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Read Vol. 2-6 of the NHK manga over the last few days.

I don't like the manga as much as the anime, and I think I also prefer the novel. Strangely, the manga is less faithful to the novel than the anime, with needless changes having been made.

The most bothersome deviation is

The other stupid alteration is Misaki's background.

There are also other changes I don't like, such as

Another deviation that springs to mind isn't really a deviation at all: the characters involved weren't even included in the novel. It's just that, while I wasn't impressed with the side-story or characters involved in the anime, the different direction the manga version of the story goes in makes it worse. In the anime version, the brother of one of Satou's school acquaintances recovers fully from his severe problems just because of hunger. That was pretty bad, but the manga takes it further, with the character recovering AND suddenly getting into a relationship with . Seeing the manga version makes me much more fond of Gonzo's efforts.

I have similar feelings about another manga and anime only story: the suicide meeting. The anime combined two similar parts of the manga together, allowing the story to move much faster and making the events much more dramatic. The anime also added some nice scenes after the suicide section was done with, closing off the story with some nice exchanges between the characters involved. In short, it was much better in the anime than in the manga.

My final moan is a simple one: in comparison to both the novel and anime, the manga drags its feet far too much, often leaving me feeling like the story was going in circles. Satou likes masturbation, Misaki struggles at school, everyone has problems...did so many chapters really need to be spent on repeating that? I started to grow tired after awhile.

...I do moan too much sometimes. Although I still think the manga is quite good, it's kind of a let down to find myself feeling that, instead of spending £30 (plus another £10 on the remaining volumes) on the manga, I should've invested in the R1 anime box sets instead. I suppose that's always the risk of buying before trying, though... At least the manga has lovely art.

lol you actually preferred Gonzo's?

and what are these "deviations" you speak of? you do realize the manga came out before Gonzo started their adaptation right? Also, the manga was written by the same author as the novel, so if anything it's the anime that's the deviant here.

misaki looks so bad in the gonzo anime ;_;

When talking about deviations, I thought it was pretty clear I was speaking of changes from the novel? It seems crystal clear to me...

I know the original author wrote the manga story. I also know that the novel came before it and was much shorter and more to the point, while the manga had stories in it that seemed only there to extend the story. Like I said, the manga dragged its feet too much, going around in circles for far too long.

The manga added a ton of side-stories and made needless plot changes. The anime added some of those arcs, combining some together to allow the plot to move faster, and stayed more faithful to the novel. Picking the anime over the manga is an easy choice in my mind, even with the anime having one of the most badly animated episodes ever.

I recently read the novel and loved it. I have only read the second volume of the manga and have not read the anime; I'm not really sure which wersion, if any, I want to explore next. The novel was perfectly bittersweet in its brevity, and I loved the (mostly) realistic portrayals of messed-up behavior and imperfect lives- especially Satou's struggles and Misaki's tragic story. The ending leaves the characters better off, but not by much (especially Satou). Which spin-off is closer to the novel?

I also finished the novel, just yesterday, and also loved it. (It was the first anime-related thing I've actually purchased, whoo for me) I saw the Anime and read part of the Manga before the novel so I noticed some of the changes too. Although, I did love the novel, and the Anime, I'm not entirely certain about the Manga yet, my two favorite story arcs were the suicide, and the Mouse Road/My Way story arc, so it felt kind of odd not having them in there, or even introducing the class rep character at all.