Ask John: Why don’t Anime Adaptations Wait Till The Manga Finishes?

Question:
Why is it that Japanese anime studios begin making anime out of a manga that is not finished and still going on? Whether it is with Berserk, Gantz, and assumingly the new Beck series, I know it will boost the manga artist’s popularity, but the anime is forced to make concessions, whether omitting plots from the manga (no Puck or Skull Knight in Berserk), or creating a new storyline altogether in Gantz. Is this fair to the fans and the manga author when looking at it from a big picture?

Answer:
Actually, the very reason why anime productions are often based on manga series that haven’t concluded yet is because of “the big picture.” The sponsors that pay for the production of these shows do so because they’re interested in the large mainstream market more than the smaller community of hardcore fans of the particular title. There are undeniably certain manga titles that achieve lasting success, and there are manga series that develop a degree of immortality within the fan community. But most manga series will never be more popular among Japanese fans than when they’re current. Considering that anime is, after all, a commercial art, sponsors will naturally prefer that an anime adaptation is created during the peak of the original manga’s popularity. After a manga series ends in Japan, there’s no reason for Japanese consumers to continue paying attention to it because it’s no longer current and no longer developing. So the ideal time to produce an anime adaptation of an existing manga series is while the manga is still continuing and consumers are still interested in it.

By releasing an anime adaptation while its source manga is still current, the two feed off of and support each other. Fans of the manga consume the anime adaptation. Fans of the anime seek out the original manga. But after a manga has concluded, all but its most ardent supporters will have moved on to new series, thus the potential audience interested in the anime adaptation will be smaller. It’s necessary to keep in mind that while animators themselves can probably be counted upon to be fans of the anime and manga art forms, most anime productions are actually paid for by corporate sponsors that aren’t interested in creating an anime just to increase the fame of the original manga creator. Corporate sponsors pay to have anime adaptations made because they’re hoping to capture the attention of the largest possible consumer audience. These anime productions are supposed to appeal to viewers because if they don’t they’re commercial failures. But their purpose is to sell DVDs and merchandise and expose us to product advertising, not create the most beneficial and respectful adaptation of the original source material.

When, as a viewer or consumer, you expect an anime adaptation to be at least slightly different from its manga source, it’s easier to accept and enjoy the anime as an independant production. By economic and practical necessity, not every anime adaptation of an ongoing manga will have a satisfying conclusion, but the positive lies in the fact that after finishing the anime, fans can then move to the manga to continue the story.