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Manga to anime progression isn’t a rigid law or principle that the anime industry must follow. Some anime series didn’t draw their plot reference from any Manga, while some even brought in their manga adaptation when the anime series had already aired or was in production. Here are some anime that aired before their manga release or none at all.
8 Code Geass
Code Geas is an anime series directed by Goro Taniguchi. Lelouch VI Britannia, an exiled prince, is the anime’s protagonist, set in an alternative universe. After the Holy Britannian Empire conquered Japan, prince Lelouch vowed to do anything to protect his empire from its oppressors.
Fortunately, Lelouch gets his hand on a supernatural power that gives him the ability to make people succumb to his will. With his newfound power, he fought for his country’s independence. Many Alternate Universe (AU) manga and video games were made as promotion, but the anime series is it is original.
7 Dragon Ball GT
The original author of the Dragon Ball manga, Akira Toriyama, had nothing to do with Dragon Ball GT. The show is a follow-up to Dragon Ball Z, and the plot unfolds when Emperor Pilaf turns Goku into a child.
Unlike its predecessors, Dragon Ball GT was not based on a manga. It tells an original story visualized by Toei Animation using the characters in the Dragon Ball universe. While Dragon Ball GT is not widely accepted by some fans of the Dragon Ball series because of Toriyama’s disassociation, it does have its spark.
6 Violet Evergarden
Violet Evergarden is a breathtaking story of love, war, and the importance of letters. Violet Evergarden is a child soldier who finds it hard to recover from the darkness of war. She finds hope and light in the weirdest circumstances by writing out people’s emotions and words in letters. While helping people convey their emotions on paper, she discovers herself and unravels her feelings for his boss, Gilbert, whom he lost during the war.
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Violet Evergarden was a light novel series written by Kana Akatsuki and also won the Kyoto Animation Award in 2014. Kyoto Animation Studio later made a 14-episode anime series of the novel.
5 Samurai Champloo
The anime series is similar to Cowboy Bepop and is directed by the same director, Shinichiro Watanabe. Samurai Champloo aired in 2004, somewhat connected with Watanabe’s first masterpiece project, Cowboy Bebop.
The plot has tea waitress Fuu recruiting Mugen and Jin to search for a samurai who smells of sunflowers. The manga series consists of only two volumes. And even though the manga was published first, the anime series has already finished production, making it the original work.
4 Angel Beats
Set in a high school environment in the afterlife, Angel Beats is a supernatural anime that follows the story of some kids who must overcome the trauma and hardships in their past life before being reincarnated.
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It is a 13-episode series depicting past traumas as a roadblock to living a fulfilled life. Angel Beats is an original anime that Seiji Kishi directed. However, two volumes of the manga were later released between October 2014 and April 2016, following the anime aired on April 2010.
3 Samurai 7
The 2004 anime television series is loosely based on historical figures and is based on the Akira Kurosawa film 7 Samurai. Unlike the movie, the anime isn’t in feudalistic Japan but in a futuristic setting with machines and robots.
Just like the film, the anime depicts how honor is much more worthy than money. In the anime, it is up to seven samurais to save some villagers from the hands of bandits who terrorize their existence. Although a good deal of anime are adapted from mangas or light novels, Samurai 7 is an anime remake of Kurosawa’s 7 Samurai.
2 Pokemon
Pokemon is a Japanese media franchise founded by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures. Pokemon started as a video game made by Nintendo in 1996 before its success led to the conception of anime on April 1997.
Later, the manga was released, but the storyline and themes significantly differed from the anime. The story mainly focuses on Satoshi (also known as Ash Ketchum), his yellow pet Pikachu, and a group of friends who travel around the world of Pokemon. It is one of the longest anime that is currently running.
1 Paranoia Agent
Paranoia Agent is a 2004 Japanese Anime television series created by the late Satoshi Kon. It is one of the best original anime out there because it isn’t based on either a manga or a light novel series. The series comes to life in Musashino, Tokyo, with the introduction of a delinquent named Lil’ Slugger.
The little kid terrorizes the community by roller skating through the streets and attacking bystanders or any random individual with a bent baseball bat. It is an anthology series that combines horror elements with a much larger event.
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