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What anime based on manga/novel but feels like original anime?

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Dec 6, 2025 9:18 PM
#1

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Aug 2016
153
Joker Game.
It is based on novel written by Kouji Yanagi but since the source material is so hard to find, especially the licensed one (outside Japan), it feels like original anime for me.
Dec 6, 2025 9:32 PM
#2

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Apr 2020
3734
Orb: On the Movements of the Earth. I was surprised when I learned that it was an adaptation of a Manga. I would've expected it- considering it's type of story- to at least be a novel format first.
Dec 6, 2025 9:37 PM
#3

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Feb 2016
16106
Crayon Kingdom apparently is based on some kind of book.

その目だれの目?
Dec 6, 2025 9:42 PM
#4

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Jan 2020
1594
Those that purposedly don't follow the manga from the beginning and only taking the setting, like Negima!? (2006), Excel Saga, or Full Moon.

MOKUSHI KUSHIMO SHIMOKU KUMOSHI MOSHIKU SHIKUMO.
Dec 7, 2025 1:45 AM
#5
Offline
Apr 2019
505
«UN-GO»

The anime is heavily adapted into the near future setting.

The original work is the mystery novel series «Meiji Kaika: Ango Torimono-cho» [A Detective Report in Meiji Enlightenment Times—according to Ango] (1950–1952) by SAKAGUCHI Ango (1906–1955, *).
The original is set around 1885.
The character KAISHO Rintaro is modeled after KATSU Kaishuu (1823–1899), a key figure from the late Edo period to the Meiji era, in his days of retirement from public life.

* Some of you might have heard his name in «Bungou to Alchemist» and «Bungou Stray Dogs».
aReviewerDec 7, 2025 10:15 PM
Dec 7, 2025 2:12 AM
#6
Dec 7, 2025 3:57 AM
#7

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Jun 2013
1982
The most “original-feeling” anime tend to be the ones where the source material was fine but nothing special. The studio then took it and built something way better on top of it. K-On!, Bocchi, and honestly most things KyoAni works on end up like that.
Dec 7, 2025 4:57 AM
#8

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May 2018
12648
"feels like original anime?"

If you don't have the information you literally wouldn’t be able to tell which is original and which isn't.
In some cases of obvious tropes from LN and battle/sport shounen or "game mechanics" plot devices you could make an educated guess...and that's it.
Dec 7, 2025 7:52 AM
#9

Offline
Feb 2016
16106
I can think of 2 common trends.

1. The anime fleshes out a story that feels barebones in the manga. CLAMP adaptations often go this route, such as in Cardcaptor Sakura.
2. The anime tosses out the original story and invents its own, with no resemblance to the manga beyond its title and basic premise. Tezuka adaptations often go this route, such as in Black Jack.
その目だれの目?
Dec 13, 2025 5:29 AM
Lucky★supporter

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Mar 2021
2069
Reply to Lucifrost
I can think of 2 common trends.

1. The anime fleshes out a story that feels barebones in the manga. CLAMP adaptations often go this route, such as in Cardcaptor Sakura.
2. The anime tosses out the original story and invents its own, with no resemblance to the manga beyond its title and basic premise. Tezuka adaptations often go this route, such as in Black Jack.
@Lucifrost

Regarding Clamp productions, since Clamp members sometimes handle the screenplay themselves, I believe works like Cardcaptor Sakura and Rayearth were created not only with the basic framework in mind, but also considering character development and future manga developments. Therefore, I think these are “quite special cases” because the same production team handled both the manga and anime beyond the basic framework.

Dec 13, 2025 5:57 AM

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Jul 2021
11567
What does that even feel like?
It's not like I ever read the source material for anything before watching the anime.
*:・゚✧*:・゚✧May the winds of change transform you entirely.*:・゚✧*:・゚✧
Dec 13, 2025 7:31 AM

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Sep 2016
24227
Reply to JaniSIr
What does that even feel like?
It's not like I ever read the source material for anything before watching the anime.
@JaniSIr Original anime have no manga panel frames.
*kappa*
Dec 13, 2025 7:34 AM

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Jul 2021
11567
Reply to Zarutaku
@JaniSIr Original anime have no manga panel frames.
@Zarutaku And how would I know what the manga looks like if I didn't read it?
*:・゚✧*:・゚✧May the winds of change transform you entirely.*:・゚✧*:・゚✧
Dec 13, 2025 7:36 AM

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Sep 2016
24227
Reply to JaniSIr
@Zarutaku And how would I know what the manga looks like if I didn't read it?
@JaniSIr You don't need to know the source manga, you just need the ability to recognize panel frames in general.
*kappa*
Dec 13, 2025 7:37 AM

Offline
Jul 2013
14125
Does it matter if an anime is an original anime or one based on a manga/light novel series? I don't think it matters.
I have approximately 1 terabyte of anime on my computer.
Dec 13, 2025 7:40 AM

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Jul 2021
11567
Reply to Zarutaku
@JaniSIr You don't need to know the source manga, you just need the ability to recognize panel frames in general.
@Zarutaku Is there like some sort of frame compositions that are inherent to manga or what?
Although I did recently make a thread about breathing in Japanese...
*:・゚✧*:・゚✧May the winds of change transform you entirely.*:・゚✧*:・゚✧
Dec 13, 2025 7:46 AM

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Sep 2016
24227
Reply to JaniSIr
@Zarutaku Is there like some sort of frame compositions that are inherent to manga or what?
Although I did recently make a thread about breathing in Japanese...
@JaniSIr Yes, manga-to-anime adaptations are a composition of selected manga panels with transitions in between, but there can also be original frames.

The panels aren't copied 1:1 though, they are redrawn and animated.
ZarutakuDec 13, 2025 8:03 AM
*kappa*
Dec 13, 2025 8:26 AM

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Feb 2025
977
I don't know much about this subject, but that's how Black Lagoon makes me feel.

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