17 Anime That Were Tragically Cut Short Before The Manga Ended

When adapting the story of a prison that holds secret death matches, the creators of the Deadman Wonderland anime only borrowed from five of the 13 manga volumes. Because of this, the anime ending is generally disliked, since it doesn't really resolve anything.

Ganta, the protagonist, hardly develops as a character, and he fails to recognize his friend Shiro's true, violent identity. The series also gives no indication as to whether the resistance movement seeking to escape the prison achieves their goal.

On the other hand, the manga manages to resolve some of these issues. If you've only seen the anime, you're missing almost 2/3 of the story. 

While Bleach weighs in at a whopping 366 episodes, it still doesn't tell the complete story. The anime ends with the Fullbringer Arc, which amounts to a relatively anticlimactic story about spiritually-aware humans who can manipulate souls.

Meanwhile, the manga ending features an epic assassination plot, concludes the Thousand Year Blood War, reveals some eye-opening truths about Ichigo's past, and ties up many of the loose ends the anime leaves hanging.

Luckily, the Thousand Year Blood War arc will finally be adapted in 2022!

Nicholas Brown and Worick Arcangelo survive through a combination of mercenary work, sex trafficking, and odd jobs. They're pushed to the margins of society because Nicholas is a "Twilight," or someone who gained superhuman abilities because their parent used a drug called Celebrer.

In the TV version of Gangsta, the rumblings of conflict between rival gangs are never resolved, as the 2015 anime only covers about half of the manga's chapters, which is currently on hiatus due to the creator's health issues.

When a manga gets popular, there's often a push to create an anime adaptation before the story is finished. While this can certainly be lucrative, it can lead to everything from anime filler episodes to unresolved finales. Btooom! falls into the latter category, as the 12-episode anime wrapped up in 2012, even though the final chapter of the manga released on March 20, 2018. 

With over half a decade between the two finales, the anime couldn't be expected to end in the same way the manga does. Instead, it doesn't really end at all. In the final episode, all the characters are still trapped on an island where escape means fighting to the death.

Viewers have no idea whether their favorite characters are going to live or die, and the finale feels inspired by moments that occur early in the manga. Readers of Btooom! learn a lot more about the story, including some jaw-dropping revelations about the island serving as a reality show for rich people.

Not only does the Soul Eater anime neglect to tell the entire story, it also diverges from the manga after covering about 30 or so chapters. Other than a few plot points, the ending of the Soul Eater anime significantly differs from the manga, which means that manga fans never got to see their story fully animated. 

Some might argue that at least the anime had a conclusion, unlike some shows that just trail off into nothingness. But an anime-only conclusion isn't going to be satisfying to most people when there's so much great manga-content that's never been adapted. A faithful reboot is clearly needed. 

In the final moments of the anime, Kyo's true form is revealed, and Tohru meets with Akito, the abusive Sohma patriarch, for the first time. Unfortunately, this event takes place early on in the Fruits Basket manga's 23-volume run.

Whereas the written version tells a complete story that ends with the family curse being resolved, none of this happens in the TV series. Instead, anime-only viewers get a watered-down version of an emotionally devastating story that leaves out entire character arcs. If any of the anime characters seem to exhibit confusing behavior, it's probably because their stories were cut short. 

Thankfully, the 2019 anime reboot of Fruits Basket gave the series a complete and faithful adaptation of the manga!