These don’t go the same way The Promised Neverland S2 did.
It might be frustrating when the anime ends on a cliffhanger — or even has a non-ending — virtually telling you “go read the source material.” It is even worse when it does tell a full story, but the latter arcs are disappointing compared to the former.
If you want a story that is fully adapted into an anime which doesn’t actually fall off, here are 10 anime you can watch.
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is widely accepted as the best battle shounen out there — as well as the perfect example of how to adapt a series.
The manga was already considered amazing, and the anime does it justice — both from the animation standpoint and how close it actually ends up being to its source material. FMAB is considered iconic for a reason — you need to watch it if you haven’t already.
Parasyte: The Maxim (Kiseijuu: Sei no Kakuritsu) is a somewhat modern take on the classic manga from 1989.
It does justice to its source material and is a unique mix of thriller and action with some ecological themes added to it. In just 24 episodes, the anime tells a complete story.
The 2019 adaptation of Fruits Basket does justice to a classic manga. In fact, it arguably single-handedly revived the interest towards shoujo romance: we wouldn’t be getting adaptations of series like A Sign of Affection (Yubisaki to Renren) now if not for it.
Regardless, one of the reasons Fruits Basket manga was considered a classic is the fact that it was great throughout its entire run, something the anime also retained.
If you think about it, each part of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken) is fully adapted into the anime. While the continuous story is still behind the manga — which is currently at its 9th part while the anime only has 6 — it doesn’t change the fact that the JoJo anime faithfully adapts each part.
All the parts are different in tone, and while there are arguments about the best one, all of them are good in their own ways. The finale of part 6, Stone Ocean, is especially regarded as one of the most iconic moments of the series.
Assassination Classroom (Ansatsu Kyoushitsu) might not be talked about much now, but it is still relatively popular. Praised for its huge cast of interesting characters, it actually used to be a go-to recommendation for getting into anime: the premise is unique, but very easy to understand.
What’s more important, the anime fully adapts the manga, including its very bittersweet ending.
While the first adaptation of Hellsing was not bad, its amount of anime original content was somewhat controversial among fans. Thankfully, we got Hellsing Ultimate later — a series of almost hour-long OVAs that fully adapts the manga. The anime is absolutely crazy, but that’s why we love it.
Ultimate might be iconic and a perfect adaptation of its manga, but what you’re probably not thinking about is how lucky you are to watch it now. The release format means that it was released one episode at a time, sometimes with breaks as long as 1.5 years — imagine how hard it was to watch it before it was finished!
Fate/Zero
A visual novel is very hard to fully adapt into anime due to the interactive nature of the medium. Fortunately, Fate/Zero is not adapted from a visual novel: the source material is a light novel, which is the prequel to the Fate/stay night VN.
Fate/Zero is a great starting point for the Fate series. Besides, it’s also just a great anime altogether: many battle royale anime have lackluster endings, but this is not one of them.
Monster
Monster is an iconic manga and perhaps one of the best examples of when 1:1 adaptation actually worked.
The anime fully covers the story of Dr. Tenma trying to catch the so-called “monster”, which is a patient he saved in the past. Gritty and dark, the anime is quite long, but very much worth watching.
Initial D
Perhaps the most iconic racing manga, Initial D is famous for its crazy races and use of eurobeat music. What not many people know, however, is that across many seasons, it has been fully adapted into an anime — and the adaptation is highly praised by the source fans.
The OVAs for Initial D are still occasionally made, but they are mostly just race compilations with no new content. The spiritual sequel, MF Ghost, shares some characters with Initial D, but is also completely optional (and is said by many fans to be lacking).
At first, this might seem impossible: after all, Monogatari has a couple of sequels already announced, so how could it be a full adaptation? Well, the truth is: the main story has been fully adapted into the anime.
What is left is mostly side stories and optional sequels, which are not required for enjoying the main work. Monogatari is also very unique, because in over a hundred episodes, it doesn’t become worse: the conclusion is actually one of the most cathartic finales in anime.
These don’t go the same way The Promised Neverland S2 did.
It might be frustrating when the anime ends on a cliffhanger — or even has a non-ending — virtually telling you “go read the source material.” It is even worse when it does tell a full story, but the latter arcs are disappointing compared to the former.
If you want a story that is fully adapted into an anime which doesn’t actually fall off, here are 10 anime you can watch.
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is widely accepted as the best battle shounen out there — as well as the perfect example of how to adapt a series.
The manga was already considered amazing, and the anime does it justice — both from the animation standpoint and how close it actually ends up being to its source material. FMAB is considered iconic for a reason — you need to watch it if you haven’t already.
Parasyte: The Maxim (Kiseijuu: Sei no Kakuritsu) is a somewhat modern take on the classic manga from 1989.
It does justice to its source material and is a unique mix of thriller and action with some ecological themes added to it. In just 24 episodes, the anime tells a complete story.
The 2019 adaptation of Fruits Basket does justice to a classic manga. In fact, it arguably single-handedly revived the interest towards shoujo romance: we wouldn’t be getting adaptations of series like A Sign of Affection (Yubisaki to Renren) now if not for it.
Regardless, one of the reasons Fruits Basket manga was considered a classic is the fact that it was great throughout its entire run, something the anime also retained.
If you think about it, each part of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken) is fully adapted into the anime. While the continuous story is still behind the manga — which is currently at its 9th part while the anime only has 6 — it doesn’t change the fact that the JoJo anime faithfully adapts each part.
All the parts are different in tone, and while there are arguments about the best one, all of them are good in their own ways. The finale of part 6, Stone Ocean, is especially regarded as one of the most iconic moments of the series.
Assassination Classroom (Ansatsu Kyoushitsu) might not be talked about much now, but it is still relatively popular. Praised for its huge cast of interesting characters, it actually used to be a go-to recommendation for getting into anime: the premise is unique, but very easy to understand.
What’s more important, the anime fully adapts the manga, including its very bittersweet ending.
While the first adaptation of Hellsing was not bad, its amount of anime original content was somewhat controversial among fans. Thankfully, we got Hellsing Ultimate later — a series of almost hour-long OVAs that fully adapts the manga. The anime is absolutely crazy, but that’s why we love it.
Ultimate might be iconic and a perfect adaptation of its manga, but what you’re probably not thinking about is how lucky you are to watch it now. The release format means that it was released one episode at a time, sometimes with breaks as long as 1.5 years — imagine how hard it was to watch it before it was finished!
Fate/Zero
A visual novel is very hard to fully adapt into anime due to the interactive nature of the medium. Fortunately, Fate/Zero is not adapted from a visual novel: the source material is a light novel, which is the prequel to the Fate/stay night VN.
Fate/Zero is a great starting point for the Fate series. Besides, it’s also just a great anime altogether: many battle royale anime have lackluster endings, but this is not one of them.
Monster
Monster is an iconic manga and perhaps one of the best examples of when 1:1 adaptation actually worked.
The anime fully covers the story of Dr. Tenma trying to catch the so-called “monster”, which is a patient he saved in the past. Gritty and dark, the anime is quite long, but very much worth watching.
Initial D
Perhaps the most iconic racing manga, Initial D is famous for its crazy races and use of eurobeat music. What not many people know, however, is that across many seasons, it has been fully adapted into an anime — and the adaptation is highly praised by the source fans.
The OVAs for Initial D are still occasionally made, but they are mostly just race compilations with no new content. The spiritual sequel, MF Ghost, shares some characters with Initial D, but is also completely optional (and is said by many fans to be lacking).
At first, this might seem impossible: after all, Monogatari has a couple of sequels already announced, so how could it be a full adaptation? Well, the truth is: the main story has been fully adapted into the anime.
What is left is mostly side stories and optional sequels, which are not required for enjoying the main work. Monogatari is also very unique, because in over a hundred episodes, it doesn’t become worse: the conclusion is actually one of the most cathartic finales in anime.
