5 Manga That Deserve Another Anime Season

As manga readers, there’s nothing we love more than seeing our beloved characters get the full-color treatment at the hands of a great animation studio. Impactful moments and action sequences just look and feel better when they’re flying at you from the screen! Unfortunately, not every manga is lucky enough to be adapted in whole, with studios leaving anime-only watchers in the lurch, waiting for more episodes.

So today on Honey’s Anime, we’re talking about 5 Manga That Deserve Another Anime Season! We’ll also let you know where you should pick up in the manga if you’ve only watched the anime -- and don’t worry, this article is spoiler-free!

5. Owari no Seraph (Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign)

Kagami Takaya’s immensely popular dark fantasy, Seraph of the End, received a two-season adaptation from Wit Studio (of Attack on Titan fame), and is full of incredible fight scenes, political backstabbing, and a strange but effective combination of demons, angels, and vampires. Although Kagami himself wrote additional material for the anime, Wit Studio ended their adaptation after the “Battle for Nagoya” arc of the manga.

Following the Nagoya incident, the manga explores both protagonist Yuichiro’s role as the titular Seraph of the End, as well as the origins of his contracted demon, Asuramaru. That’s to say nothing of the romance subplot receiving a very good treatment, offering some real value to Shinoa’s feelings, and dropping the biggest bombshell about Guren Ichinose, and the origins of the apocalypse itself!

If you’re curious to see where the series goes after the anime, we recommend picking up from Volume 11, which covers the end of Season 2 and begins the next arc.


4. Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai (We Never Learn)

In the world of harem-style romantic-comedy, it’s quite rare for a series to actually deliver a proper ending that truly satisfies every ship. In fact, you’d think that would be impossible given the very nature of the setup -- there will naturally be winners and losers. We Never Learn, however, employs a very unique (and unfortunately quite leaked) solution to make sure all of your favourites get a well-deserved and ‘canonical’ ending. (We won’t say more than that to avoid being spoilers ourselves!)

We Never Learn is truly a hilarious and enjoyable show, and we really loved the adaptation, but the ending of the second season skews into an alternate ending that offers no pay-off for any of the potential end-game characters.

The anime ends on Volume 8 of the manga, but with a notably different ending and a few rushed subplots, so if you’re willing to start from the beginning, we highly recommend jumping in right at the start!


3. Arslan Senki (The Heroic Legend of Arslan)

Written by Tanaka Yoshiki and adapted to manga format by the incredible Arakawa Hiromu, The Heroic Legend of Arslan loosely adapts the Persian epic of the same name to bring us a great story of a destined prince set against the impressive backdrop of Ancient Persia.

The anime adaptation diverges heavily from the manga very early on, and although both are fantastic, fans are a little divided over when and where you should pick up the manga. The manga is faithfully adapting the original novel material, whereas the anime skewed off in a different direction, lightly touching on enough touchstones to keep the story (mostly) tied down.

If you loved The Heroic Legend of Arslan and want to get started on the manga, we’d recommend jumping in at Volume 5, as that’s the most ‘direct’ equivalent to the original source material and will show you a lot of content that’s quite different from the anime!


2. Citrus

When we think about yuri romantic drama, Citrus is always one of our favourite picks! Although the premise -- two newly-step-sisters falling in love -- might sound a little trashy, the series is a surprisingly honest and raw portrayal of heightened teenage emotions and the compounding effects of high school pressure. Passionate, outgoing Yuzu, and her cold, reserved step-sister Mei are possibly our favourite yuri couple, but the anime series from Passione ends quite abruptly after 12 episodes.

Cutting off midway through one of the early volumes of the manga, the anime never reaches the major turning point for Mei’s character arc, instead leaving her portrayal as cold-hearted and cruel, never quite returning Yuzu’s love in full. The manga, however, takes both sisters on a huge, gut-wrenching arc, fully expanding on Mei’s goals and dreams, while maturing Yuzu from a childish delinquent to a capable adult.

The anime ends midway through Volume 4, so it’s best to start from Volume 4 of this 10-volume series!


1. Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! (KonoSuba: God’s Blessing On This Wonderful World!)

The hilariously entertaining isekai comedy, KonoSuba: God’s Blessing On This Wonderful World!, is a riot. It stars utterly useless characters with self-serving interests, who somehow manage to stick it out in a world that seems determined to make them broke, hungry, or covered in frog saliva (and honestly, that last one seems the worst to us!).

Unfortunately for KonoSuba fans, it’s been a long time between drinks, and despite an animation announcement in July 2021, it’s not known whether this will be a true Season 3, another movie, or an adaptation of other spin-off material.

We’re hopeful KonoSuba will get a much-deserved third season, but until then, you can dive into the manga from Volume 7 and enjoy more antics involving everyone’s favourite Useless Goddess!


Final Thoughts

It’s a shame that our favourite manga can’t always have their material adapted to screen in full. Oftentimes fans will see their characters come to life through a mixture of seasons, movies, and OVAs -- and sometimes, through the very nature of serialized manga -- we might have to wait (impatiently) for years!

Thankfully, we have more manga to read until then! This list is far from exhaustive, and we didn’t have space to include some of our other picks, such as Noragami, No Game No Life, or Land of the Lustrous!

Are there manga you think deserve another anime season? Let’s talk down in the comments below!

Arslan-Senki-dvd-670x500 5 Manga That Deserve Another Anime Season

Writer

Author: Brett Michael Orr

I'm a writer, gamer, and reviewer of manga & light novels, from Melbourne, Australia. When I'm not creating a new world, I'll be absorbed in a good JRPG, watching some anime, or reading up a storm!

Previous Articles