Manga that never became an Anime

Art is subjective, and as such you could theoretically ask 100 people what their favourite song/painting/book/film etc. is and get 100 different answers. Being art forms themselves, the same can be said of anime and manga. One of the things that make them so enjoyable as art forms though, is the way they interact: manga, especially popular manga, is often adapted into an anime, giving fans the opportunity to watch their favourite characters and screen brought to life in full-blown, animated glory.

Now, several things affect whether a manga is adapted into an anime: a suitably large fan base is a positive, the reputation and connections of the mangaka, merchandising possibilities, current market mood, potential controversies, the pacing of the story arcs … all these things can affect the chances of a series moving from the page to the screen. How each of these things is perceived in relation to the series is then of course affected to different degrees by the subjective view of those in charge of the decisions as to which series get adapted.

The result of this is that you will likely find at least one manga series that you would absolutely love to see get the anime treatment, but it just doesn’t. But which series fit this for you? Perhaps you wanted a full-on Shōnen assault from the time travellers of Psyren? Maybe Masamune Shirow’s Orion tickles your fancy more than a new Appleseed? Does the realistic Yuri world of Octave appeal or do you prefer your romance to have a gender bent Shōjo feel like W Juliet? With a wealth of series out there, you just know that there’s something in your collection that somehow missed the animation boat.

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