The Greatest Anime Adaptations That Salvaged Their Manga’s Terrible Endings

One of the best things about anime adaptations of popular manga is getting to see all the best scenes from a beloved series being perfectly translated to the screen. Accuracy to the source material is more valued for anime fans than in any other medium. Unfortunately, anime series often have to change things, and it isn’t always for the worse.

For a number of reasons, sometimes even great manga don’t have great endings. Some manga forget what made them so beloved in the first place, while others go on hiatus forever. The worst manga offenders don’t even bother giving readers closure. No matter the reason, it’s great when anime studios save a good story by fixing a bad manga ending.

Fans Prefer the Anime-Original Ending to Elfen Lied

For a time, Elfen Lied felt inescapable as an anime fan. It embraced violence and amoral characters like few other shows of its era, and gained quite a following. Though the Elfen Lied anime ended before the manga did, fans eventually realized they preferred Elfen Lied‘s anime-original ending.

The manga ending raises the scale of the conflict, eventually turning Lucy into someone actively trying to wipe out all of humanity. When Lucy isn’t able to go through with it, there’s a time skip to a surprisingly upbeat ending, especially considering the remainder of the series. The Elfen Lied anime, however, chooses to go with a much more low-key ending, one that leaves the outcome of the story up for discussion.

Bamboo Blade’s Anime Ending Gives Viewers A Real Epilogue

Bamboo Blade is a lesser-known but still awesome slice-of-life anime from the late 2000s. The series followed a club of female kendo students as they learn how to become a real team. Despite being from the peak “Cute Girls Doing Cute Things” anime era, Bamboo Blade offered great characterization and some solid kendo battles.

However, Bamboo Blade’s long-running manga had a big problem. The series ends in the middle of a climactic match between the protagonist and her biggest rival, with no clear winner. By comparison, the Bamboo Blade anime ends with an epilogue episode following the national kendo tournament, offering fans far more closure.

MAR Fixed The Manga’s Pacing in the Final Saga

MAR is an isekai series with heavy shonen anime elements from Nobuyuki Anzai, previously known for his work on Flame of Recca. The series followed a teenager named Ginta who landed in the world of MAR-Heaven and was forced to protect the people there from the powers of the evil Chess Army. Though the MAR anime ends after the manga, the two series wrapped up closely enough that the anime chose to create its own ending.

Strangely, this worked out for the best as the manga ending felt rushed, while the anime was able to adjust its pacing, meaning even the flow of the final fights of the series was better. The anime also closes the weird plothole between Koyuki and Snow, two identical characters from different worlds that are both in love with Ginta, by having them fuse into one. The anime version of MAR even offers a realistic explanation for where the big bad comes from.

The original Fullmetal Alchemist isn’t talked about much anymore, and it’s almost impossible to watch the series in 2025. Still, it was beloved when it was released, and some people vastly prefer the 2003 version. In the original Fullmetal Alchemist, the heroes aren’t nearly as infallible, and the entire series feels more morally gray.

Rather than Ed directly facing off against The Flask, wielding god-like power, the original series introduces a new antagonist in Dante. Much like The Flask, Dante’s plans span centuries, but Ed and Al stopping her causes them to get split on different sides of the gate. Even with Conqueror of Shamballa serving as an epilogue, it’s a bittersweet ending that sees the brothers stuck in the “real” world forever, leaving behind their friends and family.

Hunter x Hunter Gives Fans the Ending They May Never Get

Although the Hunter x Hunter manga hasn’t ended yet, the plot continues to drift further and further from its initial story. While many fans claim the series hasn’t run out of steam, it can be a little frustrating for others, given the story hasn’t been about Gon for years. Fortunately, the anime is a masterpiece that fans can watch without concern for what happens to the protagonist.

Hunter x Hunter‘s biggest problem has been all the numerous hiatuses the manga goes on, ideally to give Yoshihiro Togashi time to recover from working so hard. However, after the anime caught up with the manga, they went in a different direction. They chose to wrap the story up at the absolute perfect time, right after Gon meets his father. Though there are clearly more ways the story can develop, the anime provided viewers with the chance to walk away.

Yu Yu Hakusho Distills The Manga Ending Into Something Great

Yu Yu Hakusho is regarded as one of the greatest shonen anime ever made, so it almost comes as no surprise that anime fans prefer it to the manga. A large part of this comes from Yu Yu Hakusho creator Yoshihiro Togashi just wanting to be finished with the manga by the end. With that in mind, there are a lot of strange choices towards the end that make the series feel rushed.

The manga rushes through the final tournament in the series, skipping over some key battles that the anime actually develops. At the same time, the anime cuts down on all the random one-shots at the end of the manga to make the ending actually feel meaningful. While Togashi mentioned struggling under the pressure of living up to Yu Yu Hakusho, fortunately, Studio Pierrot wasn’t dealing with that same problem.

Usagi Drop Gets Away From Its Creepy Time Skip

Usagi Drop’s changes from its manga feel more intentional, as a method of literally saving the series. The show follows a thirty-year-old man, Daikichi, who discovers at his grandfather’s funeral that his grandfather had been raising a six-year-old illegitimate daughter named Rin. The focus of the series, naturally, was just Daikichi gradually growing up more as he raised this young child.

Yet the anime stops shy of the manga’s highly unpopular time skip, which takes things to Rin’s teenage years, where she reveals she holds romantic feelings for Daikichi. The fans almost universally hated the post-time skip relationship, which seemed to be unpopular enough to skip not just in the anime, but in the live-action movie as well. It’s a smart choice, allowing the anime to avoid ruining the protagonists’ adorable father-daughter relationship.

Golden Boy Forgot Why Everyone Loved The Show So Much

Golden Boy is the hilarious six-episode OVA widely considered one of the best comedy anime of all time. Sure, it might be a more problematic anime series compared to its launch in the ’90s, but on the whole, it’s considered a good time. However, few people ever talk about the manga, which the OVA barely adapted. Yet it turns out that was for good reason.

The Golden Boy manga features far more perversion and ecchi elements than even this wild show dares to depict, but that’s just a surface-level problem. Over time, Golden Boy becomes more serious, leaving behind its comedic elements and basically turning Kintaro into a supporting cast member. If that’s not bad enough, the Golden Boy manga ends without any real resolution, with Kintaro trapped in a VR world. It’s such an illogical ending to Golden Boy that an early ending is somehow better.