100% agreed, it just sucks that the market doesn't support new and creative anime when they do come out.
Regardless of which 20 you'd pick, there are like 20 slop anime every season that could be cut and that labor could be put into better projects.
VirinaB2026-02-02 01:30
I think there's two sides of this spectrum and I'd prefer some misses over a lack of diversity. I think there's a lack of diversity in Hollywood right now in part due to all of the eggs being put into a few "safe" baskets. As a result, we get bored and don't watch any of it.
Jusenkyo_52026-02-02 01:34
I see where you're coming from, but the industry today is suffering from a lack of diversity already.
There's really no story that gets adapted that doesn't have some positive quality, but there are plenty of great stories that are passed over to produce these 5/10 anime as well. If you've got 50 isekai anime in a year you couldn't cut 10 to adapt Vagabond, Yotsuba, Punpun, etc?
1000-MAT2026-02-02 02:32
Excuse me, but most of those anime you claim are "5/10" have really bad adaptations with poor direction and animation. Do you really want those works to get a bad adaptation?
Aside from that, sometimes the problem isn't that; the author of Vagabond himself said he doesn't want his work adapted. In reality, he abandoned it due to the pressure of writing an incredible story.
1000-MAT2026-02-02 02:26
That depends on what you consider "better projects".
8andahalfby112026-02-02 00:51
>creators are needlessly oversaturating the industry with manga-to-anime adaptations when other mediums carry just as much (and possibly more) creative potential.
He's extolling the fact that he's adapting from a novel for his new film instead of a manga.
Considering how many anime (and many of the manga they're adapted from) are adapted from LNs or full novels, the take is kinda silly to me.
mr_beanoz2026-02-02 00:59
And Camphorwood isn't really something that would gain much reception from traditional anime fans.
Jusenkyo_52026-02-02 01:23
As an artist should you be pursuing viewers or creating something great even if the audience is limited?
I'd rather live in a world where niche, specialty anime is made over 1000 copy-paste anime that reach a wide audience, even if that niche anime isn't to my liking.
8andahalfby112026-02-02 01:34
How do you pay for that though? An anime is a massive undertaking. I only know of a handful that are done by one guy and one or two VAs, which I imagine to be the cheapest option, but these are not easy to do.
Most artists have a patron to foot the bill, but the number of those are finite and even they have something they want that may or may not match the artist's vision.
Jusenkyo_52026-02-02 01:39
Identifying the issue and identifying the solution is a whole different process.
If you could solve this in a commercially viable way you would, but the reality is that TV anime is only really commercialized through licensing and commercials. The "profit" comes from figures, manga sales, music sales, etc which is how you end up with the production committee system.
Films are one way that studios are able to directly turn a profit on anime, but because they reap the majority of the benefit I would imagine it's harder to get the funding for it. There's not really a "simple" solution, but as a viewer I sure would like a better end product and I would hope that most people agree.
1000-MAT2026-02-02 03:13
>If you could solve this in a commercially viable way you would, but the reality is that TV anime is only really commercialized through licensing and commercials. The "profit" comes from figures, manga sales, music sales, etc which is how you end up with the production committee system.
That's completely wrong; currently, the majority of anime's profits come from selling streaming licenses.
>Films are one way that studios are able to directly turn a profit on anime, but because they reap the majority of the benefit I would imagine it's harder to get the funding for it. There's not really a "simple" solution, but as a viewer I sure would like a better end product and I would hope that most people agree.
I don't know where you got that from; to begin with, the article isn't about that. Besides, A-1 isn't an independent studio. Novels are mostly adapted into films because many are single-volume.
Ok_Natural_1022026-02-02 06:00
Talk is cheap, you just want the benefits without the doubts lol
AJDx142026-02-02 08:01
Probably subsidies, then have every single work with even a penny of funding from subsidies open with a quick “Funded by…” message for that subsidy so that viewers vote in favor of continuing that subsidy.
Jusenkyo_52026-02-02 01:14
I think LNs are included in the "lack of diversity" comment. Anime can and should pull from non-otaku sources for adaptations, or better yet originals!
I don't think there are many novel adaptations, there's like maybe one per season at max.
Abysswatcherbel2026-02-02 01:31
Majority would flop, just like originals now
I feel like some people mix the "this is great" with "this is successful"
Jusenkyo_52026-02-02 01:36
I agree, but that doesn't mean I don't want these shows to not be made. Passion projects and artistry is a part of a healthy industry, only producing what's commercially viable is how you eventually get people to stop tuning into anime like they are with Hollywood.
I'm fairly certain Angel's Egg was a commercial flop and Mobile Suit Gundam didn't take off until it's compilation films 5+ years after airing.
Is something like Ikoku Nikki from this season going to be a hit and sell a million copies of the manga or have nendoroids created of the characters? Probably not, but it sure is beautiful and it keeps anime fresh.
mr_beanoz2026-02-02 01:38
Correction, the compilation films were released from 1981, around a year after the series ended
Jusenkyo_52026-02-02 01:42
Really? My memory is failing me, I could have sworn that they came out a lot closer to Zeta.
mr_beanoz2026-02-02 01:51
Zeta was 1985, the compilation movies were released in 1981 to 1982.
Jusenkyo_52026-02-02 01:53
Oh yeah I don't disbelieve you, my memory is just failing me.
Abysswatcherbel2026-02-02 01:48
Those projects are still being made and are going to continue to be made regardless of money
With the exception of ufotable, all the major studios and producers try to keep original shows in the schedule, even MAPPA that people associate with Commercial anime, has at least one original per year
Its not really because the studios are cool like that, it is a way to keep some staff members happy or to build relationships/networking with some people in the industry, thats nothing new
To go against the motion of this whole post, I have to say anime does a good job with this in comparison to other mediums, I am sure people don't have that impression, I can definitely see, since you know...most originals flop, so people might not even know they exist
Jusenkyo_52026-02-02 01:53
I think there's certainly not zero, but I don't think the anime industry has changed for the better if you map it out over the past few decades.
I think of shows like Odd Taxi, Flip Flappers, Rakugo Shinjuu, Look Back, etc. I wouldn't have a life long love of the medium if there weren't shows like this that come out of nowhere (well maybe not Look Back) but that also doesn't mean that I don't think that the industry is suffering under the weight of endless mediocre adaptations right now.
magumanueku2026-02-02 02:38
That's not really anime specific issue. For any medium of entertainment you're bound to get dozens or more bad-to-mediocre ones for every 1 great entry. Movies, games, songs, etc. I don't see why everyone needs to act like anime is especially suffering just because there are many "unoriginal" projects. Not everything has to be great or original, slops sell because whether they admit it or not people like to occasionally consume it.
This season is great. So many epic anime that would've been AOTS any other season. I'm not even just talking about the likes of Frieren, JJK, Jigokuraku or whatever mainstream anime out there. Still, I'd rather watch something simple in the morning when I eat my breakfast. That's why even in this very stacked season I still make time to watch some isekais or whatever people like to call slops. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who's like that. Call it necessary evil if you will.
1000-MAT2026-02-02 03:04
Interestingly, you only commented on manga adaptations and original anime.
Besides, "mediocre" is a matter of taste, What you consider amazing, others may find bad, and vice versa.
Jusenkyo_52026-02-02 03:21
Yes, of course it's a matter of taste.
1000-MAT2026-02-02 02:24
Probably the most popular novel adaptation in recent times is My Happy Marriage, but the problem is that many don't even know it's a novel adaptation.People have a somewhat mistaken idea about novels; the only difference from light novels is the writing style, which, when adapted, is usually completely different and becomes the same thing.
flybypost2026-02-02 06:39
> I have to say anime does a good job with this in comparison to other mediums
I'd rather say the opposite.
Sure if one assumes that movies are only the Hollywood machine then anime feels like it has more diversity and/or artistic value but live action movies, as a medium, are way more than Hollywood/Netflix and there's more independent and weird stuff out there if one only looks for it.
Same for music, books, and music. Those are media where small groups or a single creators can make a whole thing compared to anime/movies/games that tend to need big teams than just a handful of people so "more weird" with more of the creator's voice and fewer commercial considerations is probably to be expected there.
When it comes to anime on its own then that's the rather commercialised part of animation as a whole medium. Looking at it from that angle would probably improve the ratio. But anime is also a subsection of "moving pictures" in general.
1000-MAT2026-02-02 02:07
>I'm fairly certain Angel's Egg was a commercial flop and Mobile Suit Gundam didn't take off until it's compilation films 5+ years after airing.
I think you have the wrong perspective on things; as far as I know, they were successful at the time.
>Is something like Ikoku Nikki from this season going to be a hit and sell a million copies of the manga or have nendoroids created of the characters? Probably not, but it sure is beautiful and it keeps anime fresh.
Well, it's a manga.
[deleted]2026-02-02 02:19
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Jusenkyo_52026-02-02 03:35
My bad
cosmiczar2026-02-02 03:05
Another correction is that Gundam was actually sucessful before the compilation movies. Nobody releases movie versions of outright flops. What happened is that Gundam wasn't selling the toys for little kids that its main sponsors were selling, so they cut the series short, but thanks to word of mouth, specially on anime magazines, teens and young adults started supporting the show later into is run, which wasn't enough to save it for early cancellation, but was enough for the show to receive rebroadcasts almost immediately, and those were insanely successful (no other Gundam show has had better TV ratings than those rebroadcasts), the compilations came after that.
truthfulie2026-02-02 01:39
Hm. I’d be down with non otaku adaptations, maybe even more than originals. Original could easily be just as otaku coded as all the LN, manga adaptations. But realistically, it’s not something I’d expect to see…
Rockstarwithoutplay2026-02-02 01:41
I would kill for an adaptation of "Three days of happiness" and "I have that same dream again"
oops_i_made_a_typi2026-02-02 09:38
> Three days of happiness
holy shit please, a short-ish movie would be perfect
RyouBestGirl2026-02-02 10:41
I'm surprised that Three Days didn't even get live action adaptation.
Resh_IX2026-02-02 01:51
Shin Sekai Yori is the only one I can think of off the top of my head
Jusenkyo_52026-02-02 02:00
If you go back in time you've got the entire World Masterpiece Theater series as well. Some of them are not all that great but there are some gems for sure.
hanr102026-02-02 02:30
If you haven't seen them, the anime adaptations of Tomihiko Morimi's novels are all really good :
[Uchouten Kazoku](https://myanimelist.net/anime/17909/Uchouten_Kazoku) (2 seasons), [The Tatami Galaxy](https://myanimelist.net/anime/7785/Yojouhan_Shinwa_Taikei?q=tatami%20galaxy&cat=anime) and [The Tatami Time Machine Blues](https://myanimelist.net/anime/49590/Yojouhan_Time_Machine_Blues), [The Night is Short Walk on Girl](https://myanimelist.net/anime/34537/Yoru_wa_Mijikashi_Arukeyo_Otome?q=night%20is%20short%20&cat=anime), and [Penguin Highway](https://myanimelist.net/anime/37407/Penguin_Highway?q=Penguin%20HIghway&cat=anime)
It'd be cool if 夜行 was adapted it was really nice too
Resh_IX2026-02-02 02:43
I’ve heard of all of those. I wasn’t aware they were novel adaptations or written by the same author 😮
BosuW2026-02-02 05:13
I think _Shiki_ is a novel too. And _The Fire Hunter_
1000-MAT2026-02-02 02:05
>I think LNs are included in the "lack of diversity" comment. Anime can and should pull from non-otaku sources for adaptations, or better yet originals!
They are still otaku works; there's no such thing as non-otaku works.
>I don't think there are many novel adaptations, there's like maybe one per season at max.
Much less than that, the reason being that many are single-volume.
Genoscythe_2026-02-02 01:23
>adapted from LNs or full novels
Just LNs.
Actual novel adaptations from outside of the otaku LN industry, are even more rare than outright original anime. That's why he is talking about it.
Jusenkyo_52026-02-02 01:30
And the "novel" adaptations are still very often otaku adjacent like Hyouka.
Edit: I am wrong about Hyouka, don't listen to me.
viliml2026-02-02 01:37
Explain how the original Hyouka novel is otaku adjacent. Just because it has high schoolers as its main characters?
Jusenkyo_52026-02-02 01:41
I 100% thought that the character designs were from the novel, not from KyoAni. That one's on me.
mr_beanoz2026-02-02 01:39
Indeed, something like that is rare. Which is why I'm surprised that Totto-chan even got a movie adaptation.
1000-MAT2026-02-02 01:56
Many of the most popular are one-volume works, few are long works like Urasekai Picnic
(Otherside Picnic) and Watashi no Shiawase na Kekkon
(My Happy Marriage)
HikkingOutpit2026-02-02 05:34
And then there's [Yukikaze](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yukikaze_(novel\)) which has been ongoing since **1979** yet has only released 5 novels as of 2025...
biscuitboyisaac212026-02-02 08:42
Wait what. I seriously never realized Otherside picnic wasn’t a LN. Even though it’s one of my favorite novels I somehow missed that. Too bad the anime flopped though. At least my happy marriage is fairly successful so it’s not like all novel adaptations flop
nsleep2026-02-02 11:35
I'll take more things like Madogiwa no Totto-chan too. That movie was fantastic and it's based on a book.
sevgonlernassau2026-02-02 01:59
It’s not a silly take because novel adapting to anime is rare. I think it’s silly because novels still get adaptations, they’re just usually live action. Keigo Higashino received many live action adaptations.
Welpe2026-02-02 04:24
It’s downright hilarious. “People should do what I did and adapt…generic video game power fantasies! Anime doesn’t have enough of those!”
Reznor_PT2026-02-02 00:54
I'm actually quite worried that the industry is shifting towards "event" style cinema rather than investing in new IPs. Given how things went with Kimetsu, especially after the precedent set by Mugen Train and especially Infinity Train, you have to wonder how studios could see it any differently than the big Hollywood players do with their big IPs movies.
Jusenkyo_52026-02-02 01:25
Historically a lot of these anime would just have 1000 filler episodes or just never get finished. Ideally you'd have adaptations that fit the source perfectly, but I'd take a big movie over any of the ways big shounen anime used to be produced.
truthfulie2026-02-02 01:42
Probably where a lot of the big budget media is moving toward. Hollywood has been in similar situation for a while now. And fwiw, a lot of the audience treat it like that as well. There are event/spectacle movies you go to theater to see and there is “wait-til-it’s-on-netflix” movies for the audience who do not frequent theater.
Dirty_Dragons2026-02-02 02:01
I really hate the trend of making a movie out of something that should just be a normal episode.
Having to buy a ticket and leave my house to see the end of a series is ridiculous.
fieew2026-02-02 02:32
Its case by case, but personally I don't mind it too much if the source material supports it. Take the new Chainsaw man movie, the Reze arc was perfect for the big screen. Or JJK 0 was also a good call for a movie.
But other series are movies just to make money and don't flow well. As you mentioned Demon Slayer went big and made bank. But I feel the newest movie (infinity castle) was honestly pretty lackluster. It would've worked better as a TV show. There were wayyyyy too many flashbacks and cuts crammed into the movie so the flow and pacing was all over the place for the movie. Having many of these flashbacks and character centric stories presented in a TV format would let the audience catch a break and each episode could have a specific character's story as a focus. But having so many backstories and character motives, alongside all the fights crammed into one sitting made the movie drag on imo.
It was a great thing to go see as an event. But as an actual movie, I think Infinity castle was the weakest part of demon slayer despite having some of the absolute best animation.
Shirobako, quintessential quintuplets,fruits basket prelude, its 100% becoming a trend for anime studios to release parts of the story that feel like extended episodes and these are a few examples imo.
jaesuk972026-02-02 08:03
Making adaptations of existing ips whether its an impassioned adaptation like frieren, spy family, etc or slop like blue lock or opm are a lot more safe than creating an original IP.
As optimistic as I want to be, no amount of purchasing blu rays is going to beat out a cheaply produced light novel adaptation that advertises a LN that costs 50 yen to print and can be sold for 1000.
lunarblues2026-02-02 00:55
Something I've never thought about, does an anime have to come from a manga?
Millenium_Petshop7282026-02-02 00:57
Not at all, LN to anime, web novel to anime, or anime exclusives happen all the time
Envelope_Torture2026-02-02 01:11
I believe most anime these days are sourced from LN. They just happen to also have a manga.
hanr102026-02-02 01:46
No I'm pretty sure the majority are still manga adaptation
I don't have actual numbers at hand but just [looking at the past two seasons on MAL](https://myanimelist.net/anime/season), there are significantly more manga adaptation
1000-MAT2026-02-02 03:29
I tried counting, but I gave up when it went past 30 manga adaptations, which is probably the majority, especially in romcom
Envelope_Torture2026-02-02 10:52
Definitely confirmation bias on my end. Just about everything I watch (mostly slop) is sourced from LNs. Thanks for the correction.
kingmanic2026-02-02 01:17
It's the business model.
A lot of anime is not profitable on its own. The broadcast rights or streaming rights won't be able to pay for the production. The company commissioning it either needs to sell something else (gunpla for Gundam, toys for beyblade, light novels or manga for many other series) or need a finatical base to sell DVDs or needs a large international fanbase to sell to Netflix.
They often use the anime as a promotion for other things. This is why there are so many single seasons of Light novels, because it pushes people to go read the LN to finish the story and is a promo for the LN.
Knee_High_Cat_Beef2026-02-02 01:18
Pretty much all of my favorite animes are originals.
Macross
Symphogear
Gundam
Psychopass
Code Geass
Agarest2026-02-02 01:20
While Gundam 79 is, a lot of the stories in Gundam first appeared in manga or novels.
cosmiczar2026-02-02 01:29
Not really a lot. Outside of The Origin, Thunderbolt, Hathaway, Unicorn and a couple of super small things, everything else (which is dozens of shows) was made directly as anime.
Agarest2026-02-02 01:34
I mean is Char's counterattack "anime original" because the novel was written at the same time as the film?
cosmiczar2026-02-02 03:10
CCA was always planned to be a movie from the beginning, Beltorchika's Children is an alternative scenario for it that was rejected, while Hi-Streamer is well, complicated, but I recommend reading [this](https://zeonic-republic.net/?page_id=12323) to understand how we can't call it the source material
Agarest2026-02-02 04:07
You are really oversimplifying things, CCA was not an anime original film, it was a multimedia venture and to say otherwise is dismissive at best. I don't believe I ever used the words "source material" rather arguing against the narrative that many Gundam works are "anime original."
egoserpentis2026-02-02 01:09
What level of trolling is this? Coming from a shounen slop director...
Jusenkyo_52026-02-02 01:25
Work is work. Not every director gets to produce their passion project, some times you just need to take your next job to keep moving.
1000-MAT2026-02-02 01:47
He's making a film about a tree; if I'm not mistaken, the novel won some kind of award.
It's worth mentioning that he's an excellent director.
Dog_in_human_costume2026-02-02 01:24
They adapt what sells and the Mangas they want to promote.
They dont care for us much
shre32932026-02-02 01:32
A-1 pictures is fcuking well established old ass studio. they don't need to be called of 'solo leveling fame'.
1000-MAT2026-02-02 01:44
The entire title is bait.
qwertyqwerty45672026-02-02 05:10
Clickbait? From my cbr? Absolutely never!
ball_throwerAFK2026-02-02 02:15
He didn’t even make Solo leveling, Nakashige did
But just to be clear, A-1 is actually very proud of their work on Solo leveling, both the producers and director calls themselves the Solo leveling producer/director
1000-MAT2026-02-02 01:44
What a clickbait title, lol
Basically, he's promoting his new movie and saying that anime films need to explore aspects beyond action in anime marketing. and that the film he's directing is a story that connects humans and blah blah blah...
But overall there are films of various genres and themes, so what he's doing is just marketing. I know he's an incredible director, but this marketing doesn't work.
gho5trun3r2026-02-02 02:37
Yeah that title is weird. I was about to throw a "talk about calling the kettle, black" in regards to just what does he think Solo Leveling has been. But the article doesn't even mention Solo Leveling. It's just talking about a completely different IP and that's maybe less traditional than the usual shonen anime.
1000-MAT2026-02-02 02:45
Yes, he didn't even direct Solo Leveling; his last work was a time travel movie, which was cool but flopped because it was in 3DCGI.
FrancMaconXV2026-02-02 08:18
So help me god if I see ANY sort of leveling that isn't strictly done solo I will never forgive the director
^^^ how some studio execs imagine fans
viliml2026-02-02 01:46
I'm baffled at this headline.
He didn't direct Solo Leveling, it's just one of the hundred shows that the studio that he most often works with has made. And sure, the headline is factually correct about that. But... why?
Needless to say, the Japanese interview that they translate doesn't mention Solo Leveling at all. Because it's unrelated.
FetchFrosh2026-02-02 03:44
> But... why?
Because people will see "Solo Leveling" and be more likely to jump in. Hell, probably comes with the added bonus of "Solo Leveling + lack of diversity in new anime" is going to get a response out of people who are sick of power fantasy anime.
BlazeOfGlory722026-02-02 02:05
He's pretty on point. The anime industry these days is incredibly incestuous, only ever referencing itself and only trying to appeal to the same fanbases. I'm always baffled as to why none of these studios try adapting stuff outside outside of the manga/LN pipeline. Like, there are thousands of incredible sci-fi and fantasy books out there that could make incredible anime shows/movies, but instead studios will pump out "My Party Dumped Me So I Started a Harem in a Bakery" or whatever shitslop LN that fell out of the dumpster.
thelastgooberofGolb2026-02-02 02:38
I mean, if the shitslop makes money i don't think they care about the quality of the source material. We can't forget those studios want to make money, not art.
Ironically i think AI could lead to a "Renaissance", today it's too expensive to animate and only studios can afford to, meaning animators and writers create what the execs want no matter how bland as long as the data is telling them it will make money.
But if AI makes it easier to produce the technical aspects of an anime, we could see more independent creators and small animation studios daring more.
Or maybe I'm being too optimistic but damn, i want to be.
youravgindian2026-02-02 09:30
Or they could even adapt good existing IPs like Berserk, Vagabond and other seinen stories that are very rare to get adapted that need good and experienced animators through studio collaborations (for eg: Spy x family is coproduction of Wit and CloverWorks). The audience is already waiting for a decent adaptation of Berserk, not even S tier. A decent adaptation will make bank. There are many, many manga alone that can be adapted if they get enough resources, time and creative control over short-term profits and random corporate bureaucracy.
God knows how many stories that already exist need good adaptations. Of course, I agree with your point as well.
Kadmos12026-02-02 02:19
In terms of more original anime, being a fan of rare and obscure dog breeds, having at least 1 slice of life anime of a boy/girl and his/her \[name of rare breed\] would be nice. Heck, an anime about a Karafuto Ken/Sakhalin Husky would be nice. That breed is so rare that they are either extinct or close to it.
Kadmos12026-02-02 02:28
It would be interesting to see more anime get co-directed/directed by the writer of the source material. Heck, the original "Astro Boy" anime saw Osamu Tezuka do that.
Acrobatic_Egg302026-02-02 02:32
The only Solo Leveling post in recent times this sub upvotes, lol.
KanyeBetOnTrump2026-02-02 03:01
Seems light light novels give the best adaptations. Maybe it’s because they are so detailed you have a lot to build on.
YoloJoloHobo2026-02-02 04:22
Do they? I feel like most LN anime fall short of their source material. Lots of content ends up getting cut and rushed and the stories always feel like a downgraded version of the original.
KanyeBetOnTrump2026-02-02 04:41
I think that depends on what studio grabs them and their goal. The boom in anime will bring people seeking quick profit and clueless companies will give their material without understanding how badly it can hurt their brand. You have to remember we aren’t far from when anime was considered a loss if made into a movie.
redwingz112026-02-02 05:26
isnt text to movie notoriously hard, its polar opposite mediums. theres also 1 thing that doesnt translate, inner monologue.
MMORPGnews2026-02-02 11:48
Not really, it's rare to find a detailed novel.
nezeta2026-02-02 03:21
When the anime director claims the industry needs more diversity, not just manga-based works, I expect he means original, lessor-known works or foreign literature that anime usually doesn't cover, but what he cites is his own film that is based on a novel by Keigo Higashino, a very popular writer.
Of course, his would be still different from typical Shonen or Isekai, but calling it "diversity" feels a bit exaggerated to me.
Controller_Maniac2026-02-02 04:02
Hot Take, but there should be more anime movies of novels rather than just only LN, famous Japanese novels by writers such as Haruki Murakami novels (there are some french animations I know), or Jun Ikeido with a anime movie adaptation of Rikuo or Downtown Rocket will be nice
zenithfury2026-02-02 04:28
Sadly the problems behind the scenes for anime is about the same as TV and big budget movies. Investors don't want to gamble if they can help it, so they look for source material that are already hits before they will fund the anime adaptation. I'm sure that this leaves directors and writers less likely to make original series and films. I don't think that directors have as much pull in the anime industry as they might in Hollywood. Successful Hollywood directors seem to make deals with their companies where for example, for every 3 big films that they share inputs they're allowed to do 1 where they have complete creative control.
Embarrassed-Part-8902026-02-02 04:36
Sorry but no one wants to pay to go to sleep
noobicus092026-02-02 06:16
Remove the movie part and the title is more accurate
SecureMeat89282026-02-02 06:41
Keichii hara will always be my favourite anime director! Colorful and his other movies really leave such a profound impact on you!
silvertwo7772026-02-02 06:57
Man the Solo Leveling hate is so weird on reddit. Dude said something that people would normally agree, but because it's the director of Solo Leveling who said it people want to disagree and somehow find ways to shit on the anime. Like wtf
ChampionshipIll61712026-02-02 10:01
What’s your take on this? More diversity, or stick with what sells?
Drudwas2026-02-02 11:37
This is just marketing. There have been a loads of film originals or book adaptations so far just since 2020:
BOOK ADAPTATIONS:
* Dive in Wonderland
* Toritsukare Otoko
* Whoever Steals This Book
* Ganbatte Ikimasshoi
* Madogiwa no Totto-chan
* Lonely Castle in the Mirror
* Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko
* Inu-Oh
* Misaki no Mayoiga
* The Deer King
* Josee, the Tiger and the Fish
ORIGINALS
* Meikyuu no Shiori
* ChaO
* Housenka
* The Mononoke movies 1+2
* Mumei no Jinsei
* Scarlet
* Tamala 2030: A Punk Cat in Dark
* Fureru
* Kimi no Iro
* My Oni Girl
* Maboroshi
* The Boy and the Heron
* Bubble
* Drifting Home
* Goodbye, Don Glees!
* Belle
* Child of Kamiari Month
* Sing a Bit of Harmony
* A Whisker Away
* Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop
Commentaires
Regardless of which 20 you'd pick, there are like 20 slop anime every season that could be cut and that labor could be put into better projects.
There's really no story that gets adapted that doesn't have some positive quality, but there are plenty of great stories that are passed over to produce these 5/10 anime as well. If you've got 50 isekai anime in a year you couldn't cut 10 to adapt Vagabond, Yotsuba, Punpun, etc?
Aside from that, sometimes the problem isn't that; the author of Vagabond himself said he doesn't want his work adapted. In reality, he abandoned it due to the pressure of writing an incredible story.
He's extolling the fact that he's adapting from a novel for his new film instead of a manga.
Considering how many anime (and many of the manga they're adapted from) are adapted from LNs or full novels, the take is kinda silly to me.
I'd rather live in a world where niche, specialty anime is made over 1000 copy-paste anime that reach a wide audience, even if that niche anime isn't to my liking.
Most artists have a patron to foot the bill, but the number of those are finite and even they have something they want that may or may not match the artist's vision.
If you could solve this in a commercially viable way you would, but the reality is that TV anime is only really commercialized through licensing and commercials. The "profit" comes from figures, manga sales, music sales, etc which is how you end up with the production committee system.
Films are one way that studios are able to directly turn a profit on anime, but because they reap the majority of the benefit I would imagine it's harder to get the funding for it. There's not really a "simple" solution, but as a viewer I sure would like a better end product and I would hope that most people agree.
That's completely wrong; currently, the majority of anime's profits come from selling streaming licenses.
>Films are one way that studios are able to directly turn a profit on anime, but because they reap the majority of the benefit I would imagine it's harder to get the funding for it. There's not really a "simple" solution, but as a viewer I sure would like a better end product and I would hope that most people agree.
I don't know where you got that from; to begin with, the article isn't about that. Besides, A-1 isn't an independent studio. Novels are mostly adapted into films because many are single-volume.
I don't think there are many novel adaptations, there's like maybe one per season at max.
I feel like some people mix the "this is great" with "this is successful"
I'm fairly certain Angel's Egg was a commercial flop and Mobile Suit Gundam didn't take off until it's compilation films 5+ years after airing.
Is something like Ikoku Nikki from this season going to be a hit and sell a million copies of the manga or have nendoroids created of the characters? Probably not, but it sure is beautiful and it keeps anime fresh.
With the exception of ufotable, all the major studios and producers try to keep original shows in the schedule, even MAPPA that people associate with Commercial anime, has at least one original per year
Its not really because the studios are cool like that, it is a way to keep some staff members happy or to build relationships/networking with some people in the industry, thats nothing new
To go against the motion of this whole post, I have to say anime does a good job with this in comparison to other mediums, I am sure people don't have that impression, I can definitely see, since you know...most originals flop, so people might not even know they exist
I think of shows like Odd Taxi, Flip Flappers, Rakugo Shinjuu, Look Back, etc. I wouldn't have a life long love of the medium if there weren't shows like this that come out of nowhere (well maybe not Look Back) but that also doesn't mean that I don't think that the industry is suffering under the weight of endless mediocre adaptations right now.
This season is great. So many epic anime that would've been AOTS any other season. I'm not even just talking about the likes of Frieren, JJK, Jigokuraku or whatever mainstream anime out there. Still, I'd rather watch something simple in the morning when I eat my breakfast. That's why even in this very stacked season I still make time to watch some isekais or whatever people like to call slops. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who's like that. Call it necessary evil if you will.
Besides, "mediocre" is a matter of taste, What you consider amazing, others may find bad, and vice versa.
I'd rather say the opposite.
Sure if one assumes that movies are only the Hollywood machine then anime feels like it has more diversity and/or artistic value but live action movies, as a medium, are way more than Hollywood/Netflix and there's more independent and weird stuff out there if one only looks for it.
Same for music, books, and music. Those are media where small groups or a single creators can make a whole thing compared to anime/movies/games that tend to need big teams than just a handful of people so "more weird" with more of the creator's voice and fewer commercial considerations is probably to be expected there.
When it comes to anime on its own then that's the rather commercialised part of animation as a whole medium. Looking at it from that angle would probably improve the ratio. But anime is also a subsection of "moving pictures" in general.
I think you have the wrong perspective on things; as far as I know, they were successful at the time.
>Is something like Ikoku Nikki from this season going to be a hit and sell a million copies of the manga or have nendoroids created of the characters? Probably not, but it sure is beautiful and it keeps anime fresh.
Well, it's a manga.
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holy shit please, a short-ish movie would be perfect
[Uchouten Kazoku](https://myanimelist.net/anime/17909/Uchouten_Kazoku) (2 seasons), [The Tatami Galaxy](https://myanimelist.net/anime/7785/Yojouhan_Shinwa_Taikei?q=tatami%20galaxy&cat=anime) and [The Tatami Time Machine Blues](https://myanimelist.net/anime/49590/Yojouhan_Time_Machine_Blues), [The Night is Short Walk on Girl](https://myanimelist.net/anime/34537/Yoru_wa_Mijikashi_Arukeyo_Otome?q=night%20is%20short%20&cat=anime), and [Penguin Highway](https://myanimelist.net/anime/37407/Penguin_Highway?q=Penguin%20HIghway&cat=anime)
It'd be cool if 夜行 was adapted it was really nice too
They are still otaku works; there's no such thing as non-otaku works.
>I don't think there are many novel adaptations, there's like maybe one per season at max.
Much less than that, the reason being that many are single-volume.
Just LNs.
Actual novel adaptations from outside of the otaku LN industry, are even more rare than outright original anime. That's why he is talking about it.
Edit: I am wrong about Hyouka, don't listen to me.
(Otherside Picnic) and Watashi no Shiawase na Kekkon
(My Happy Marriage)
Having to buy a ticket and leave my house to see the end of a series is ridiculous.
But other series are movies just to make money and don't flow well. As you mentioned Demon Slayer went big and made bank. But I feel the newest movie (infinity castle) was honestly pretty lackluster. It would've worked better as a TV show. There were wayyyyy too many flashbacks and cuts crammed into the movie so the flow and pacing was all over the place for the movie. Having many of these flashbacks and character centric stories presented in a TV format would let the audience catch a break and each episode could have a specific character's story as a focus. But having so many backstories and character motives, alongside all the fights crammed into one sitting made the movie drag on imo.
It was a great thing to go see as an event. But as an actual movie, I think Infinity castle was the weakest part of demon slayer despite having some of the absolute best animation.
Shirobako, quintessential quintuplets,fruits basket prelude, its 100% becoming a trend for anime studios to release parts of the story that feel like extended episodes and these are a few examples imo.
As optimistic as I want to be, no amount of purchasing blu rays is going to beat out a cheaply produced light novel adaptation that advertises a LN that costs 50 yen to print and can be sold for 1000.
I don't have actual numbers at hand but just [looking at the past two seasons on MAL](https://myanimelist.net/anime/season), there are significantly more manga adaptation
A lot of anime is not profitable on its own. The broadcast rights or streaming rights won't be able to pay for the production. The company commissioning it either needs to sell something else (gunpla for Gundam, toys for beyblade, light novels or manga for many other series) or need a finatical base to sell DVDs or needs a large international fanbase to sell to Netflix.
They often use the anime as a promotion for other things. This is why there are so many single seasons of Light novels, because it pushes people to go read the LN to finish the story and is a promo for the LN.
Macross
Symphogear
Gundam
Psychopass
Code Geass
It's worth mentioning that he's an excellent director.
They dont care for us much
But just to be clear, A-1 is actually very proud of their work on Solo leveling, both the producers and director calls themselves the Solo leveling producer/director
Basically, he's promoting his new movie and saying that anime films need to explore aspects beyond action in anime marketing. and that the film he's directing is a story that connects humans and blah blah blah...
But overall there are films of various genres and themes, so what he's doing is just marketing. I know he's an incredible director, but this marketing doesn't work.
^^^ how some studio execs imagine fans
He didn't direct Solo Leveling, it's just one of the hundred shows that the studio that he most often works with has made. And sure, the headline is factually correct about that. But... why?
Needless to say, the Japanese interview that they translate doesn't mention Solo Leveling at all. Because it's unrelated.
Because people will see "Solo Leveling" and be more likely to jump in. Hell, probably comes with the added bonus of "Solo Leveling + lack of diversity in new anime" is going to get a response out of people who are sick of power fantasy anime.
Ironically i think AI could lead to a "Renaissance", today it's too expensive to animate and only studios can afford to, meaning animators and writers create what the execs want no matter how bland as long as the data is telling them it will make money.
But if AI makes it easier to produce the technical aspects of an anime, we could see more independent creators and small animation studios daring more.
Or maybe I'm being too optimistic but damn, i want to be.
God knows how many stories that already exist need good adaptations. Of course, I agree with your point as well.
Of course, his would be still different from typical Shonen or Isekai, but calling it "diversity" feels a bit exaggerated to me.
BOOK ADAPTATIONS:
* Dive in Wonderland
* Toritsukare Otoko
* Whoever Steals This Book
* Ganbatte Ikimasshoi
* Madogiwa no Totto-chan
* Lonely Castle in the Mirror
* Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko
* Inu-Oh
* Misaki no Mayoiga
* The Deer King
* Josee, the Tiger and the Fish
ORIGINALS
* Meikyuu no Shiori
* ChaO
* Housenka
* The Mononoke movies 1+2
* Mumei no Jinsei
* Scarlet
* Tamala 2030: A Punk Cat in Dark
* Fureru
* Kimi no Iro
* My Oni Girl
* Maboroshi
* The Boy and the Heron
* Bubble
* Drifting Home
* Goodbye, Don Glees!
* Belle
* Child of Kamiari Month
* Sing a Bit of Harmony
* A Whisker Away
* Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop
Even 99.9%.
Yes, I read a lot of them.