, then Teresa, taking on Priscilla.
The original manga series by Norihiro Yagi ran from June 6th, 2001, to October 4th, 2014, in a total of 27 volumes. The anime series by Madhouse ran from April 4th, 2007, to September 26th, 2007, with 26 episodes.
The Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok
The Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok had a lot more story to tell. The anime didn’t try to present Angrboda — it had just a brief scene at the end. For a story about solving mysteries, the anime never solved the series’ overall mystery. We never met Loki’s wife, Angrboda, as she is reincarnated as Spica. And we never saw Odin or Loki’s other half Utgard-Loki.
Sakura Kinoshita worked on the manga series first between January 12th, 1999, through November 12th, 2001, in a total of seven volumes, then again on March 29th, 2002, through August 30th, 2004, in five more collections. Studio Deen adapted the series from April 5th, 2003, to September 27th, 2003, with 26 episodes.
s-CRY-ed
Here’s a bit of a twist: the anime came before the manga, but the manga feels more complete. The s-CRY-ed anime is a masterpiece, but its manga adaptation did the source material better. Characters died in the anime but did not in the manga, and Kazuma has a brother that we never see. The term “s-CRY-ed” actually plays a role in the manga. Fans who just saw the anime will get blown away by how different the manga adaptation is.
Goro Taniguchi conceptualized and directed the anime series. It aired from July 4th, 2001, through December 26th, 2001, producing 26 episodes. Sunrise also screened two recap movies that added more scenes. The first, titled s-CRY-ed Alteration Tao, was released on November 19th, 2011. The second, s-CRY-ed Alteration Quan, was released on March 10th, 2012. The manga adaptation, written by Yosuke Kuroda and illustrated by Yasunari Toda, ran from October 4th, 2001, to June 20th, 2002, publishing five volumes.
Princess Resurrection
Princess Resurrection (Kaibutsu Oujo) didn’t adapt the whole manga series and left a few notable details out, such as Reiri’s panty shots. The series premise, a war between siblings to take the throne, was never fully animated, so we never get to see Hime’s duel against Sylvia or who truly takes the crown.
Yasunori Mitsunaga wrote and illustrated the manga series between July 2005 and April 2013, reaching twenty volumes. The anime adaptation from Madhouse aired between April 13th, 2007, and September 28th, 2007, reaching a total of 26 episodes, which ended with Hiro being “too slow” in making a move on Hime.
Kaze no Stigma
Kaze no Stigma’s (Stigma of the Wind) anime covered some parts of the light novels, but much was left out, and even the series villains weren’t defeated. We also didn’t meet a certain Taoist immortal that even Kazuma fears fighting. And we never saw Enraiha’s wind counterpart, the spear Kokusen. The original light novel was never completed due to the author’s death on July 20th, 2009, leaving the story incomplete.
Kaze no Stigma’s light novel series, written by Takahiro Yamato and illustrated by Hanamaru Nanto between January 19th, 2002, and March 20th, 2010, ran in twelve volumes. Kaze no Stigma: Ignition, a series of side stories for the universe, was published from August 2004 to March 2010 with six collected works.
There was also a short manga series titled Kaze no Stigma: Kouen no Miko that ran for two volumes that likewise didn’t cover much, but the Kaze no Stigma anime by Gonzo, which aired from April 12th, 2007, to September 21st, 2007, had just 24 episodes to cover some of Yamato’s material.
D.N.Angel
There is so much of D.N.Angel not adapted into anime form that it could have its own article. Dark’s battle against Argentine? Qualia’s breaking, and Satoshi Hiwatari using parts of Qualia to repair Argentine? So many good characters and events never made it to the screen, and that’s a shame. The music was stellar, though.
D.N.Angel was written and illustrated by Yukiru Sugisaki from November 1997 to January 2021, reaching twenty volumes. The anime adaptation by Xebec aired from April 3rd, 2003, to September 25th, 2003, for 26 episodes.
Gundam F91 (MsqD)
As infamous as Gundam F91’s troubled production was, with the original script only being realized in novel and manga form by Yoshiyuki Tomino (albeit not available in English), it’d be interesting to see what could have been, even if only as an OVA miniseries ala Gundam Unicorn. Whether it’s how humanity moves both backward and forward in terms of culture or the effort to spotlight new antagonists with little-to-no connection to Zeon, there is a lot of untapped ground to explore. With Sunrise’s attention shifting farther away from the original One Year War that many earlier Universal Century works were set around, as seen with Hathaway’s Flash, perhaps it’s only a matter of time.
On a similar note, I wouldn’t mind seeing a full-fledged adaptation of the fan-favorite Crossbone Gundam, a sequel to the film penned by Tomino. With so much material already made for video games, it wouldn’t also be too much of a reach.
Any excuse for more Gundam is a good excuse. He’s right though, F91 was epic.
Baccano! (QC/ Void)
It’s downright criminal that we didn’t get more Baccano. Such an entertaining story with a unique setting for anime, and we only got sixteen episodes. The light novel still goes strong today without even so much as a peep on a revival in animated form. I’d recommend watching it, but you’ll just be sad there’s not more to watch.
This series is like an anime version of The Godfather with magic. Go watch it.
Drifters (Fish)
The isekai of ISEKAIS! With such a weird action-packed story, praised and received well by the community, you’d think they would give us another season. BUT we were DUPED! The series had many historical figures come in to join factions and fight for the “world.” The manga is still going on with little to almost scarce updates.
Various historical figures come together in another world to wage war against a fantasy army? Hannibal the Carthaginian as Oda Nobunaga’s adviser? Sign me up.
Maid Sama! (L.B. Bryant)
The first fantastic shoujo anime of the 2010s was also among the first of the noteworthy failures of home video sales in the 2010s. Seriously, go look it up. The DVD sales were dismal, which doomed this series from getting the second season it needed to pick up steam. What is the deal with Usui Takumi and his mysterious past? Does Misaki ever come around to accepting her feelings for him? These questions and many more were waiting just around the corner for anime fans had it gotten a whole second season. While the anime industry has taught me to never say never, it’s hard to imagine ‘Maid Sama!’ receiving a revival at this point.
It’s also called Kaichou wa Maid-Sama! (The Class President Is a Maid!), and it’s anime maids, so go watch it.
Peter-Senpai’s Thoughts
Being so busy running J-List, I’m cursed with not having enough time to read any manga. The few times I see an anime I enjoy so much that I vow to read the manga to see if there’s more juice to squeeze out of the story, I find out that the manga was a 1:1 adaptation with zero room for improvement, like Scum’s Wish.
Well, here are the numerous series we feel were cut too short and didn’t cover enough of the source material. What series would you add to our extensive list? Let us know in the comments below or on our Twitter or Facebook pages.
