10 Incredible Manga That Will Never Get An Anime (& Why)

Ideally, every great manga should get an anime at some point, but there are some great manga out there that will likely never get an anime, and for good reasons. While it’s often the case that a critically and financially successful manga will receive an anime at some point, sometimes this never happens, because the series was only critically successful and not financially, or because the subject matter of the series, or even simply its aesthetic, wouldn’t work as anime unless a studio was willing to put in an extreme amount of effort.

10 Yotsuba&! (2003)

Written & illustrated by Kiyohiko Azuma

Yotsuba&! is undoubtedly one of the most unique manga ever created. Yotsuba&! is a lighthearted slice-of-life manga with most chapters just being about the cast’s mundane lives, and according to an anime news network interview with series creator Kiyohiko Azuma, that style of writing is too hard to translate into animation.

Azuma said that in 2008, however, and since then, there have been many slice-of-life anime where very little happens, so Yotsuba&! could still get an anime. Still, nothing has been said about a Yotsuba&! anime since then, so it’s safe to assume that it’s still being treated as another manga that will never receive an anime.

9 Psyren Earned More Popularity Abroad Than in Japan

Written & illustrated by Toshiaki Iwashiro

Psyren was fairly popular among readers during the late 2000s and early 2010s for stellar art and engaging sci-fi story, but a lot of its popularity came from Western readers.

In Japan, while Psyren started out as a moderate success, it quickly plummeted in sales and Weekly Shonen Jump rankings until it was unceremoniously canceled in 2011. As such, executives might well see Psyren as nothing more than a financial failure, so it’s unlikely for any anime studio to see any merit in giving it an anime.

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8 All You Need Is Kill Might Be Doomed By Its Hollywood Adaptation

Based on the light novel by Hiroshi Sakurazaka, written by Ryosuke Takeuchi & illustrated by Takeshi Obata

Hiroshi Sakurazaka’s All You Need Is Kill has a very notable franchise: in addition to a graphic novel by Nick Mamatas and a manga adaptation by Death Note artist Takeshi Obata, it even received a live-action adaptation in Edge of Tomorrow.

Unfortunately, Edge of Tomorrow was met with mixed critical reception and an underwhelming $370.5 million box office according to Box Office Mojo, and that’s caused a proposed sequel to essentially become dead in the water. Edge of Tomorrow’s lack of success suggests that there isn’t enough interest in All You Need Is Kill to keep its franchise going, and as such, it will likely never get an anime.

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7 Boy’s Abyss (2020)

Written & illustrated by Ryo Minenami

Another manga that’s unlikely to receive an anime is Ryo Minenami’s Boy’s Abyss, an engaging drama with great art and character work, but revolving around highly sensitive topics like depression and suicide, and often featuring very graphic and explicit sex scenes.

While there’s nothing wrong with a story having those sorts of elements, it makes Boys Abyss’subject matter too dark for what’s usually shown in anime, and with how much censorship it would have to be met with, it’s unlikely that any anime studio would want to try their hand at it.

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6 Animal Land (2009)

Written & illustrated by Makoto Raiku

Animal Land was the second major series by Zatch Bell!’s Makoto Raiku, and it’s another manga that’s unlikely to get an anime. Animal Land took Raiku’s penchant for dark imagery and heavy themes to greater heights than anything he did in Zatch Bell!, and it was a critical success that even managed to win the 37th Kodansha Manga Award for Best Children’s Manga.

Unfortunately, Animal Land struggled to find financial success for most of its run, so despite being one of the flagship manga of Bessatsu Shonen Magazine, it hasn’t received an anime in the near decade since it ended, and it’s unlikely to receive one any time soon.

5 Pokémon Adventures (1997)

Written by Hidenori Kusaka & illustrated by Mato and Satoshi Yamamoto

Pokémon Adventures has received praise for decades for being more serious and mature than other Pokémon media, but it’s still unlikely to ever receive an anime. Every arc is based on whatever the most recent game is, so there’s notable inconsistency with its lore and the mechanics of the larger Pokémon franchise.

That’s not an issue for the episodic games and original anime, but for a story-driven manga like Pokémon Adventures, an anime would have to give early arcs major rewrites to be consistent with later arcs and the overall franchise. With that much work required, combined with how successful the main Pokémon anime is, the chances of Pokémon Adventures receiving an anime are very slim.

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4 Rosen Garten Saga (2020)

Written by Sakimori Fuji & illustrated by Tonooka Bakotsu

While Rosen Garten Saga is a fairly new manga, right off the bat it presents itself in a way that makes it impossible to ever see it being animated. Rosen Garten Saga has a rich and engaging story with unique interpretations of historical and mythical figures, and its art and fight choreography rank among the best of any action manga published in the past few years.

Unfortunately, nearly every chapter of Rosen Garten is filled with excessive amounts of nudity, gross perversions, and even black comedy, and it’s often even incorporated into the fighting. Rosen Garten Saga would be a censorship nightmare, so there’s little chance of it ever receiving an anime.

3 Real (1999)

Written & illustrated by Takehiko Inoue

Real is the second basketball manga by Slam Dunk’s Takehiko Inoue, but it’s a completely different story. With Real being a seinen manga, it explores the world of basketball in a more serious way than Slam Dunk, often showing just how much of a physical and mental toll sports can have on a person, and it even centers heavily on the realities of living with disability.

It’s not anywhere near as heavy as some other manga, but Real still ends up being a hard story to sell, and with Slam Dunk still a major franchise, it’s easy to see Real as not needing an anime.

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2 Vagabond (1998)

Written & illustrated by Takehiko Inoue

Vagabond is another manga by Takehiko Inoue, and it’s another one that’s unlikely to ever receive an anime. Vagabond tells the fictionalized story of ronin Musashi Miyamoto, and it features gorgeous art and incredible storytelling that very few manga can match, but the former works against it because the art is so good that it’s hard to ever see an anime being able to replicate it.

Even if it was possible, Vagabond has a highly inconsistent release schedule, the last chapter having been published eight years ago at the time of writing, so it’s impossible for an anime to tell a complete story. Things might change if Vagabond ever came off of hiatus.

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Related

10 Seinen With The Best Manga Art

Seinen manga have some of the best artwork in comics, but which series have the best?

1 Goodnight Punpun (2007)

Written & illustrated by Inio Asano

While Goodnight Punpun is one of the best seinen manga and is arguably Inio Asano’s most famous work, it’s hard to see it ever getting an anime. Goodnight Punpun features explicit sex scenes and incredibly dark and heavy themes, but the bigger issue is probably with its art.

Part of the story’s visual aesthetic stems from Punpun’s depiction as a cartoonish bird contrasted with the more realistic art of the rest of the world, and that sort of contrast could be hard to pull off appealingly even in live-action. As such, there’s just too much working against Goodnight Punpun for it to receive an anime any time soon. All of this makes Goodnight Punpun the best manga that will probably never see an anime adaptation.

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