5 Unwatchable Anime Based on Incredible Manga

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When a great manga gets a well-made adaptation, it can actually make the original even better, bring in new fans, or even become more popular. We’ve seen this happen many times, like with the incredibly popular Jujutsu Kaisen anime and the currently running Witch Hat Atelier.

Sadly, not all anime adaptations are well-made. Even fantastic manga stories can end up with disappointing anime versions that don’t capture the original story very well. Sometimes, these poor adaptations are so bad they’re simply unwatchable.

The Promised Neverland Anime Started Off Strong But Didn’t Stick the Landing

When the first season of The Promised Neverland came out in 2019, it quickly became a popular dark fantasy series. The story – about orphans realizing they were being raised as food and plotting an escape – was incredibly captivating, and the show’s world felt full of potential. Initially, The Promised Neverland not only lived up to the hype but surpassed it.

After the first season ended, fans who had read the manga were very excited for more. The manga continues to improve after the children escape Grace Field House, and their anticipation was justified. However, when the second season of the anime finally arrived, it quickly led to disappointment and anger. The season made a strange choice with its story, and surprisingly skipped over a popular and beloved part of the manga, the Goldy Pond arc.

Season 2 of The Promised Neverland lost the suspense and captivating atmosphere of the first season. It tried to cover too much of the story too quickly, leading to characters that felt underdeveloped, confusing shifts between plotlines, and awkward explanations. Ultimately, attempting to adapt the remaining manga in a single season resulted in a disappointing anime adaptation that will likely define the series negatively.

No Anime Adaptation Has Done Junji Ito’s Manga Justice

Junji Ito is deservedly considered the master of horror manga. His stories consistently create a deep sense of dread and unease, and his incredibly detailed artwork is genuinely terrifying and memorable. However, this same artistry and storytelling style makes adapting his work to animation extremely difficult – capturing the atmosphere and visuals of the original manga is a huge challenge.

Adapting Junji Ito’s horror manga into anime has consistently been unsuccessful. The first attempt, Gyo: Tokyo Fish Attack by Ufotable, strayed too far from the original story, had awkward animation mixing 2D and 3D, and leaned more towards comedy than genuine horror. The subsequent anthology series, Junji Ito Collection from Studio Deen, stayed closer to the manga’s plots, but still suffered from weak animation, uneven pacing, and a fluctuating tone.

Despite past disappointments, fans were excited about the 2024 anime adaptation of Uzumaki. The initial episode looked promising, but unfortunately, the quality quickly declined, losing the story’s unsettling mood. After being let down repeatedly, many Junji Ito fans have sadly accepted that a truly faithful anime adaptation of his work is unlikely.

Trigun Stargaze Tried & Failed to Do Its Own Thing

Studio Orange’s Trigun isn’t a direct adaptation of the classic manga. Instead, Stampede and Stargaze aim to refresh the series for both new and existing fans, keeping the main themes intact while taking the story in a new direction. The first season, Trigun Stampede, successfully achieves this goal.

Despite some flaws, Stampede offers a fresh take on the Trigun story, focusing on elements that haven’t been seen before. Unfortunately, its sequel, Stargaze, doesn’t live up to the potential of its first season. Trying to be both original and cover the expansive Trigun Maximum storyline in only 12 episodes, Stargaze ultimately falls short, delivering a hurried and unfocused series that loses sight of what made the original so compelling.

The new anime series, Trigun Stargaze, doesn’t capture the depth and complexity of Yasuhiro Nightow’s original Trigun manga, which is considered a classic. It’s especially frustrating because the series started with so much promise. Unfortunately, Trigun Maximum still hasn’t received a truly faithful anime adaptation. The 1998 series ended prematurely because it came out before the manga was complete, and this new version also feels ultimately unsatisfying.

The Tokyo Ghoul Anime Deviated Too Much From the Source Material

The Tokyo Ghoul anime was a big hit at first, even though manga fans had concerns from the start. The adaptation felt hurried and prioritized action over developing the story and characters. However, it successfully brought Tokyo Ghoul to a wider audience and became a defining dark fantasy anime of the mid-2010s. Unfortunately, it didn’t stay the most popular seinen manga adaptation for very long.

Both Tokyo Ghoul and Tokyo Ghoul:re by Sui Ishida are well-known for their compelling characters, dark atmosphere, and effective use of psychological horror. However, the anime’s second season, Tokyo Ghoul Root A, doesn’t capture these qualities. Instead of following the original story, Root A introduces a new, poorly developed plotline where Kaneki joins Aogiri Tree, which quickly makes the story confusing and the characters’ actions illogical.

Later seasons of the anime attempted to follow the original manga more closely, but the initial changes had already created a confusing and inconsistent storyline. To make matters worse, the animation quality declined with each new season. Ultimately, most fans lost interest in the Tokyo Ghoul anime and preferred the manga instead.

Berserk Deserves a Proper Anime Adaptation More Than Any Other Manga

Kentaro Miura’s Berserk is widely considered a landmark achievement in manga, raising the bar for dark fantasy stories. The tale of Guts combines compelling storytelling with deeply moving characters, and Miura’s incredible artwork makes it even more impressive. However, Berserk has unfortunately never had a successful anime adaptation.

The original 1997 anime version of Berserk holds a special place for many fans, but it only covers a small part of the complete story. The Golden Age Arc films from 2012-2013 have the same limitation. While neither adaptation is truly bad, they don’t quite live up to the depth of the manga. However, most fans agree that the 2016 anime series is the weakest adaptation of Berserk.

The 2016 anime of Berserk is best known for its noticeably bad CGI animation, which many viewers found distracting and made it hard to connect with the story. The 3D animation lacked detail and made the characters’ movements appear awkward. While the poor animation drew criticism, it also overshadowed some of the series’ other problems, like its uneven pacing and storytelling issues – though fans still noticed those flaws. Adapting the complex and expansive story of Berserk into anime is a huge undertaking, and fans are left hoping for a better adaptation in the future.

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2026-04-13 01:47