Can an anime be better than its own manga? Well, most fans will bring up examples like Demon Slayer (Kimetsu no Yaiba), where the anime is carried by its animation. However, that’s just one possibility: sometimes, the execution of the story itself is better in the anime.
One of the things Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End (Sousou no Frieren) is highly praised for is its atmosphere. The fantasy world of the anime actually feels magical, and while the music adds to the vibe, a big part of why it works so well are the visuals.
During many dialogues, we can see moments of the scenery that make us appreciate the world more. And yes, these are mostly anime-original — there wasn’t really much place for them in the manga. Perhaps the Frieren anime is even better than its source material.
Shikamaru’s conversations with his father in Naruto
This might come as a surprise to many, but yes, Shikamaru’s flashbacks that showed him playing shogi and talking to his father are technically filler.
They make the anime better, however: the added depth to Shikamaru’s character really improves the Akatsuki Suppression Arc, as well as establishes Shikaku as one of the best fathers in all of anime.
Eren’s dialogue with Armin in AoT finale
If you were reading the manga of Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin) as the last chapters were coming out, you probably remember the infamous line that was memed to death. More specifically, the “Thank you for becoming a mass murderer for our sake” line was cut out of the anime completely, and other parts of the dialogue have been tweaked.
While the line makes sense in context (and no, it’s not a mistranslation, although the phrasing was a bit different), it was extremely cheesy and hated by many fans. They’re glad the anime made the dialogue more natural — although to some, it wasn’t enough to save the finale.
Pretty much the entirety of Chuunibyou
Kyoto Animation’s adaptation of Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions! (Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai!) is perhaps one of the best examples of the anime being much better than the light novel.
It’s not just because of the animation, although that plays a huge role as well: pretty much everything in the anime is original, only taking the core ideas from the source material. Characters like Dekomori and Tooka don’t even exist in the light novel.
Believe it or not, that’s actually possible.
Can an anime be better than its own manga? Well, most fans will bring up examples like Demon Slayer (Kimetsu no Yaiba), where the anime is carried by its animation. However, that’s just one possibility: sometimes, the execution of the story itself is better in the anime.
One of the things Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End (Sousou no Frieren) is highly praised for is its atmosphere. The fantasy world of the anime actually feels magical, and while the music adds to the vibe, a big part of why it works so well are the visuals.
During many dialogues, we can see moments of the scenery that make us appreciate the world more. And yes, these are mostly anime-original — there wasn’t really much place for them in the manga. Perhaps the Frieren anime is even better than its source material.
Shikamaru’s conversations with his father in Naruto
This might come as a surprise to many, but yes, Shikamaru’s flashbacks that showed him playing shogi and talking to his father are technically filler.
They make the anime better, however: the added depth to Shikamaru’s character really improves the Akatsuki Suppression Arc, as well as establishes Shikaku as one of the best fathers in all of anime.
Eren’s dialogue with Armin in AoT finale
If you were reading the manga of Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin) as the last chapters were coming out, you probably remember the infamous line that was memed to death. More specifically, the “Thank you for becoming a mass murderer for our sake” line was cut out of the anime completely, and other parts of the dialogue have been tweaked.
While the line makes sense in context (and no, it’s not a mistranslation, although the phrasing was a bit different), it was extremely cheesy and hated by many fans. They’re glad the anime made the dialogue more natural — although to some, it wasn’t enough to save the finale.
Pretty much the entirety of Chuunibyou
Kyoto Animation’s adaptation of Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions! (Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai!) is perhaps one of the best examples of the anime being much better than the light novel.
It’s not just because of the animation, although that plays a huge role as well: pretty much everything in the anime is original, only taking the core ideas from the source material. Characters like Dekomori and Tooka don’t even exist in the light novel.
