In the vast catalogue of anime, what we generally see is a successful manga leads to an anime adaptation in most cases. Simply, manga is the root cause of the production of an anime television series. But, some oddities proves that good anime don’t require any manga or source material.

And to prove it right we’ve collected some of the past anime titles that were produced without any kind of source material in existence. So, in this article, we will take a look at such anime without source material that has a really well-written plot and no link to any manga, manhwa or light novel.

Let’s get started then.

Yuri!!! On Ice

Yuri!!! On Ice is an anime television series about figure skating. The series first aired in 2016 and was produced by MAPPA with original scripts by Mitsurō Kubo. Surprisingly, the anime had no source material and it was an original story.

The series follows the story of a figure skater, Yuri Katsuki who is given a lifetime opportunity to train with his idol, Victor Nikiforov as his coach. As a professional skater himself, Victor guides Yuri to achieve his dream of winning the Grand Prix series.

Clean animation and beautiful art style of Yuri!!! On Ice refreshes the mood of the viewer. The original scriptwriter Mitsurō Kubo has highlighted the yaoi genre and homosexuality in this series as a key point which was later appreciated by the critics.

Gurren Lagann

Gurren Lagann is an adventure & mecha genre anime produced by the same studio that animated Neon Genesis Evangelion and released in 2007 on television.

The storyboard was prepared by the studio and it’s a complete original anime without source material. But, later the series received many light novel and manga adaptations.

Gurren Lagann takes place in a fictional future where Earth is ruled by the Spiral King, Lordgenome, who forces mankind to live in isolated subterranean villages. Two teenagers, Simon and Kamina wish to go to the surface.

Apparently, they use a mecha known as Lagann to reach the surface and start fighting alongside other humans against Lordgenome’s forces, before the decisive battle against their true enemy.

Angel Beats!

Angel Beats! is a short anime series based on the afterlife created by screenplay writer Jun Maeda who is well-known for other original stories like Clannad and Charlotte. It is considered to be one of the saddest anime of all time.

The story of Angel Beats! takes place in the afterlife and focuses on Otonashi, who lost his memories of his life after dying. There he is enrolled in an afterlife school and meets a girl named Yuri who leads a mysterious organization.

Yuri invites him to join her organization “Afterlife Battlefront” to fight against the student council president Kanade Tachibana, a girl known as Angel with supernatural powers. Meanwhile, Otonashi tries to regain his memories gradually unraveling the mysteries of the afterlife.

Takt Op. Destiny

In March 2021, Bandai Namco Arts and DeNA announced the Takt Op. project, which consisted of a mobile game and anime series. Takt Op. Destiny is the anime counterpart of this mix-media project that started serialization in October this year.

The anime is set in a post-apocalyptic America in the year 2047. Animation production of this series is being handled under the collaboration of two renowned studios Madhouse & MAPPA.

One day, a black meteorite fell from the sky which creates a type of monster called D2. These weird monsters start rampaging the cities and bans every source of music, that is the only way weakness of them. But, there are still some young women left who holds the power of music, the “Musicart”. And to lead them there are people known as “Conductor”.

Takt, a Conductor, is partnered with a Musicart named Destiny. Takt yearns for music to be returned to the world, and Destiny wishes to destroy the D2. They aim to travel to New York.

Death Parade

Unlike other anime in this list, Death Parade is neither an anime without source material nor an original anime series. The story of Death Parade spawned from a short film titled “Death Billiards” which was originally produced by Madhouse Studio.

The concept of Death Parade is very simple and it’s based on the afterworld. After death, people are sent to either heaven or hell. A bar named ‘Quendecim’ exists to preside over the judgement whether their soul will be reincarnated or be sent to void.

An arbiter & bartender named Decim judge the people based on the outcome of the result of different games played by them and then send them to their designated place.

Psycho-Pass

Psycho-Pass is a cyberpunk psychological thriller anime produced by Production I.G. The series premiered for the first time in 2012 and from there it turned into one of the best crime suspense anime series.

You would not be aware of this fact but, Psycho-Pass originated from Production I.G.’s interest in making a successor to Mamoru Oshii’s “Ghost in the Shell” and “Patlabor” and as a result, societal and psychological themes of Psycho-Pass were developed.

Many outside works including the books & movies influenced the making of Psycho-Pass over the years. The producers acclaimed the inspiration behind the series came from several live-action films and the most notable being the 1982 American sci-fi film Blade Runner.

The series takes place in the near future when it is possible to instantaneously measure and quantify a person’s state of mind and personality. This information is recorded & processed and is referred to by the term “Psycho-Pass” used to measure an individual’s being. The story centres around the enforcement officer, Shinya Kõgami, who is tasked with managing crime in such a world.

Wonder Egg Priority

One of the latest anime without source material is Wonder Egg Priority. It is an anime original series produced by CloverWorks. The show aired in March 2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic and was very controversial at that time due to delay in production.

The series follows the adventures of a junior high school student Ai Ohto who finds a mysterious “Wonder Egg”. After cracking it open, she is sent to a fantasy world where she meets a girl whom she’s tasked to protect from a group of monsters.

Later on, Ai comes to know that she can revive her friend back to life if she manages to save enough people in this mesmerizing world. In her journey, she meets other people just like her trying to buy Wonder Eggs and protecting the inhabitants inside them.

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Many of you will disagree with the fact that one of the most-watched 90s anime Neon Genesis Evangelion does not have any source material. And, that’s true to some extent as there was already a manga version of this series before its anime release.

But, in reality, the storyline of manga and the anime counterpart differs drastically. The manga was written by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto who was the original character designer of Evangelion. He just worked on the anime to develop the story further. But, originally the anime is a total outcome of Hideaki Anno’s disturbed imagination.

Neon Genesis Evangelion is set fifteen years after the worldwide cataclysm, particularly in the futuristic fortified city of Tokyo-3. Shinji, the main protagonist, is recruited by his father to a shadowy organization ‘Nerv’ to pilot a giant bio-machine mecha named “Evangelion”.

He prepares him for the combat against beings called “Angels”. The series explores the experiences and emotions of Evangelion pilots and members of Nerv as they try to prevent Angels from causing more cataclysms.

Code Geass

Code Geass is one of the best anime of the 2000s and it was a critical hit during its initial release. Well written plot, beautiful character designs and political driven elements were the key points of this series but most importantly, an anime without source material.

That’s kind of shocking but it’s legitimate true. Thanks to the all-female manga artist group, CLAMP who stylised the character designs of Code Geass and helped in the initial days of production to develop the story.

But, originally the story of Code Geass is not driven from any source. The anime came first which later inspired several manga sequels and light novel adaptations.

Code Geass follows the story of a high-school student Lelouch Lamperouge who gets his hand on a supernatural power “Geass” given to him by C.C. Through this power, Lelouch decides to annihilate the Holy Brittanian Empire and begin a new revolution.

Cowboy Bebop

Cowboy Bebop is hailed as one of the most critically acclaimed sci-fi anime series ever made. The show was praised heavily in America for its art style, character design, story and soundtrack.

Shocking, but it’s true! Cowboy Bebop is the finest anime without source material and the credit for this goes to the series director Shinichiro Watanabe. In an interview, he proclaimed that he took inspiration from the crime anime series Lupin III in the making of Cowboy Bebop.

The series is set in the year 2071, and follow the lives of a traveling bounty hunting crew referred to as “Cowboys” in their spaceship called the “Bebop”. Spike Seigel together with his partners, Jet Black, and later Faye Valentine travel across the galaxy looking for the high priced fugitives to bag.

With this, our list of anime without source material comes to an end. We hope you liked it. Let us know in the comments section if we missed any amazing series in this list and mention your favorite anime as well.

And don’t forget to share this article with your fellow otaku friends so that we’ll come up with more exciting anime articles like this one.