Best and Worst Anime Adaptations

There are little to few original anime out there. By that, I mean that there aren't that many anime that aren't adapted from a different source such as a manga, visual novel, or even a song. There are a lot of factors that make an adaptation successful or not. Generally, if the source material is good, so will the anime so long as the staff knows what they're doing. Unfortunately, a lot of the time, the source material isn't good or the staff messes up some how. This list is to share my picks on what has and hasn't been screwed up. To be considered as a good adaptation, the anime had to be well received and not judged as inferior to its source material. Conversely, to be considered a poor adaptation, the anime had to have poorly received and judged inferior to its source material. Please note that this list is in no particular order.

It's ok. No Spoilers.

Best:

1. Clannad
Source Material: Visual Novel
Clannad is by far one of the best examples of how an anime can be adapted correctly. Most of the magic of the visual novel is successfully trasferred into the anime making it just as good as the visual novel.

2. The idolm@ster
Source Material: Rhythm Game
I don't think anyone expected the idolm@ster anime would be good but it ended up to be not only a good anime but a good adaptation of the game.

3. Monogatari Seies
Source Material: Light Novel
The anime follows what happens in the light novel to a T, just adding amazing visuals and audio to an already great story.

4. Fate/Stay Night Unlimited Blade Works (2014)
Source Material: Visual Novel
It was already adapted once, but the second time was the best. Better visuals, stronger story telling, and revamped audio made this adaptation amazing.

5. Ping Pong the Animation
Source Material: Manga
Do NOT be lead astray by the unique art style. Ping Pong is one of the best anime that I have ever watched and ultimately one of the best adaptations on this list.

6. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
Source Material: Visual Novel
The original visual novel was pretty good but had weird character designs. The anime doesn't really fix it that much but it does make it better. With the already great story untouched, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni turned out to be a great anime.

7. Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Source Material: Manga
If you haven't heard of Full Metal Alchemist, I suggest you watch it now. This shouldn't need too much explanation. Brotherhood did what the first season couldn't. It followed the manga better resulting in a much more cohesive story and overall better experience.

8. Golden Boy
Source Material: Manga
This anime is hilarious and well done. It's so educational.

9. Nichijou
Source Material: Manga
Nichijou is an example of how a four panel manga can be fleshed out into a 26 episode anime where every episode is equally as amazing.

10. Gintama
Source Material: Manga
Gintama is one of the few shounen manga I really respect. It has great humor and even has a good story. All of that is perfectly transferred into the naime.

Worst: 

1. Umineko no Naku Koro ni
Source Material: Visual Novel
The visual novel was great but the anime left so much to be desired. Much of that which hoped would be fixed in a second season which never came. Poor pacing, no explanation for anything that happened, and a rushed ending.

2. Grisaia no Kajitsu
Source Material: Visual Novel
Rushed is putting this anime adaptation lightly. Even without playing the visual novel, it's incredibly obvious. Because of this, a lot of events in the anime got muddled and did not have the same effect that they did in the visual novel. Also, that last episode was incredibly ridiculous even by bad anime standards.

3. Danganronpa
Source Material: Visual Novel
Another rushed adaptation. The story was told but it left out the feeling that the visual novel as well as certain scenes.

4. Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai
Source Material: Visual Novel
The visual novel was really fun but the anime was just horrible. The anime made everything much less interesting than the visual novel did, resulting in it looking extremely generic and less than mediocre.

5. Mekakucity Actors
Source Material: Song
Adaptations from songs should just stop. Convoluted is putting it nicely about how this show went. It may have been animated by Shaft, but that did not help it to make any more sense or feel more cohesive.

6. Persona 4 the Golden Animation
Source Material: RPG
Completely unnecessary anime adaptation that was little more than a way to show off the new character of Persona.

7. Omamori Himari
Source Material: Manga
Generic manga becomes an even worse anime. I honestly didn't think it was possible to make the anime make less sense than the manga.

8. Devil Survivor 2
Source Material: RPG
This was a huge disappointment for many. A great game got a really bad anime. It failed to do anything that the game did and did less than most anime have ever done.

9. Zetman
Source Material: Manga
The manga was a great story of the ambiguity of justice and trying to discover what justice truly is. The anime does nothing that the manga did, changing scenes for the worse and rushing until the end. 

10. Black Rock Shooter
Source Material: Song
Star cast, poor anime. Nothing and I mean absolutely nothing made sense in this anime.  This anime was one of the first examples of why anime should never be adapted from songs.