3 manga we’d love to see animated

When it comes to anime adaptations of manga series, there are numerous considerations involved.

Is the series popular? Does it have a dedicated fan base that would guarantee support? Could it lead to numerous merchandising opportunities or other avenues to make money?

Today, however, I just want to talk about three manga series I would love to see get anime adaptations, regardless of public opinion — or practicality. 

I’ll be keeping the three series on the list somewhat varied, but they are all series I have previously read or are still ongoing. They’re all series that I adore greatly and would love to see animated.

And be sure to let us know about a series you would love to see animated! It could be manga, light novels, webtoons — lord knows my fellow Solo-Leveling fans are dying for an anime. 

Psyren

“Save me!” Those were Sakurako Amamiya’s last words to her friend Ageha Yoshina before she mysteriously went missing. Now Ageha’s on a quest to find her. He’s convinced that the mythical Psyren Secret Society has something to do with the recent rash of disappearances. And now he seems to be caught up as a player in their very deadly game…

Weekly Shounen Jump is famous all around the world and known for having some of the most entertaining manga series in the medium’s history, and that is where my first series comes from. Psyren, written by Toshiaki Iwashiro, was a series that first began its serialisation in December of 2007, and it would continue until November of 2010.

While Psyren was most definitely a shounen series, it had many elements to it that felt slightly more adult, dark, and all-around slightly less childish than some of the other ongoing shounen series at the time. It mixed the dark aspects of an apocalyptic future manga with the intense battles of a typical shounen series, all the while mixing in interesting mystery elements to keep you on the edge of your seat to see what’s still to come. 

While the highs of being featured in Weekly Shounen Jump are indeed high, the lows are equally as bad. A series can be dropped after just 30 chapters if it ranks poorly among the readership — and despite Psyren’s 145 chapter long serialisation it fell down the rankings into the bottom 5 before the series would be cancelled.

I still believe the series is great, and feel that its slightly adult themes and darker settings may have been the cause of its downfall. Regardless, I would love to see it get some love today — I think it may even be more appreciated with readers’ (and anime viewers’) preferences changing from the early 2000s.

Jump into Psyren here!

Blue Lock

After reflecting on the current state of Japanese soccer, the Japanese Football Association decides to hire the enigmatic and eccentric coach Jinpachi Ego to achieve their dream of winning the World Cup.

Believing that Japan lacks a suitably egoistical striker hungry for goals, Jinpachi introduces the Blue Lock, a prison-like facility where three hundred talented strikers from high schools all over Japan are isolated and pitted against each other. The sole “survivor” of Blue Lock will earn the right to become the national team’s striker, and those who are defeated shall be banned from joining the team forever.

Sports, baby! I will be saying it until the day I die, sports series are some of the most intense, exciting, and motivational forms of manga and anime that are available, and Blue Lock is another outstanding example of this. Blue Lock is a football (not soccer, goddammit) series written by Kaneshiro Muneyuki and illustrated by Nomura Yuusuke. 

The series features a “power” system somewhat similar to the one seen in Kuroko No Basket — here, though, it’s less so the characters actually have “superpowers”, but rather they have fairly extreme specialties within the game. For example, there is a character who is amazing at shooting long shots with insane power, or the main character, Isagi Yoichi, who has incredible spatial awareness. 

Just like Kuroko there are moments in the series that will have you popping off with excitement, but then immediately after it’ll have you thinking about just how absurd that entire sequence was. That’s absolutely fine, though — and what this manga is all about. The art is amazing, the story is entertaining, and it feels like it was made to be animated.

Kick off your exploration of Blue Lock here!

Gal Gohan

Home Economics Teacher, Shinji Yabe, is asked by the biggest gal in school, Miku Okazaki, to help her “bake cookies to give to the teachers.” The principal told her to do this after she flunked every subject and makeup class they put her in. He gets her to successfully finish a batch of cookies after several mishaps, and is touched by his student’s glee over her success.

He decides to start a cooking club after this experience to get more time and connection with his students. Upon hearing this, Miku decides to join, since he was the first teacher that didn’t shove her into makeup lessons after her failings and pushed her to try harder instead.

I have a real weakness; a Kryptonite, if you will. Wholesome gyaru manga are irresistible to me (I don’t think you’re alone there – Ed.), and I have absolutely no idea why or where my love for these series comes from. It’s not something I question, but something I simply accept. Gal Gohan by Taiyou Marii might just be my favourite when it comes to this particular niche that I enjoy. 

Throughout many series, gyaru characters are depicted in a single, simple way; as bitchy girls. They’re obsessed with their looks, boys, and care little about school, let alone the lessons they’re supposed to be learning.

Gal Gohan, meanwhile, focuses on a girl who just happens to be a gyaru. She is struggling with school, and her teachers are constantly pushing her from one person to another, each deeming her as “helpless”. It’s Shinji’s actions that show her the joy that perseverance and hard work can produce; plus Miku is 100% a Best Girl!

This is the kind of story that I can guarantee you have seen before, and I would probably go as far as to say that it isn’t really doing anything insanely original or innovative within the world of romcom manga.

HOWEVER, there is something so damn endearing about Gal Gohan that made me so happy with each chapter I read. The series ran its full serialisation without any dragging out of the story, nor any cancellations resulting in a rushed ending. I think that this series would make for a great anime that would sit perfectly in the romance slot of an anime season.

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What manga series would you love to see animated? Let us know in the comments below, or via the usual social channels!

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