10 Manga Better Than Its Anime (2024)

When it comes to anime, there is a lot of enjoyment that you can get out of a story that has been lifted from a manga and seeing it animated, voiced over, and supplied with glorious music and sound effects. Plenty of stories have soared in popularity thanks to the dynamic treatment that getting animated can bring.

There are some manga however that remain to be the best way to consume the story, what with better pacing and direction. Considering budget and time constraints, as well as differences in creative input, some anime pale in comparison to their manga counterparts. Here are some examples of manga that have proven better than the anime.

1 The Promised Neverland

The Promised Neverland follows the story of a group of children who escape their orphanage that keeps a dark secret into a world that holds terrors beyond everything they were told about reality. The first season of the anime pretty much stays true to how the manga's story plays out, adding much value with eerie music and spectacular voice acting.

The following season is where the adaptation strays from the source material, and the different revelations of the story fall flat. It skips certain arcs that are arguably essential for character and world development, which makes it such a shame for a story that's otherwise fantastic.

2 One Punch Man

One Punch Man tells the story of Saitama, an overpowered individual who is a hero for fun, and how he breaks all hero stereotypes in ridiculous fashion. The first season of the anime was truly golden, delivering punchline after punchline perfectly and treating its viewers' eyes to the sweetest action eye candy on the screen.

That said, the following season arguably didn't do the beautifully drawn manga art justice, and there is a stark drop in quality of the animation. The manga also has omake chapters that aren't included in the anime, and these give an additional peek into character motivations and personalities that make them more lovable.

3 Ouran High School Host Club

Ouran High School Host Club is all about how Haruhi, mistaken for a boy, is forcibly recruited to become a host after breaking a vase. This comedic shojo treats its audience to a story of love, laughs, and beautiful men. The anime adaptation is a popular case of having to squeeze a long story into a few short episodes, causing a lot of pacing issues.

The manga has a lot of stories, important conversations, and jokes that never made it into the anime, making some characters more flat than they actually are. Not to mention that the ending of the anime is lackluster compared to the manga, which gives the story a much more satisfying and definitive finish.

4 The Way Of The Househusband

The Way Of The Househusband is about a gang member who falls in love with a strong-willed woman and is softened into becoming her loyal househusband. It's a manga that tells its charmingly hilarious story in a few panels in each chapter. The voice acting in the anime is fantastic, which is why it's a shame that the direction of the animation was to make it play out like a visual novel.

The move to make a unique style of anime for this manga fell flat because it did not add anything special to an amazing reading experience, apart from voices and color. The art itself is also not as impressive as the beautifully shaded and detailed panels of the source material.

5 Blue Period

Blue Period follows a high schooler who discovers a deep passion for the world of art and dives in to explore it. While a manga about art is expected to flourish when animated and supplied with an array of colors, the anime adaptation truly falls flat.

The story of Blue Period relies heavily on the process of making art to flesh out its characters, but the anime seems to gloss over it completely. The adaptation seems to value the interactions and relationships between characters more than the journey of an artist, causing the story to be less colorful that it should be.

6 Berserk

Berserk is an epic fantasy about a swordsman named Guts and his desire to seek revenge on Griffith after a fierce betrayal. This manga is hailed by many to be one of the greatest classics, and it has had two anime adaptations already. Unfortunately, the adaptations lacked the breadth of storytelling that the manga boasts and the animation disappointed many viewers.

One thing that the manga can boast about is every beautifully drawn panel, making the images seemingly come off the pages. The anime does not share the same magnificence, making it an obvious choice to read the manga instead or to at least do so before or after watching.

7 Naruto

Naruto is a household name when it comes to anime discussions. Exploring the world of ninjas, the story is jam-packed with plenty of fighting, drama, and comedic moments. That said, the anime suffered from an issue that many adaptations do: catching up to the source material.

The Naruto anime did well to put the movement in the dynamic panels of the manga, but it also added so much filler just to keep things moving. This causes the viewing experience to drag on unnecessarily when fans just want to know what happens next to the characters that actually matter. It also introduces unremarkable drama that doesn't always make sense from a character development standpoint.

8 Tokyo Ghoul

Tokyo Ghoul is a dark story about a world where humans and flesh-eating ghouls coexist, and it explores the complicated dynamics that this brings. The anime adaptation seems to lack the dark maturity that the original material brings, and it also skips over a lot of important stories covered by the manga.

Similar to how plenty of anime are limited by constraints when it comes to compressing a huge story, this one leaves out plenty of valuable parts, causing the story to be less fleshed out. The anime can be a good experience to see action playing out, but reading the manga is a must to get satisfying storytelling.

Fullmetal Alchemist is a tale of two brothers who suffer the consequences of exploring the darker corners of alchemy. The manga is a classic and a favorite of many thanks to its beautifully written characters set in an exhilarating story. The first anime of the manga was a good adaptation at first, but without having a finished story to go on, the direction of the plot headed for strange twists and turns.

The manga also has so many lighthearted and comedic moments that the anime removes completely. Thankfully, the next adaptation Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood remedied the faults of its predecessor and stayed more faithful to the manga.

10 Record Of Ragnarok

This action series is centered around a fighting tournament where humans must prove their worth by battling against gods. The manga tells this story well with intricately drawn panels that gorgeously display how intimidating characters are and the great power they possess.

As a story focused on battles, it's expected that an animated adaptation is suited to really bring it to life. Unfortunately, the anime somehow looks so much more lifeless than the masterfully drawn manga, with a lot less detail and not enough movement to capture the supposedly dynamic battles. Readers will have a much more exciting experience by sticking to the manga.