10 Best Anime Adaptations Of Media Other Than Manga

Great anime have been adapted from books, movies, American cartoons, and even music, as seen in shows like Deltora Quest and The Tatami Galaxy.

Live-action film and TV adaptations of anime remain ever-popular, but what about the best anime adapting other media? While there are plenty of great original anime airing, shows are just as often based on manga and light novels. But what about anime that digs a little deeper for inspiration?

These types of anime are a bit harder to find, but they are proof that inspiration for a great show or movie can come from anywhere. Dedicated viewers can find anime adaptations of classic literature, video games, American comics, and even music videos.

When longtime homebody Shintaro is forced to leave his house in search of a new keyboard, he already isn't looking forward to the stresses of the outside world. Getting caught in a terrorist attack and hostage situation is absolutely outside of his wheelhouse. Meeting the Mekakushi-dan, a group of superpowered and traumatized other kids, gets Shintaro out of that mess and into many others.

Mekakucity Actors is based on the Kagerou Project, a franchise centered around a selection of Vocaloid songs. The synthesized music program's many characters and stories lend themselves very well to an ensemble cast like this. In addition, several of their most famous songs have dark or tragic tones that the show borrows for its cast's backstories.

Based on the video game franchise by Capcom and animated by Studio Madhouse, this underrated twelve-episode anime premiered in 2007. Dante the half-demon makes ends meet through his private investigation business, solving supernatural issues. It doesn't exactly pay the bills, but there are things that only a being like Dante can do.

The show is largely episodic, taking place between the first and second Devil May Cry games. It focuses on showcasing Dante's combat abilities in battle with various enemies, which checks out for a video game adaptation. It received an English dub by Funimation, which aired on Chiller TV's late-night selection of horror anime.

This experiment by the DC Animated Universe went direct to video in 2008. An anthology film consisting of six segments, Batman: Gotham Knight jumps through time and through different parts of Gotham City with each short film. All of them together paint a complex picture of the Dark Knight.

Similar to The Animatrix, Gotham Knight explores several different animation and storytelling styles with each segment. Anime studios such as Madhouse and Studio 4°C (the latter of which would go on to animate Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox five years later) lent their signature creativity and high-quality animation to the project. Kevin Conroy reprised his role as Batman for all six segments.

Remember this children's fantasy series from author Emily Rodda? TV Tokyo did too, and in 2007, an anime based on the books premiered. A manga adaptation and a spin-off Nintendo DS game, Deltora Quest: Nanatsu no Houseki, came out the same year.

Young blacksmith-in-training Lief shares the shounen protagonist's usual hot-blooded nature and his plot line too. He gets his wish to go challenge the world when he's sent on a quest to find the missing heir to the throne and the Belt of Deltora, the only two things that can save their kingdom from the Shadow Lord. With the help of his friends, Lief not only saves the world but finds revelations about his own past.

The Tatami Galaxy's plot lends itself very well to director, screenwriter, and animator Masaaki Yuasa's particular skill set. The narrator's unreliability about the world he lives in and the wild circumstances he finds himself in with each time loop create an increasingly surreal experience. To escape the loops, he must come to grips with the truth about himself and the people around him.

Related: 10 Best Unreliable Narrators In Anime

The eleven-episode 2010 show is based on the 2004 novel by Tomihiko Morimi. This novel was followed by a sequel, The Tatami Time Machine Blues, which received its own web animation adaptation from Science SARU in 2022. To fans’ delight, most of the original voice cast from The Tatami Galaxy returned to reprise their roles.

Most kids who grew up in the nineties and early 2000s are familiar with The Powerpuff Girls. Craig McCracken's 1998 hit made the three superpowered sisters created in a lab accident a household name. Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup fight to protect the city of Townsville from a wide and colorful rogues’ gallery.

Related: 10 Best Magical Girl Anime Fans Of Sailor Moon Need To Watch

In 2006, this anime adaptation by Toei Animation premiered, borrowing elements of the best magical girl anime to combine with the popular story. Though the basic premise and character concepts are kept, several changes are made. For instance, the three unrelated heroines are given alter egos — Hyper Blossom, Rolling Bubbles, and Powered Buttercup — by Professor Utonium's experiment, which they transform into to fight villains.

Possibly the most successful video-game-to-anime adaptation ever made, Pokémon is one of the longest-running anime ever. With every game in the franchise comes a fresh season of the show, with new regions to explore and new Pokémon to battle, catch, and train. Even with the retirement of longtime hero Ash Ketchum as the protagonist, the anime will continue with different main characters.

The silent hero of the original 1996 games, Pokémon Red and Blue, Red, does not generally appear in the anime. However, he and his Charizard are the heroes of the 2013 miniseries Pokémon Origins. Origins even brings back first rival Blue, replaced by Gary Oak in the original anime, who harkens back to the games by picking a Squirtle to get an advantage over Red's partner Pokémon.

This 2003 anthology film explores The Matrix franchise's expansive and thrilling world outside the heroics of Neo, Trinity, and Morpheus. Released straight to video in between Reloaded and Revolutions, these nine short films stand on their own with a wide range of genres and styles, from CGI to traditional animation. Anime writers and animators such as Shinichiro Watanabe and Mahiro Maeda brought their talents to make the project really shine.

While all nine segments of The Animatrix have something to love, some stand out more than others. "The Second Renaissance" tells the full story of the machines’ rebellion against humanity and the creation of the first Matrix, featuring nightmarish imagery and some of the scariest robots in anime. "Final Flight of the Osiris" is an achievement in early CG animation, and "Beyond" and "A Detective Story" allow the series to dip into psychological horror and film noir.

Gankutsuou is an adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ 1844 novel The Count of Monte Cristo. It takes the revenge quest of betrayed sailor Edmond Dantes, fast forwards it thousands of years into the future, and places it in a space-faring France rather than a sea-faring one. Instead of the kindly father-figure Faria, Edmond falls into the thrall of the demon Gankutsuou, who grants him riches and power.

One of the best anime based on classic literature, Gankutsuou makes another interesting choice of framing Edmond as the story's antagonist. The role of hero and point of view character is shifted to young Albert, the son of one of Edmond's targets. Having his charmed life torn apart around him and being confronted with how his family is responsible for the suffering of an innocent man forces him to mature very quickly.

Isao Takahata's Grave of the Fireflies is widely considered to be not just one of the saddest anime, but one of the saddest films of all time, period. It tells the story of two orphaned siblings, Seita and Setsuko, trying to survive in the last years of World War II. Seita struggles to provide for his younger sister as they suffer familial abuse, lack of food, and the firebombing of Kobe.

Its original inspiration is even more depressing. The film is based on a 1967 short story written by Akiyuki Nosaka, who lived through the same war as a child Seita's age. Two of his sisters died of malnutrition as Setsuko does in the story and film, and in interviews, Nosaka expresses regret for not providing better for his toddler sister as a boy. Unlike Nosaka, Seita notably does not survive the war either, starving to death in a train station.

These shows are proof that inspiration for a great anime can come from anywhere. Sometimes the places creators and audiences alike might not think to look are the most valuable of all, and the best anime adaptations that come from them are powerful arguments for expanding one's horizons.

Shannon Brady is a writer who specializes in fiction and media analysis. Her short stories can be found in such publications as Queer Sci Fi, Jerry Jazz Musician, Dark Peninsula Press, and Third Flatiron Anthologies. She loves anime, fantasy, and horror, and when not writing can be found baking or petting dogs.