Being addicted to a manga or manhwa series is a common thing for a normal weeb and it happens every day. It doesn’t matter what the genre of the manga is, whether it is shonen, seinen, ecchi or romance, you don’t find a reason for getting attached to the series.

It becomes even more exciting when the manga that you love has an anime adaptation or is going to be adapted. There is no limit to your joy and happiness. But, it takes a moment to turn all your hopes into dust when your beloved series turns into a horror.

So, in this article, we will take a look back at the ’10 Worst Anime Adaptations That Ruined The Original Work & Story’.

Let’s get started with this horrifying list.

10. Deadman Wonderland

The show depicts the horrifying world of Deadman Wonderland prison, where vicious murderers compete in a sequence of deathly matches & games for the entertainment of the onlookers.

Ganta, the main character, accused of murdering his peers on a class field trip is sentenced to death row in this cruel jail. Unaware of his surroundings, Ganta decides to prove his innocence and goes through numerous matches tackling every difficult situation one after another.

But, the things didn’t go the same way as it was supposed to be. Rather than thrilling the audience with some great fresh horror scenes, as the manga does, the anime indulged in showing the action sequences in the majority of its scenes which was not according to the original manga.

Moreover, the way Deadman Wonderland ended, it looked like a half baked show with no extra effort put at the end of it making it the worst experience for their readers and the fans.

Read Deadman Wonderland manga from here.

9. Record Of Ragnarok

Record Of Ragnarok is a story about a heavenly battle fought between 13 God’s & 13 Humans which given the name ‘Ragnarok’. The duel between the gods and the humans will decide the fate of human existence.

Last month, Record Of Ragnarok got an anime adaptation produced by Warner Bros. Japan and animated by Studio Graphinica. It was premiered on Netflix globally except in India due to the Lord Shiva controversy.

Fans were expecting a good and well-animated series by Netflix but unfortunately, it didn’t happen. The Record Of Ragnarok anime was a big failure as compared to the manga. In spite of giving us some amazing fight scenes from the manga, Netflix did a great job by giving PowerPoint presentations, slide by slide.

The whole Adam vs Zeus fight got ruined and the level of animation was also not top-notch. It disappointed all the Record Of Ragnarok fans as what they expected, nothing like that happened.

As compared to the anime, Record Of Ragnarok manga is a true masterpiece having some amazing manga panels. The art is top-notch and you should give it a try rather than watching the anime adaptation.

8. God Of Highschool

2020 was the year for webtoons as a bunch of popular manhwas got adapted into anime and God Of Highschool was one of them.

Just like Tower Of God, God Of Highschool was also a popular webtoon gaining a strong fanbase in a very short time. Its animation was also excellent, after all, MAPPA was working on it. God Of Highschool had some great fight sequences, outstanding voice acting and a rocking opening theme song.

But, the one thing that God Of Highschool did wrong was; not following the main storyline.

In the webtoon, the fight between Mori Jin & Ilpyo Park was won by Ilpyo but in the anime, the win was favoured in Mori Jin’s side. From here on the show began to downgrade as every scene after this incident got tangled up.

Moreover, the pacing of the story was also too fast in the anime. They didn’t build up things and it looked like a 100 m relay which turned out to be a disaster for the God Of Highschool franchise.

7. Rosario+Vampire

Rosario+Vampire is an anime series adapted from the manga by Akihisa Ikeda. It is a story about a boy with poor grades, Tsukune Aono, who accidentally enrolls into Yokai Academy. There he encounters a Vampire named Moka Akashiya who is attracted to his blood’s sweet taste.

From here on, Aono’s thrilling journey starts in the school of monsters and demons where he goes through daily fun activities involving some hot girls.

A common complaint about the Rosario+Vampire anime is it being a silly, directionless harem show, spending its energy on fan service instead of advancing the plot.

This would be fine if the original manga was a fan service-based experience but it wasn’t. The manga offers a genuine narrative with finely detailed characters. It delves into the backstories of a main character’s family, something often left out in fantasy anime.

The only thing that made Rosario+Vampire different from other works was missed out in the anime adaptation thus, making it a typical harem show.

Read Rosario+Vampire manga from here.

6. Black Butler

Black Butler is an anime about a 12-year-old orphan kid named Ciel Phantomhive who sets out on a journey to find his parents’ killers. In this mission, a Demonic butler named Sebastian accompanies him.

Black Butler anime has all sorts of things to entertain its fans. But it doesn’t put much effort into following the manga, which many fans find frustrating.

The manga focuses heavily on the character development of Ciel and his drive for revenge against the main culprits behind his parents’ death. Season 1 managed to represent the manga fairly.

But, Black Butler Season 2 went off the track introducing Claude Faustus as the new butler and giving all the spotlight to the handsome butlers rather than showing us the in-depth life of Ciel. Moreover, Season 2 deals with two demons fighting over Ciel’s soul which is far away from the real storyline.

This unnecessary storyline and the sudden introduction of a new butler diverged from the manga’s theme which disappointed the readers of Black Butler.

Try Black Butler manga by yourself to know exactly where the anime went wrong.

5. Yu-Gi-Oh!

Yu-Gi-Oh! is an anime series everyone has watched at least once. It has epic moments, but the vast majority of it feels like an increasingly obvious advertisement for card games – half the audience would never understand how to play it anyway.

The manga was different because it tells a genuine story. Instead of trying to sell merchandise, the manga focuses on the narrative of a reincarnated Egyptian pharaoh and the complexities arising from it.

The anime would be better if it focused more on conveying the story than being a cash grab.

A must-read manga for the gaming geeks who still haven’t experienced it yet.

4. The Promised Neverland

Proclaimed as one of the best anti-shonen anime series, The Promised Neverland is a treat to watch due to its intense moments and unexpected plot twists. Fans loved this show very much but that is the talk before the release of Season 2.

The Promised Neverland Season 2 started airing in January 2021 as the most anticipated anime and the episodes at the beginning of the show proved their worth as well. Unfortunately, that was the case with the first few episodes as the rest of the season was total hell.

Season 2 missed the target by a big margin ruining the entire manga in a single episode. The show looked like a rush cutting out all the necessary character developments. Rather than sticking to the manga, the anime skipped around 100 chapters of the manga, skipping all the major arcs.

Key characters like Sonju were disappearing one after another in Season 2. The return of Norman was way too rushed and the appearance of other characters was changing in an episode like a normal phenomenon.

And the ending of The Promised Neverland, it would be better to not talk about it and all the credit for giving us such a wonderful work goes to, CloverWorks Studio who made TPN the worst anime adaptation of all time.

The manga of TPN is a thousand times better than the anime adaptation. You should check it out.

3. Tower Of God

Tower Of God is a webtoon manhwa written and illustrated by SIU. It is one of the most popular and ongoing manhwa having a huge fanbase. But, the same can’t be said about its anime adaptation.

Tower Of God was the first webtoon to be adapted into an anime with the help of Crunchyroll and Telecom Animation Film. As the show started running, it got lots of positive reviews from the fans. But, after just 12 episodes, Tower Of God wrapped up its Season 1.

Now, you will think what’s wrong with the anime adaptation then? Well, you’re kind of right.

But, an anime adaptation is not just about a good animation quality or direction, it is more about what message are you giving through the anime to its readers and the new fans. And that’s the spot where Tower Of God anime messed up.

Season 1 got only 12 episodes which are quite less, considering the world-building in Tower Of God. Even after a year, there is no news about its Season 2, keeping in mind that there are almost 400+ chapters are available for being adapted.

This confused its new audience and rather than keep attached to the show, they decided to give up. Now, there is not a single talk about the Tower Of God, even after having a great story. That’s what makes it the worst anime adaptation.

Tower of God is available on Amazon Kindle. So, if you want you can read it from there. For sure, it will not disappoint you.

2. Tokyo Ghoul

Tokyo Ghoul, the anime that gave us the peaceful opening song like ‘Unravel’, was the best anime in terms of diving deep into the characters’ minds and revolving the story around its side characters as compared to the protagonist.

Tokyo Ghoul was a huge success after its first season and it garnered a lot of praise from its fans. But, the show began to down rail from Season 2 titled ‘Tokyo Ghoul √A’.

Instead of having Kaneki continue to fight against Aogiri Tree, the anime has him join them which was a drastic change as compared to the manga. Apart from this, a lot of small plot changes were also made in the anime which proven to be wrong as it completely changed the tone of the series making it difficult for fans to understand exactly what’s going on.

And after this Season 3&4 of Tokyo Ghoul seemed pointless as there was no clue about the story and the events that were happening. The creators of the show, after Season 1, just focused on improving the fight sequences rather than providing the reason behind them.

For the anime only’s, Tokyo Ghoul became a confusing show and for the manga readers, it became a complete blunder as what they wanted to see being animated was nowhere to be found in the anime.

Read Tokyo Ghoul Volume 1 from here.

1. Berserk

Berserk is a legendary manga having some of the finest manga panels, story and art. It is a top-tier manga, written by the late Kentaro Miura, which is appreciated by every anime or manga lover.

The story of Berserk is a little bit complex taking readers through its protagonists’ entire life and diving deep into his mind to look out for the real world sufferings. That’s the essence of Berserk which makes it special.

The same was expected from its anime and the first anime adaptation (1997) was largely acceptable by its fans, but the 2016 sequel showed the limit of an anime adaptation being awful.

The 2016 sequel was nothing less than a nightmare for the Berserk fans as it ruined the impression of the iconic manga. The use of CGI in the anime turned out to be a deadly move as it failed to blend nicely with the rest of the artwork making characters movements appear unnatural and creepy.

Adding more to it, the sequel skipped huge chunks of the original story creating confusion among the viewers who were unfamiliar with the series. Berserk turned out to be the worst anime adaptation that no one wants to happen again.

Add the classic manga to your collection. Volume 1of Berserk is on sale!

With this, our list of 10 Worst Anime Adaptations come to an end. Hoping that you liked it, if not then tell me in the comments section the anime you think of to be listed here.

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