Otaku Magazine ISSUE #2 March 2014

◄What To Read◄

◄What To Read◄

  We all know how it is sometimes. You'll go online, read this really great manga, then find out it's got an anime adaptation. Excited to see your favourite scenes animated in full, two-dimensional colour, you'll head straight to Crunchyroll and get in with the very first episode.

  The next part is somewhat strange. This is your manga, the manga that you loved more than the packet of Doritos that has somehow made its way into your carpet. However, when you start watching it in what should be its full glory, you can't help but feel disappointed. Why has your favourite strong, independent female been turned into a blubbering wreck? What are these Monsters of the Week and why are there so many of them? For Christ's sake, this isn't the same thing you read at all! You begin to wonder why anyone would watch the anime version. Compared to the manga, this is a flaming bag of turds!

  On the other hand, you might have been there with the anime from the very beginning. You might not be a person who reads manga at all. You don't understand why everyone is telling you to read the manga or why everyone is being so mean about your favourite show! You're angry, frustrated, hurt that nobody seems to just watch the anime any more. Irritated beyond belief, you turn to the manga to prove them wrong. Sadly, the only thing you end up finding out was that they were right all along.

  A good anime adaptation, as I've often said in the past, should add to a manga rather than take away from it. There's nothing better than seeing your favourite fights in glorious technicolour, watching your favourite characters kiss for the first time or finally getting into the backstory of your favourite side character. Sometimes, manga can even work better as an anime. Sadly, this is often not the case.

  Well, never fear, fellow otaku! As your guide to the universe (or something like that), I will be taking you through three different and equally fun manga whose anime adaptations are definitely best avoided. This way, you can get to the brilliance that is the manga without having to sit through 39267483 random episodes of some dude getting killed by the all-powerful main character. If you want to thank me for this advice, I accept payments in the form of what I like to call 'posh tea'. Ahem. Anyway. On with the show, on with the show...

 

 

Sailor Moon

  Ah. Sailor Moon. I have a feeling that I might get in trouble for this one. However, I think that you guys need to hear me out. Why? Well, let's just say that I rewatched Sailor Moon very recently and I didn't even make it halfway through the first series. No, honestly. I didn't. The manga, on the other hand...well, let's just say that I made it an awful lot further than that.

  Now, given that I'm very much a child of the nineties, the fact that this anime has taken the top spot on the list may surprise you. I mean, this anime is one of the very few that I didn't have to stay up to watch back in the days of old Toonami. As much as I generally preferred Dragonball Z, Sailor Moon was always there for me when I felt like something a bit more pink and sparkly. Nonetheless, after finally getting around to reading the manga, I finally began to see what those people on the internet were ranting on about.

  The anime of Sailor Moon, as fun as it is, doesn't even hold a candle to the original manga.

  I can see you there now, staring at the screen, eyes wide like golf balls. Or something like that. However, I'm going to repeat myself. The Sailor Moon manga is vastly superior to the anime in just about every conceivable way. I'm not joking. Honestly. You want to know why? Here's why: