When I decided to start watching anime I had no intention of “taking up” manga as well. The animated medium was a big factor, because there really didn’t seem to be a Western equivalent in the medium of animation. Imagine my surprise at discovering that animation was cohabiting with comic books.

I have a few Western comics/graphic novels (hmph), which includes some stuff I really like a great deal (like David Boring), and rather more stuff that never really lived up to my expectations. Comics are quick to read and relatively expensive (when there’s so much art and entertainment, its easy to allocate time based on mundane factors). I’ll give a really well recommended comic a shot from time to time, but I never really got into the hobby.

I got into anime, partly because it seemed so distinctive, partly because I… er, I like my pictures to move, and talk. The thing is that when I get into a particular work, a particular world, the existence of alternative versions begins to prey on my mind. When the anime and the manga are made by the same people there’s a natural feeling to explore the different (and legitimate) versions of the story.

Naturally this prompts a bunch of comparisons. Because so many anime are manga adaptations the manga fans are understandably concerned about the mangling of their favourites in the transition between very different mediums. From the other angle (as covered by bateszi) the anime viewer may wish that more stuff was actually designed for the screen, not transferred from manga by a corporate studio.

In general the issue is over manga to anime adaptation. FLCL went the other way round, starting off as anime. I’m currently 1/2 way through the FLCL manga, having finished volume 1 – following which I put the manga on hiatus. I feel bad about that, I should really give it a shot and at least finish the story. But it was a bit of a let down, so I keep putting it off.

FLCL is a short anime, and a short (shorter?) manga (vol1 covers just about 2 of the 6 episodes). My main problem with it came from the fact that it didn’t contain many of the excellent things present in the original. It isn’t a straight imitation, which means it has new bits and new ideas, some extremely worthwhile (see amateurish photograph). Essentially it’s a rethink of FLCL, not a straight adaptation.

The manga presents a shorter version, in which the storyline is more continuous – rather than being divided into self-contained episodes, it’s a series of extremely brief chapters. Its art style is less colourful (on account of the lack of colour) and more sketchy – a freestyle, loose-lined version. Likewise the kicking soundtrack isn’t on offer here, it gave the anime a poppy drive and verve, the manga is rougher and abrasively paranormal. It’s more disorienting, and less dynamic.

Essentially the pace of the manga is different. The rapidfire confusion, when deployed on the page, makes FLCL a slowish read – where it was once desperately breakneck. I think a lot of people running the anime/manga divide find the manga to be more thorough, more detailed. This can make it better to linger over, and interesting to look into, having seen the technicolour, cut-down, animated-up, screen version.

There are two basic reasons for my ambivalence – firstly, it doesn’t fit the medium change. FLCL cries out to be in constant screaming motion, flying past with guitar in hand while you struggle to keep up. Secondly, it doesn’t pander to the viewer (like me) who already knows the idea. It wasn’t a more detailed version (the sort of thing that pleases the hardcore fans best), it was just different. That has its own charms, but doesn’t provide that kick that comes from discovering new depths on the page. I think a lot of fans turn to manga not just because it is so often the original, but because it covers the story more thoroughly.

I wonder what’s better though. Getting the short kicky version and graduating to the extended realisation, or vice versa. Is it (in general) better to get the quick kick first or the full story? For me, the FLCL anime is both – more comprehensive, and more fun.

Still, I admire the manga team for trying to do something unique, for recognising that the original style was best suited to the screen, and shooting for something new. It seems that generally anime/manga works are at heart seen as being respectively the stylish (anime) and substantial(manga) versions – which strikes me as being the product of making so many straight adaptations from page to screen. There’s definitely room for creative adaptation, rather than simply trying to replicate work in a different medium.